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.

Interlibrary loan provides free access to materials needed for coursework, scholarly research and personal enrichment which are not currently available in the Brandeis Library but are available at other libraries worldwide.  You can request materials in any format, including books, DVDs, CDs, recordings, scores, journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, and microforms.

The following items can be requested:

• Items not owned by Brandeis
• Items owned by Brandeis but checked out or missing

Please let interlibrary loan staff know in the Notes field of the interlibrary loan request form if you are requesting an item that is checked out, missing, or on reserve.

Items that Brandeis owns and are available cannot be requested. 

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 now has a partnership with the Commonwealth Catalog (ComCat). ComCat consists of the public libraries and a few academic libraries in Massachusetts. This gives us easier 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.