Inter Library Loans

The Inter Library Loan Service is available to help you obtain material not held by the University Library.

The service is available to staff and students of the University of Northumbria with a valid Library card, and covers a wide range of material such as books; journal articles; conference papers; and theses.

Only material to support academic study, teaching or research may be requested.

Before you submit an Inter Library Loan request, please check our catalogue to make sure that we do not have a copy of the item you require in our stock and be selective in choosing which items you require.  The costs of obtaining ILL are met by the Library on your behalf.

Who can use this service?
The service is available to Northumbria staff, Postgraduate Research and Masters students, and Undergraduate students from Semester 2 of Year 2, who are studying at the Newcastle campuses or who are enrolled on a distance learning programme.

Note for Distance Learning students: Whilst journal articles and book chapters requested through Inter Library Loan will be posted out to you, books and any items for loan can only be collected from and returned to the library in person.

How many applications can I make?
Undergraduate and Postgraduate taught Students eligible to use the service may submit up to 30 requests.
Staff, Postgraduate Research students and PhD students may submit up to 50 requests per academic year. Contact your Library Liaison Adviser if your research requires additional loans.
Inter Library Loans are not included in your standard loan count so the amount of items you can borrow from our own stock is not affected.

How can I apply for an Inter Library Loan?
Submit an Inter Library Loan request using the online form available in the MyLibrary section of MyNorthumbria. Select the relevant form for the type of item you require: book, journal, thesis, or conference paper. If you are unsure please ask at an Ask4Help desk, call Ask4Help on 0191 2274125 or email ask4help@northumbria.ac.uk. If MyNorthumbria is unavailable please ask a member of staff at the Ask4Help desk for a request form.

Inter Library Loans will not be processed if you have outstanding fines. Please ensure any outstanding charges are cleared before placing a request.

Copyright and Inter Library Loans
You can choose whether to request an entire work (e.g. book, journal issue, conference proceeding) or just a copy of a specific chapter or journal article. In order to comply with copyright law you cannot be supplied with a copy of more than:

• One article from a journal issue
• One paper from a particular conference proceedings
• One chapter from a book

Therefore, if you require more than one item from the same publication you should request a loan of the full item and we will attempt to obtain it for you.

Teaching
If you require a copy of a work to use in your teaching (either to have it digitised or photocopied for students, or displayed on your lecture slides) please make your request via the Copyright Clearance Centre.

How long will it take to supply my request?
Our main supplier can usually satisfy requests within 2-10 days depending on availability. If we have to try several locations it may take longer. If a worldwide search is required this may add to the supply time. If we have failed to locate a copy in this country we would normally ask you whether you wish us to search abroad (provided the item is not solely a UK publication).

To speed up your requests it is important that you supply us with as much accurate bibliographic detail as you can. Please ensure that you state where the reference was cited so that, if necessary, we can quote it to our supplier.  

How will I know when the item has been supplied?

Students
Journal articles, book chapters, and individual conference papers for students are sent direct to the term time address we hold on your library record. Please ensure your address is up to date on your student record. 

Academic staff and Postgraduate researchers
In a pilot service for academic staff and postgraduate researchers articles, book chapters, and individual conference papers from the British Library are supplied in a Secure Electronic Document format via a link sent to your University email address. For further details see the help guide on the right of this page 'SED instructions for pilot project'.

All eligible users
Books, whole journal issues, and full conference proceedings will be supplied for loan. We will notify you of its arrival by email to your University email account and ask you to come to the Library to collect it. Items must be collected during staffed hours from the ground floor Ask4Help desk at City Campus or from the ground floor Ask4Help desk at Coach Lane Campus. During self service opening, items can be returned to the Welcome Desk in the library at both City Campus and Coach Lane.

How long can I borrow items for?
Loan periods are set by the lending library and in some cases may be supplied for use in the Library only. We must adhere to any regulations governing the loan of the item. Most libraries will lend their stock for a month unless it is in heavy demand in their own institution.

What happens if there are problems with my request?
If we have any problems relating to your request we will contact you for further information.

Contact the Inter Library Loan Service on 0191 227 4140. If you require more information please feel free to call us or email us at ask4help@northumbria.ac.uk.