While doing research, you may come across materials (e.g. journal articles or books) that we do not have in the collection at Alexander Mack Library. This does not mean that you cannot use those materials for your research. The library provides a service called Interlibrary Loan (ILL) that allows you to request these materials from other libraries throughout the country.

ILL is a free service for faculty, staff, and students. However, community patrons may be required to pay a small fee for each item requested.

ILL Request Form

In order to request materials, you need to fill out an ILL request form. The link to this is located on the right side of the library’s homepage. There are also paper forms located at the reference desk.

This form allows you to request either a book or a journal article. The necessary fields are color coded (red for books, yellow for journal articles). Please make sure that you fill out the all the necessary fields (marked with an *). If you do not, you may not receive the correct materials.

Important: Remember to indicate by when you need the materials. That way you receive the materials by your deadline. However, also remember that ILL can take some time, up to two weeks in some cases. So, it’s a good idea to start your research early, especially if you know you’re going to need a lot of ILL materials.

Notification

You will be notified by email when your item arrives. It can be picked up at the library’s circulation desk. The loan period may be different from materials in the library’s general collection, so make note of the due date. If your request is a journal article, you do not need to worry about a due date. That copy of the article is yours to keep.