Interlending & Document Supply

Current staff and students of University College London.

External users: London Mathematical Society members; MRC Clinical Trials and Prion Unit members; NHS members covered by the UCL Library Service Level Agreement; "Writing-up" Ph.D. students.

Non-members of the University are not allowed to use this service and should use the interlending arrangements provided either by their public library, or by their employing/teaching institution.

Supply cost - current UCL staff/students/NHS will be charged £3.00 for each satisfied request (i.e. one which results in us providing you with the material which is supplied from another library).

PhD students writing-up and other users (if permitted) the charge will be £12.00

This is a subsidised cost as UCL Library Services is currently charged £13.30 for each book and £9.90 for a photocopy supplied by an UK library.

• Staff and students of UCL : £3.00
• Staff of UCLH : £3.00
• PhD students writing up : £12.00
• Other users (if permitted) : £12.00

NB You will still be liable for the ILL charge if the item has been received, but you no longer require the item, as UCL Library Services will have already paid the supplying library for the material supplied.

Fines - interlending items are charged in the same way and at the same rate as UCL Library Services standard loans - currently 20p per day.

Renewals - if the lending library agrees a £3.00 additional charge may be incurred.

Online form

Fill in an online request form. To access the form:

• Sign-in to Explore
• Choose ... from the top menu
• Select 'INTER LIBRARY LOAN REQUEST' from the options which appear

Once you have signed in, choose the material type you want to request, either a Book (for a whole book or chapter) or an Article (for a journal article).

Complete a separate request form for each item:

• multi-volume books, one form per volume
• journal articles, one form per article
• multi-articles in a journal issue/conference proceedings, one form per issue/conference
• please add ISBN's for books and ISSN's for journals as it speeds up the request.

(UK copyright law does not allow more than one article to be photocopied from the same bound issue/volume. A copyright fee will be have to be paid if more than one article is requested from the same bound issue/volume. Fees vary depending on publisher agreements)

Many UK PhD theses can be accessed via the British Library Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS) and researchers can order them directly from them.

Other UK theses (MPhil/MA/MSc) may be available from the awarding university library. If an original thesis is supplied it will be restricted to reference use only in the Science Library.

USA PhD theses pre-2001 may be available as a microfiche copy from the British Library Document Supply Service. Many American universities will not lend their original copies of theses. If an original thesis is supplied it will be restricted to reference use only in the Science Library. Many full text copies of USA PhD theses can be found via the ProQuest database or copies can be purchased by researchers direct via Proquest

Theses from other countries may be available from the awarding university libraries. If an original thesis is supplied it will be restricted to reference use only in the Science Library.

University of London PhD theses may be accessed via the British Library Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS) and researchers can order directly from them. Otherwise the original thesis may be consulted at the awarding UL institution library but please note that an appointment may be required prior to visiting.

Copies of University College London PhD and MPhil theses are held by the UCL Library, check our theses page for further details.

A limit of twelve ongoing requests for UCL students, twenty for UCL staff, with no limit on the total number of requests can be made. This applies so long as the requester's library record is current, has no outstanding charges and is entitled to use the interlending service.

The speed of supply varies greatly, depending on how difficult it is to trace a lending location and on how quickly other libraries respond to our requests. The average delivery time for an article is 3-4 days but could be the same day for electronic items if the request form has been filled in correctly (see Electronic copies section for more details), a book 1-2 weeks, but some items can take much longer based on there geographical location.

Please plan ahead and do not leave requesting material to the last minute. Staff cannot always say, when asked, when a requested item can be expected to arrive.

Information about your UCL loans, reservations, cash transactions, and current ILL requests can be found by checking 'My Library Account' within Explore and checking the 'Requests' tab.

Your can filter your requests by using the 'Request Type' and 'ILL' to just see ILL requests. Your ILL requests will also display there progress such as:

• ILL. Created borrowing request = your request has been received but has not been worked on. This is the first stage and at this point you can still cancel your request without incurring a charge.
• ILL. Local holding = your request cannot be processed because the catalogue states UCL library already holds this material. We will double check this for you and email you if this is the case.
• ILL. Request sent to partner = your request has been actioned and sent to a partner library to obtatin the material you requested.  At this point you cannot cancel your request without a charge.
• ILL. Physically received by library = your request has arrived and can be either picked up or viewed in the library mentioned.
• ILL. Delivered = your request has been electronically sent to you via email.  You also have the option to download the material again (max. 3 times) in the latest version of Explore (coming in March).

A notification will be sent to your UCL e-mail account informing you either of any delays relating to your request, or the arrival of an item for collection

Alternatively, you can contact the staff of the ILDS Office for further information.

The form and language in which items are supplied are often beyond our control.  If you require a require certain conditions then please add the detail in the 'Comment' box on the ILL form eg I require a book for home use only not reference use; or maybe in a specific langauge only.

