Library

OneSearch

Interlibrary loan requests are made in OneSearch.  

Start by searching for your item in OneSearch. If you don’t see your searched-for item, select the “Expand your search to include items you can request from other libraries” option that appears above the top of your search results.

• If you now see the item in your results, click on the title, then scroll down to the "Get it from interlibrary loan and Scan on Demand" section to make a request.
• If you still don’t see the item you’re looking for in the results, click "Looking for a specific item that you can't find? Request it from another library (interlibrary loan)" above your search results to get to the blank request form.

Library Databases

• If in a library database, click the Brandeis Access button to see if the article is available in OneSearch.
• If the Brandeis Library does not have the item, scroll down to the “Get it from Interlibrary Loan and Scan on Demand” section to make a request.

Picking Up Materials

You will receive an email when your item has arrived and you can collect it from the Information and Borrowing Desk on the first level of the Goldfarb Library. Please contact borrowing@brandeis.edu if you have any questions.

To request an article or book chapter, start by searching in OneSearch or in a library database.

OneSearch

Start by searching for your item in OneSearch. If you don’t see your searched-for item, select “Expand your search to include items you can request from other libraries” at the top of the screen.

• If you now see the item in your results, click on the title, then scroll down to the Get it from Interlibrary Loan and Scan on Demand section, click on “Request a digital chapter or pages.” If you are not logged in, you’ll need to do so in order to see this option.
• If you still don’t see the item you’re looking for in the results, click "Looking for a specific item that you can't find? Request it from another library (Interlibrary Loan)" at the top of the screen to get to a blank request form.

Library Databases

First, search for your item in a library database.

• If in a library database, click the Brandeis Access button to see if the article is available in OneSearch.
• If the Brandeis Library does not have the item, scroll down to the “Get it from Interlibrary Loan and Scan on Demand” section to make a request.

Note: Not all books have eBook versions, and some publishers don’t allow ILL
sharing of eBooks.

To request an eBook via Interlibrary Loan:

1. Log in to OneSearch (at top right of page in the blue bar)
2. Search for the title you want and choose Brandeis and More at the right end of the search bar.
3. If the book is available as an eBook, you will see a Get an eBook request tile as well as the usual Get a physical copy request tile:
4. Click on the Request It button. A Request eBook Version form will open up.
   Add a volume number and/or notes if needed, and click Send. That’s all!
   Ebooks will be supplied as a pdf files within two days and you will receive email
   notifications when they are ready for viewing and downloading. The eBook files
   will be available for 30 days, just like digital chapters or journal articles.
   If you prefer a physical copy of the book, choose the "Get a physical copy" tile instead.

You can request almost anything that is either not owned by, or not available at, Brandeis.
We can’t guarantee that we will always obtain rare, old or foreign language materials, but we will try very hard to get them. Sometimes, the Brandeis Library will even purchase an item. 

Items that Brandeis owns and are available cannot be requested.  We also cannot fill requests for PsycTests and Harvard case studies. 

Interlibrary loan (ILL) is available to all Brandeis, faculty, staff, and students. If you are unable to access these services but believe you should be eligible, please contact the Interlibrary loan department at ill@brandeis.edu.

Log in to your OneSearch account. 

• Click on the “Requests” tab.  
• Find your item on the list. Brief information about the item’s status will be listed next to the title.
• For more detailed information on the item and to track the progress of your request, click on the down arrow on the right. 
• For digital items such as articles or book chapters, you will see a “Download” Link on the right when your item has arrived and can be downloaded. You will also receive an email when it is ready.
• For books and other physical items, there will be a message that says, “Available for pickup” when the item has arrived at Brandeis. (You will also receive an email about this.) 
• To find the due date of a book or physical item that you have already picked up, you will need to go to the “Loans” page of your OneSearch account.  Items that are checked out to you will no longer appear on the “Requests” page. 

You do not need to register for an interlibrary loan account. All current Brandeis, faculty, staff, and students can request materials by signing into OneSearch with their Brandeis username and password.

The interlibrary loan service has a partnership with the Commonwealth Catalog (ComCat). ComCat consists of the public libraries and a few academic libraries in Massachusetts. This gives us easy access to their collections.

