ILL Frequently Asked Questions

For information on ILLiad, see the ILLiad FAQ page.

Am I eligible to use ILL?

This service is available ONLY to current UST students, faculty, and staff. You must have a valid UST ID to place requests. You may be denied ILL service if you have unresolved overdues or if you abuse the service by not picking up the items that you order. Users with a "Friends of the Library" card, including alumni, are NOT eligible to use ILL services.

What can be requested?

You may request books, journal articles, and other library materials that are not owned by the University of St. Thomas Libraries. You may also request items that are owned by UST, but that are currently unavailable. Additionally, you may request copies of journal articles from the other UST libraries if the journals are not at the UST library you normally use.

Can I borrow theses and dissertations?

You may request theses and dissertations through Interlibrary Loan, but they are not always available. Typically only the library of the institution where the thesis was written has a copy. Some libraries do not loan these items. We get theses in print format whenever possible, but often they are only available for loan in microfiche or microfilm format. An alternative to interlibrary loan is the purchase option. See Options for Obtaining Theses and Dissertations for more information.

What kinds of things are hard to get through ILL?

Some items are hard to get through ILL. Examples of "hard to get" materials are: reference books, best sellers, very old (pre-20th century) and very new (current year) items, archival and manuscript material, genealogies and local histories, loans of entire issues of journals, computer software, audio and videocassettes, DVDs, CDs, LP records, and microforms.

How do I submit a request for a book?

Please consult CLICnet first to make sure that St. Thomas does not own the book you need. If you find the book you want on CLICnet, but it is not available at St. Thomas, please place an electronic hold (or request) for that book on CLICnet (click the Request button) and it will be sent to the St. Thomas library that you specify. For all other books, you may place your request using the ILLiad interlibrary loan system. You will need to set up your user profile the first time you use ILLiad. Please fill out the book request form as completely as possible, to avoid delays in processing your request.

Exception: if you are a Distance Education student, order all your books through ILLiad, because CLICnet has no way of indicating that you want the book mailed to you.

How do I submit a request for a journal article?

Please consult UST Journal Titles from A-Z before placing a request to make sure that St. Thomas does not own the issue of the journal you need. If St. Thomas owns it, you can find it in the stacks and make copies yourself, without wasting the time that an interlibrary loan would take. Also, you just might find the article you want online immediately. If St. Thomas owns the journal, but it is not located at the library you have chosen as your "pickup" library, or if it is not owned by St. Thomas, place your request using the ILLiad interlibrary loan system. You will need to set up your user profile the first time you use ILLiad. Please fill out the journal request form as completely as possible, to avoid delays in processing your request.

Are there any limits on how much I can request?

Yes, there are some constraints. Copyright law places limits on the amount that can be copied for you from one issue of a journal or from a book. See the next question for more information on how we handle this. Also, although we have set no limit on the number of ILLiad requests that you can place at one time, when we are busy, we may limit the number of your requests that we actually send out to other libraries to five per day. If that is the case, you may want to contact us, so that we send out your most important requests first.

If you are ordering lots of book loans for a long-term project, you might want to spread out your orders over time. You may find yourself in a bind if you have 20 books arrive at once and only 3-6 weeks to use them. Also, don't order book loans if you are about to leave the area for an extended period. It is a terrible waste of money to get books for you that have to be sent back and reordered at a later date.

How does Copyright Law affect ILL?

• Copyright law does place limits on how much the University of St. Thomas Libraries (or any library) can request for its users. According to the CONTU guidelines, we can request only five articles from any one journal title published in the last five years. So, for instance, if in 2010, you request five articles from one journal title published in the years 2005 through the present date, you will have used up St. Thomas's entire 2010 allotment for that journal. Fortunately, we can exceed this limit by paying copyright royalties to the publisher, which we do through the Copyright Clearance Center. (In 2008, on articles with copyright royalities, we paid copyright fees ranging from $6 to $46, but averaging about $21/article, on behalf of our patrons.)   
• Requesting multiple articles from one issue of a journal is especially problematic, because we pay royalties on all articles except the first (considered "fair use.") This can add up to over $100 very quickly. If you are ordering mutiple articles from one journal issue, we may try to get a loan of the issue rather than ordering all the articles for you.
• If you request multiple chapters from one book, we may try to get a loan of the book for you, rather than ordering all the articles for you.
• There are a number of websites where you can learn more about copyright, including Copyright at UST.

How long does ILL take?

It depends on a number of variables, including which libraries own the item you are requesting and how they will deliver it to us. In general, for books and other physical items, the libraries in our CLIC consortium can fill requests for us within two to three days. Other libraries in the Twin Cities will take two to seven days. Libraries outside the Twin Cities will take one to three weeks. Journal articles sent to us electronically can come faster. Keep in mind that if we have to query multiple libraries before finding one able to fill your request, it can lengthen the time considerably. This is why it is important that you give us an accurate "Need By" date. We will keep trying available locations until we fill the request, run out of locations, or run out of time. If you do not give us a "Need By" date, we will assume that you have a 30 day deadline.

How much does it cost?

We no longer charge for interlibrary loan service. This makes interlibrary loan a great bargain for you. But remember that UST is subsidizing the costs associated with ILL, so please order materials judiciously. Do not order items of dubious value to your research. In addition to the copyright fees described in a previous question, the UST libraries often pay fees to other libraries with whom we do not have reciprocal agreements of up to $30 for loans of books or for copies of articles. We also pay mailing costs for books obtained outside Minnesota. 

How can I check on the status of my request?

