Information ServicesUniversity Library

Interlibrary loans & document delivery

What is interlibrary loans and document delivery?

Interlibrary loans & document delivery is a service for requesting books, journal articles and other resources not held by University of Melbourne Libraries. It is there to support staff and postgraduate students engaged in research and teaching activities.

As well as offering an interlibrary loan service, the Library invites you to suggest items to purchase. For items over $5000 please use the Recommendation to the Materials Vote Advisory Group form. Please understand that we may not buy everything requested. The decision to purchase an item is based on the availability of funds, and on the teaching, learning and research requirements of the University.

To make a recomendation for purchase, please complete the form available at the following URL: http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/suggestions/purchase.html

Who is eligible to use interlibrary loans & document delivery?

This service is available to all University of Melbourne general and academic staff and postgraduate students, including Masters by Coursework. The service is also available to undergraduate honours (4th year) and Advanced Medical Science students with authorisation from their supervisor.

Making interlibrary loan requests

Requests may be made for material not held by University of Melbourne libraries that is required for purposes directly related to research or study at the University. Please ensure the item isn't held by a University of Melbourne library by first checking the library catalogue and SuperSearch. Requests for material held by the University, even if it is out on loan, will be cancelled. Some material may also be available through BONUS+.

When placing a request, please provide the full citation information to describe as best as possible the item that you wish to borrow. This information enables this library as well as the library receiving the request to process it without delay or misinterpretation. Interlibrary loans staff will send back any request that has insufficient bibliographical information which they cannot verify.

Please be aware that all interlibrary loan requests must adhere to current copyright laws. For more information about copyright see: http://www.unimelb.edu.au/copyright/

Requests from staff and postgraduates

Staff and Postgraduate students may make a request using our online order form. Please note, there are separate forms for Books, Journal Articles and AV Material:

Requests from honours students and approved borrowers

Honours and AMS students may request material using these PDF request forms:

Submit completed forms to the Interlibrary loans counter in the Baillieu Library, or to the nearest branch library. Off-campus LFR and Vet Science Werribee students may lodge their requests at their campus library.

Please note: honours students must have the approval of their supervisor before submitting an interlibrary loan request.

Costs

Currently there is no charge for interlibrary loan requests, however full cost recovery may be charged for the purchase of a thesis, higher than usual acquisition or postage costs or specialty reproduction services. Please ask staff for details.

Delivery time

In most cases material is received within 5-7 working days. Many journal articles arrive in 2-3 working days and overseas loans can take 2-6 weeks. Supply time varies according to where the material is located and how quickly that library or supplier responds, however interlibrary loans has no control over response times from lending libraries or the length of loan periods.

If material is required urgently, see below for urgent requests.

How will I be notified?

Unless otherwise specified, you will be notified by email when an item is available to collect. Journal articles will be sent electronically to your desktop unless you elect that they be sent by post or arrange to collect them from the interlibrary loans counter in the Baillieu Library.

Please note: we prefer to deliver electronic documents to University of Melbourne email addresses only as the interlibrary loans software used to send and receive e-documents is not always compatible with other email programs, such as Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo. If you have not sent up your University of Melbourne central email account, please visit the Account Registration page to activate your email address:

Collecting interlibrary loan material

You can collect interlibrary loan material from the interlibrary loans desk in the Baillieu Library Monday to Friday, 10am-6pm. If you are unable to collect material during those hours, please contact Interlibrary Loans staff on (03) 8344 5388 to arrange for the material to be left at the reference desk for collection in the evening or on the weekend.

Certain interlibrary loans can be transferred to branch libraries for collection upon request. Some interlibrary loan material is Library Use Only and must not be removed from the library. This generally applies to overseas loans, theses, rare or fragile items and AV material. Arrangements can be made to have Library Use Only material transferred to another branch library, such as the Law Library, or off-campus LFR libraries and Vet Science Werribee. Please contact Interlibrary Loans staff for details.

Bookstraps are attached to all interlibrary loans and these must be returned with the item. A fee may be chaged for lost or unreturned bookstraps. As a borrower it is your responsibility to ensure that interlibrary loan material is returned through the returns chute at the interlibrary loans desk in the Baillieu library and not through the libraries' general returns chute, where material may be damaged or lost. Lost or damaged items must be paid for by the patron. Charges vary depending on the lending library. An invoice will be issued for any lost or damaged items.

Renewing a loan

Not all interlibrary loan material is eligible for renewal. Interlibrary loans staff will advise you when you collect your material if it can be renewed.

Items eligible for renewal may be renewed once. Please contact interlibrary loans a few days before the due date so that staff can arrange the renewal with the lending library. If the lending library does not give permission to renew the item, it must be returned by the due date otherwise your borrowing privileges will be suspended if it becomes overdue. Some lending libraries charge overdue fees for late returns and these charges may be passed on to our patrons.

Please note that overdue notices are sent as a courtesy only, and failure to receive a notice does not excuse you from the responsibility of returning borrowed items on or before the due date.

Lost or damaged items must be paid for by the patron. Charges vary depending on the lending library. An invoice will be issued for any lost or damaged items.

Urgent requests

Very urgent requests can be 'fast tracked' with an expected supply time of 48 to 72 hours. Please include the specific date by which you need the material when you submit the request.

CISTI Source: DIY interlibrary loan service

CISTI Source is a document delivery service from the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information. 17,000+ journals are available and many subjects are covered. The majority of content is in Science, Technology and Medicine. Date coverage is 1993 to the present, with weekly updates. Use CISTI Source if the article you want is not available locally (postgraduates and staff only).

CARM requests

Some of the library's low-use collections are held in off-site storage in the CARM Centre at Bundoora. These items have the location CARM or UniM Bund P listed in the library catalogue. To make a request please complete the following form:

University of Melbourne theses

Information about accessing and obtaining copies of University of Melbourne theses can be found here.

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