Just submit your interlibrary loan request and interlibrary loan staff will do the rest. However, items borrowed from ComCat libraries have loan periods of only one month and no renewals.

Yes. Submit the interlibrary loan request form and include any extra information that helps identify or locate the item in the Notes field. Interlibrary loan staff will review the request, and contact you if they have questions.

If you need help locating and identifying rare, old, foreign, or unusual materials, including microfilm, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Interlibrary loan staff at ill@brandeis.edu.

We cannot guarantee to process more than 20 interlibrary loan requests per day per patron, due to the large number of requests we receive.

It typically takes between 3-15 days to get books and other physical items. Rare and old materials may be more difficult to get and can take longer. Incomplete request forms can also delay requests.  

If you need help locating and identifying rare, old, foreign, or unusual materials, including microfilm, please don’t hesitate to contact the interlibrary loan staff at ill@brandeis.edu. 

It typically takes between one to five days to get articles and book chapters from other libraries. Scans from Brandeis print resources will be available within two business days. Scans from microfilm may take a little longer. 

You will receive an email notification when the article or book chapter is ready. They are delivered electronically as PDFs and can be downloaded directly from the email notification, or from your OneSearch account. You have 30 days to view or download articles or book chapters before they are automatically deleted from the system.

You will receive an email notification when the article or book chapter you requested is ready. They are delivered electronically as PDFs and can be downloaded directly from the email notification or from your OneSearch account:

• Log into your OneSearch account
• Click on the “Requests” tab
• Click the “Download” link on the right.

Learn more about interlibrary loan policies.

Yes, you can request textbooks. However, textbooks (especially current editions) can be extremely hard to get. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to borrow a textbook for you or that it will arrive by the time your class begins. 

Textbooks may also be recalled at any time by the lending library. If a textbook is recalled by the lending library, you must return it before the new due date or you will be charged the replacement cost. Replacement costs for recalled textbooks are non-refundable, even if you return the book after the new due date.

If Brandeis owns a copy of a textbook that we are unable to borrow through interlibrary loan, and our copy is checked out to another library, we will ask the other library to return our copy for you.

Sometimes lending libraries send special materials to us on condition that they are used only in the library. These materials are marked “In Library Use Only.” Sometimes we also see books where photocopying is not allowed, or only selected pages may be copied. It is important to respect special conditions as set by the lending library so Brandeis can maintain a good relationship with them and can continue to borrow items in the future.

“In Library Use Only” items can be retrieved from the Information & Borrowing Desk just like other interlibrary loan items. However, they must be used within the library and brought back to the Information & Borrowing Desk in between uses to be kept on hold for you.

Not all interlibrary loan items are renewable. The lending library decides the loan period and renewal policies for items they lend. To find out if your item is renewable, check the “Loans” section of your OneSearch account. 

To request a renewal:

• Sign in to your OneSearch account
• Click on “Loans”
• If requesting renewal is an option for that item, you should be able to click the “Renew” link on the right-hand side of the page.

Most renewals are not immediate. A renewal request is sent to the lending library and it is approved at their discretion. The request process can sometimes take several days. Please allow yourself adequate time by requesting renewals up to two weeks in advance of the due date.

• If a renewal is approved, you will receive an email with the updated due date. 
• If a renewal is not approved, you will receive an email asking you to return the item. If you need this item longer, please submit another interlibrary loan request and we will do our best to get you another copy. 

Due to copyright restrictions, we can only supply two chapters, or up to 10% of the total pages from one book, whichever is more.

If you are a student with a print disability or you think you may have one and are looking for a digital copy of a complete book for your coursework, please make a request to Student Accessibility Support by emailing access@brandeis.edu. 

If you need a digital version of a whole book that seems to be available in print format only, please see the question “Can I get a scan of a whole book?” below.

We cannot provide scans of whole books, but we will check to see if an e-version of the book is available already. If there is no e-version, we will check with you first to see if a print book is acceptable. Please tell us in the notes if an e-version is needed.

If you are a senior honors student or a researcher and you need an ILL book (not text books or materials needed for class) for an extended period of time, please email ill@brandeis.edu. In special circumstances, we will reach out to the supplying library and ask them. Please don’t keep the book past the due date, that hurts our relationships with our partner libraries.