What is Interlibrary Loan?
Interlibrary Loan (I.L.L.) is the service we use to get books, articles and other materials that are not available in our own collection. Libraries all around the country make their collections available for lending to other institutions in such cases. Most libraries offer this service.
Who can use this service?
We provide I.L.L. service only to faculty, students and staff of the William S. Boyd School of Law. If you are not a member of the law school community, please visit your own school library or one of the branches of your local public library to obtain I.L.L. service.
Notice:
Law students are limited to 25 I.L.L. requests per semester at no cost. Once a student exceeds this limit, there will be a charge of $5 per request. Exceptions to this policy may be granted at the discretion of the Law Library Director.
How do I request an item?
To use the Interlibrary Loan service, follow these steps:
- Search the Law Library Catalog to see if the book, article, case or other item you need is already available on campus. If so, do not request it via I.L.L.
- The form to submit the request is linked below. Follow the instructions on the form that appears.
How long will it take?
The time it takes to acquire an I.L.L. item varies due to many factors. We try to obtain requested items from nearby libraries, but some things must come from far away. Processing times for materials at other institutions vary depending on their staffing and other factors. If the item you need is very popular, it may be checked out at most or all of the potential lending libraries, causing delays as the request is forwarded from one potential lender to another. If the item is unusual or rare, it may be restricted from circulation at every potential lender and therefore unavailable. Because so many factors affect processing time for loans, we cannot state a definite time frame in which you can expect to receive materials. However, a rough estimate is about two weeks from time of request until we receive the item if it is available.