Books can generally be borrowed but some libraries supply them for reference use only in the library. Some material, especially reports and theses may be supplied as microfilm or microfiche. Some rare, valuable, or fragile items are lent on condition that they are used in the Library only. This restricted access material is available for consultation only in the Science Library. 

Articles/chapters we will try to send to you electronically but please make sure you use the correct form. Click 'Book' for Chapters and the 'I only need a specific chapter or pages' button; for journal articles click 'Article'.  For both make sure you have the 'Format' box as 'Digital' and that you have added the ISBN for a book and ISSN for a journal (as well as page numbers, volume, year) as this will speed up your request.

Occasionally libraries will supply articles as photocopies (which can be kept).

We will endeavour to supply you with electronic copies of journal articles or book chapters where possible.  To make this service faster for you there are few things you can do.

On the ILL request form make sure you have:

• Selected the 'Format' box as 'Digital'
• For chapters from books click 'Book' and the 'I only need a specific chapter or pages' button; include the ISBN number and the page numbers required.
• For journal articles click 'Article'; include the ISSN number and the journal year, volume, issue and page numbers.

One of the places we obtain electronic articles is from the British Library so please register with them before making a request for something electronic as this also speeds up the process, it is free to do and only takes a few seconds.

For further details:

• Inter-library Loan Journal Article Delivery from the British Library

You will be emailed when your item has arrived.  You can check on the status of your request by checking 'My Library Account' within Explore. Information about your UCL loans, reservations, cash transactions and ILL requests can be found in this way.

Your ILL requests will also display there progress such as:

• ILL. Created borrowing request = your request has been received but has not been worked on. This is the first stage and at this point you can still cancel your request without incurring a charge.
• ILL. Local holding = your request cannot be processed because the catalogue states UCL library already holds this material. We will double check this for you and email you if this is the case.
• ILL. Request sent to partner = your request has been actioned and sent to a partner library to obtatin the material you requested.  At this point you cannot cancel your request without a charge.
• ILL.Physically received by library = your request has arrived and can be either picked up or viewed in the library mentioned.
• ILL. Delivered = your request has been electronically sent to you via email.  You also have the option to download the material again (max. 3 times) in the latest version of Explore (coming in March).

The £3.00 ILL charge has to be paid on collection or as soon as you have received your reqeust in the case of electronic delivery. For further details see the How to pay section.

NB You will still be liable for the £3.00 ILL charge if the item has been received, but you no longer require the item.

Most items may be borrowed, but some rare or valuable items may be consulted only.  We do not decide which items are borrowable that is decided by the library that lends the item to us.  If you need an item to be borrowable only then please add this on the ILL request form in the 'Comment' box.

A borrowable inter-library loan, when issued, will be included in the total borrowing limit.

Reference items can only be consulted whilst the Science Collection Point is open and must be returned to the Collection Point Desk after each consultation before the Collection Point Desk closes. Check the opening times for the Science Colllection Point

Requests supplied as a photocopy are usually for retention.

Interlending charges (see How much does it cost? above) will be added to the requester's library record on receipt of the requested item.

Payment should be made by cash/cheque/credit card at the Issue Desk/Collection Point. 

Staff payments can be made by Inter-Departmental Transfer (IDT), this must be organised in advance of any ILL requests being submitted. UCL staff should speak to their Departmental Administrator for further information about IDTs, then contact the ILDS Office

NB The requester will still be liable for the £3.00 ILL charge if the item has been received, but no longer required. Also if the request has already been sent to a partner library.

In certain circumstances the period for which an item has been lent to us can be extended. Requests for renewals must be made to the ILDS Office (see the Interlending contacts and enquiries section below) three to four days before the item is due for return; however, renewals are not always granted by the lending library.
A £3.00 additional charge may be incurred.

Loanable items must be returned on time to the Science Collection Point. Items must not be returned in the Book Return.

The British Library Document Supply Service imposes a heavy charge for lost items, or items returned late. If such charges are incurred they will be passed on to the applicant.

Fines are charged on interlending items in the same way and at the same rate as standard loans from a UCL Library.

When an inter-library loan request is first submitted you still have the option to cancel the request by going to 'My Library Account' looking at 'Requests' and clicking the 'Cancel' buttom next to the ILL request. Once an inter-library loan request has been processed and the 'Cancel' option has dissapperared it may not always be possible to cancel, therefore, please inform the ILDS Office as soon as a request is no longer required.

If we are unable to cancel the request due to the item already having been sent by the supplying library, the ILL charge will have to be paid as the UCL Library will already have paid for the supplied request.

The ILDS Office will cancel requests when an item requested is held in one of the UCL central campus site libraries; is held locally; if the supplier has replied the item requested is unavailable.