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Interlibrary Loan and Scan on Demand

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) offers all Brandeis, faculty, staff, and students free access to materials needed for coursework and scholarly research which are not currently available in the Brandeis Library but are available at other libraries worldwide.

Scan on Demand (formerly Document Delivery) is available for all Brandeis faculty, staff, and students. With Scan on Demand, you can request scanned chapters and articles from print or microform materials in the Brandeis Library collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Requesting Physical Items with Interlibrary Loan

You can request physical materials in any format, including books, DVDs, CDs, recordings, scores, dissertations, and microforms.

What can be requested:

Items not available in the Brandeis collections.
Items owned by Brandeis but checked out or missing

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How to request physical items not at the Brandeis Library

Ways to Request Materials

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 Through Interlibrary Loan 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)" at the top of the screen to get to a blank request form.
If you don’t want to fill out the blank request form, you can also try searching for your item in WorldCat.

WorldCat

WorldCat is a comprehensive database of materials held by libraries worldwide. You can search WorldCat to locate materials in other libraries.

To request materials through WorldCat:

Simply search for the title using the search box at the top of the page.
Once you have located your item click on the title to open the record.
To request this item, click the “Get It through Brandeis Library” button. This will bring you to a OneSearch record for the item.
Scroll down to the “Get it from Interlibrary Loan” section to make a request.

Picking Up Items

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. As of July 7th, 2023 all contactless lockers are temporarily out of commission and items must be picked up from the Information and Borrowing Desk. Please contact borrowing@brandeis.edu for any questions related to the contactless lockers.

Requesting Digital Items with Interlibrary Loan and Scan on Demand

You can request individual chapters or articles from books, journals, conference proceedings, theses, dissertations, reports, newspapers, or microfilm. These requests can be for items that are in the Brandeis Library or items that are not available at Brandeis. If the item is not available at Brandeis, we can usually get it for you from another library through interlibrary loan.

You will receive an email when your PDF is ready for access.

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How to request digital items from the Brandeis Library or from other libraries

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

OneSearch

If you now see the item in your results, click on the title, then scroll down to the Get It Through Interlibrary Loan 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)" at the top of the screen to get to a blank request form.

Library Databases

First, search for your item in OneSearch or a library database.

If in a library database, click the Get It button to see if the article is available in OneSearch.
If 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.

Scan on Demand Requests (Scanned chapters or articles from Brandeis-owned physical items)

Search for the item in OneSearch.
Click on the title.
In the Get it from Interlibrary Loan and Scan on Demand section, click on one of the request options for digital content. (If you’re not logged in, you’ll need to do so in order to see this option.)
Fill out the form and click “Send Request.”

Copyright

By registering to use Interlibrary Loan services and submitting requests for materials, users accept responsibility for complying with United States Copyright Law.

Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of those specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Interlibrary Loan and Scan on Demand Policies

Borrowers are responsible for returning ILL materials on time and in good condition.

Overdue Items

ILL materials not returned 60 days past the due date will be declared lost. The user’s ILL account will be blocked and they will not be able to request materials until the overdue item is returned.

It is very important to return borrowed materials on time. Failure to return materials on time damages Brandeis’ relationship with other libraries and compromises Brandeis’ ability to borrow materials from them in the future. Lending libraries can, and do, block us from borrowing any more items if we have very overdue books. This adversely affects all Brandeis students, faculty and researchers.

Lost ILL Items

If an item borrowed through Interlibrary Loan is lost, the borrower is responsible for the replacement cost of the material as determined by the lending library. Replacement costs are typically $100 per book, but that amount can differ depending on the library and the item. Some libraries will not accept replacement copies so please contact ILL staff at ill@brandeis.edu before purchasing a replacement.

Recalled Items

Sometimes lending libraries recall books because they are needed by their own patrons or for reserve. These books must be returned immediately. We will send you an email message telling you that the book has been recalled and that the due date has changed.

Recalled Textbooks

If the book recalled by the lending library is a textbook, or is needed for their course reserves, we will tell you that it is a textbook recall. If you do not return a recalled textbook by the new due date, you will be charged the replacement cost of the book as determined by the lending library. This charge will not be refundable, even if you do return the book after the new due date. If you need an exception for extraordinary circumstances such as illness, please contact ill@brandeis.edu as soon as possible.