Interlibrary Loan Policies

To provide members of the University community with research materials not owned by libraries on this campus.

Interlibrary loan service is available to faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students under the guidance of a faculty member

The Interlibrary Loans Department is staffed to provide service between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The department is located on the first floor (Room 104) of J.D. Williams Library. Phone: (662) 915-5867; Fax: (662) 915-5453. ILL service to the School of Pharmacy and Department of Chemistry is provided through the Science Library, 1031 Natural Products Center. Phone (662) 915-5668; Fax: (662) 915-7549.

Requests are accepted only online via ILLiad (see ILL Services). Current copyright law prohibits the Library from ordering more than 5 articles dated within the past 5 years from any one particular journal title during any one given year, unless copyright fees are paid to the publisher. For this reason, borrowers may be asked to limit requests for current articles.

Requests submitted to Interlibrary Loans are usually sent to the prospective lending library within 24 hours. Generally, at least 2 weeks should be allowed for receipt of materials, although most items arrive much more quickly.

Borrowers receive notification by email when items have arrived. The status of requests may also be determined by logging into ILLiad and clicking “View Requests.”

There is no charge to UM Faculty, staff, or eligible students for normal ILL service in support of their scholarly or University-related research.

The conditions of ILL services are set by national and regional codes as well as by the policies of each lending library. The following types of materials ordinarily cannot be requested for loan:

• Material not related to scholarly research or instructional programs
• Textbooks
• Items on Reserve or in Special Collections in the UM Library
• Whole issues of serials
• Rare material
• Genealogical, heraldic and similar material
• Newspapers and manuscripts, unless available in microform

Exceptions to this list are occasionally made. Therefore, consult the ILL office about any research material not owned by the library.

No limit has been set on the number of items a patron may borrow. However, borrowers are reminded not to order more than they will be able to use during the allowed loan period. For best service, please submit requests as early in the semester as possible.

The lending library determines the length of the loan period for books, which is usually between one and four weeks.

Renewals should be requested only in unusual circumstances, and should be requested BEFORE the due date. Many libraries do not allow any renewals, so patrons are urged to plan their research to complete the use of ILL material before the due dates.

ILL material pick-up for the Main Library is at the Circulation Desk-West allowing access to your material(s) during regular library hours. You may return the material to the Circulation Desk-West or the ILL Office. As always, please DO NOT place any ILL materials in the book drops. The Circulation Desk will serve only as a pick-up/check-out location for ILL materials; any other issues related to ILL must be handled by ILL staff.

Prompt returns enable us to remain in good standing with the lending institutions.

Borrowers with overdue ILL material may be blocked from ILL service, checking out UM Library books, accessing electronic resources, registering for classes, graduating and obtaining grades.