• To check on the status of book requests for which you have placed an electronic hold on CLICnet, call the Circulation Desk of the Library that you chose for your pickup location. The numbers are O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library 651-962-5494, Ireland Library 651-962-5450, and Minneapolis Campus Library 651-962-4642.
• To check on the status of requests that you requested using ILLiad, login to your ILLiad account. You will find detailed information there. If you wish to discuss the status of any request in ILLiad, please call the ILL office at 651-962-5405 or 651-962-5409. You may leave a message on voice mail if no one is in to receive your call.

How can I cancel my request?

You can cancel requests in ILLiad that haven't yet been sent to other libraries. You do this in your ILLiad account. If ILLiad does not allow the request to be cancelled because of its current status, please notify interlibrary loan staff directly. You can either call Faith @ 651-962-5405 or JoAnn @ 651-962-5409 or send an email to our departmental account libillosf@stthomas.edu The sooner you are able to cancel a request after you have submitted it, the more likely we will be able to stop action on the request and prevent needless expense and work.

How long are loan periods?

 For ILLiad loans from non-CLIC libraries, the average loan period is about three weeks, but can vary considerably, because each library follows its own policy in setting due dates. Please note that the due date is not dependent on when you pick the item up; it has already been set when the book is shipped to us. The longer you wait to pick an item up, the shorter the time you will have to use it.

For books from other CLIC libraries, the loan period is generally the same length as it is for materials checked out from St. Thomas Libraries: six weeks for students, and "end of the semester" for staff and faculty.

Can books be renewed?

Most items can be renewed, but it is up to the library that loaned the book to us.

ILLiad:

ILLiad books from non-CLIC libraries (identified by the white strip around the front cover) can be renewed if allowed by the lending library. Every library sets their own policy regarding renewals and loan periods of the books they lend. Some ILLiad books come to us pre-identified as "NO RENEWALS," and we pass that information on to you in the pickup email we send you and also on the white strip that we attach to the front cover of the book. You can ask for renewals online in your ILLiad account, if you request the renewal within a week before and after the due date. Otherwise, please call the Interlibrary Loan Office at 651-962-5405 (Faith) or 651-962-5409 (JoAnn) to ask if an extension is possible. Your renewal request has more chance of success if you ask for renewals on or shortly before the due date. 

TO RENEW A REQUEST ONLINE IN YOUR ILLIAD ACCOUNT: In the left frame, view your "Checked Out Items." From the resulting list, click on the Transaction Number of the item you wish to renew. If a renewal is allowed, a red "Renew Request" link will appear above the Transaction Information. [If no link appears, you will be unable to renew online.] Click on that link. You will be given a provisional due date of one extra week. This due date is temporary, and gives the interlibrary staff time to process the renewal. We send an eletronic message to the lending library, and wait for their staff to respond. They will tell us either "Yes," and give us a new due date, or "No," and ask us to return the book by the original due date. Then we will send you an email telling you the result of the renewal. It usually takes several days to completely process a renewal request.

CLICnet:

For books from other CLIC libraries, the renewal period is six weeks from date of renewal for students, and "end of the next semester" for staff and faculty. CLIC books can almost always be renewed unless someone else has placed a hold on the book or you have already renewed it the maximum number of times. You can renew books from other CLIC libraries online or by calling one of our Circulation Departments. The numbers are O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library 651-962-5494, Ireland Library 651-962-5450, and Minneapolis Campus Library 651-962-4642.

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How will I be notified when my book or article comes in?

You will be notified by email.

Where do I go to pick up my book or article?

All books and journal articles can be picked up at the Circulation/Service Desk of the Library (O'Shaughnessy-Frey, Ireland Library, or Keffer Library) that you specifed when you registered with ILLiad. Be prepared with your UST ID for checking out books. Please call us or send an email if you know you can't pick up your item in a timely manner. Also, it is helpful if you can let us know if you don't plan to pick up an item, because you no longer need it. We usually will send out a 2nd pickup e-mail if the item is lingering on the hold shelf. We will return books to the lending library if they have not been picked up by the due date. 

Where do I return the book when I am done with it?

Please return all interlibrary loan books to the Circulation/Service Desk of any of the UST Libraries. Please make sure that the strip around the front cover is still attached to the book. We need this strip to properly identify and clear your ILLiad record. The strip also has paperwork attached that we need for returning the book to the lending library. DO NOT RETURN BOOKS DIRECTLY TO THE LENDING LIBRARY. If you do, your loan record won't be cleared in ILLiad, because we won't know the book was returned.

What if I get an overdue notice?

Please return overdue items as soon as possible. UST's reputation in the Interlibrary Loan "world" depends in large part on how faithfully we adhere to other library's due dates. Please do not jeopardize our future borrowing privileges with other libraries by disregarding their due dates. Note that unresolved overdues may result in the loss of your ILL privileges. If you ignore overdue notices to the point of receiving a billing notice before returning the book, you may be assessed a $5-$15.00 processing fine. If you do not return the book, your student account will be assessed a $115.00 lost book fee.

What if I get an overdue notice, and I am sure I already returned the book?

If you get an overdue notice for an interlibrary loan book which you have already returned, please note the date that the overdue was sent to you. If you returned the book on or after that date, you can probably ignore the overdue. If you returned the book before that date, please call the library to make sure your record is cleared. For CLIC books, call the Circulation Desk of the library where you checked the book out (O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library 651-962-5494, Ireland Library 651-962-5450, or the Keffer Library 651-962-4642). For ILLiad books (with the white strip around the front cover), please call the Interlibrary Loan Office at 651-962-5405 (Faith) or 651-962-5409 (JoAnn). Please do not ignore multiple notices, especially the later billing notices.

What if I lose or damage an ILL book?

You will be billed $115.00 for a lost book through your UST account. In the case of damaged books, we will contact the lending library to see if they feel a damage fine is warranted. If it is, you will be billed for the amount they set through your UST account.