Library

Home / Find and Borrow / Borrow From Our Library / Lending for Other Libraries and Organizations

Lending for Other Libraries and Organizations

Interlibrary loan and Scan on Demand is a service through which outside libraries and organizations can request to obtain books and articles from the Brandeis Library.

Request Methods

The Brandeis Library uses an interoperable platform that allows us to take in requests from other libraries regardless of your local platform. We use RapidILL (including returnables), so Rapid is always a great choice for sending requests. For libraries that do not use Rapid, we can connect using an ISO standard where files containing request details are passed between the systems to facilitate the communication and continual updating of requests. If you’re interested in partnering with the Brandeis Library and setting up this connection, please email ill@library.brandeis.edu and we will be happy to test the connection with you before deployment. Our Z39.50/Alma availability info as well as our ISO info are listed below. Brandeis cannot receive requests via OCLC.

Expand All

Compatible Systems

Availability Checks

Expand All

Z39.50

Hostname: brandeis.alma.exlibrisgroup.com
Port: 1921
Database: 01BRAND_INST
Username: <<not applicable>>
Password: <<not applicable>>

Note: All holdings fields from attached holdings records are embedded in the bib record (below the bib data) when you access content via Z39.50. You will need to remove these manually if they do not suit your needs.

Alma

If you’re using Alma or Rapido for interlibrary loan, you can create a locate profile for Brandeis, which achieves the same thing as a Z39.50 connection. Here are the pertinent details for this connection:

Server: https://brandeis.alma.exlibrisgroup.com
Port: <<not applicable>>
Username: <<not applicable>>
Password: <<not applicable>>
Institution: 01BRAND_INST
Select the following checkboxes:
- Check item availability
- Ignore electronic and digital resources (while we do hope to offer materials from our electronic and digital collections, we are unable to do so outside of RapidILL until we get license metadata fully loaded into the system)
- Check item requestability
- Locate by fields
  - Locate only if all fields match = No
  - Check the following:
    - Title
    - Author
    - ISBN/ISSN
    - OCLC Number
    - LCCN

ISO Communication Settings

Costs

Articles or book chapters: No charge
Physical materials: No charge for North American libraries (United States, Canada, Mexico), $30 USD or 2.5 IFLA vouchers for all other international libraries. We accept checks, credit cards, and IFLA vouchers. IFLA vouchers may be returned with the book.

Loans will be made as staff time and work volume permit. If we expect a loan to take more than a few days to fill, we will contact the borrowing library with an estimated timeline.

Eligible Materials

We are happy to lend most circulating materials including, but not limited to, books, theses, dissertations, and microfilm. In most cases, we cannot lend non-circulating materials, which include bound or current serials, special collection materials, original newspapers, rare or archival materials, and any item that is in poor or fragile condition. Depending on circumstances, we may request that items are available only via digital fulfillment or library use only. Contact the University Archives and Special Collections for more information regarding access to items that are held in that location.

Length of Loans

Our standard loan period is 16 weeks with no renewals. We only recall items when absolutely necessary for course reserves or when we are unable to borrow a different copy of an assigned reading for a local patron. We are open to different arrangements depending on the circumstances with other libraries; however, this is our default.

Shipping

Our standard methods for shipping include the Massachusetts State Delivery Service and UPS. Borrowing libraries are encouraged to return materials by a trackable service. Borrowing libraries will be responsible for replacing materials lost in transit without confirmation of delivery to Brandeis.

Accessibility

When providing digital articles and chapters, our standard practice is to OCR all documents.

Right to Reject Requests

There are a variety of reasons we may need to cancel or reject a particular request. These reasons include the following:

For scans of book chapters, if the request exceeds a portion of the work that can be justified under fair use principles
Items may be lost or missing
Items may not be in a condition where they can be reasonably shipped or scanned