Interlibrary Loan
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.
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. The following items can be requested:
- Items not available in the Brandeis collections
- Items owned by Brandeis but checked out or missing
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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 or use the “Brandeis and More” drop-down option.
- 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)" at the top of the screen to get to a blank request form.
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. Please contact borrowing@brandeis.edu if you have any questions.
Requesting Digital Items with Interlibrary Loan
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 through Scan on Demand or items that are not available at Brandeis. If the item is not available at Brandeis, you can usually access it from another library through interlibrary loan.
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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 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 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.
You will receive an email when your PDF is ready for access.
Interlibrary Loan Policies
Borrowers are responsible for returning interlibrary loan materials on time and in good condition.
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Interlibrary loan materials not returned 60 days past the due date will be declared lost. The user’s interlibrary loan 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.
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 Interlibrary Loan staff at ill@brandeis.edu before purchasing a replacement.
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.
Copyright
By using the Interlibrary Loan service 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.