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InterLibrary Loan FAQ

Interlibrary Loan is a service through which UMB faculty, students and staff may borrow materials currently unavailable at Healey Library. 
Interlibrary loan borrows books from libraries all over the country and obtains photocopies of articles, usually in PDF format, and delivered to your desktop.

What is ILLiad?

ILLiad is the name of the software that Healey Library uses to manage its interlibrary loan service. It allows each customer on the system to have their own "Illiad" Interlibrary loan account.  Having your own account means you can track your requests both those in progress and those that have been completed.  You may also request renewals online by using your Illiad account. 

The Illiad acronym stands for  InterLibrary Loan internet accessible database.

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Who can use ILLiad 

Current students, faculty, and staff of UMass Boston may request materials through Interlibrary Loan. Alumni of UMass Boston, and students attending other institutions are NOT eligible to use Interlibrary Loan services at the Healey Library, and they should contact their current institution or their local public library for interlibrary loan service.

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How do I submit a request for interlibrary loan?

All ILL requests may be submitted via UMass Boston WorldCat or directly through your online Illiad account. A separate request must be submitted for each article or book needed.  You will log in to your Interlibrary Loan account with your last name and barcode on the Interlibrary Loan log in page. The first time you request an item you will be required to fill out a "First Time User Registration" with your contact information and preferences. 

This registration sets up your ILL account and needs to be filled out only once.  However be sure to update it when necessary -- for example if your email address changes.

Some of Healey Library's online databases will allow you to click right through to your Interlibrary Loan account log-on screen if you decide to request a particular article.  If you have already registered your Interlibray Loan account, the database will populate the request screen with the required bibliographic information from the citation so that you will not have to cut and paste or type in the information. 

UMass Boston WorldCat is a new service, a powerful global catalog that will connect you directly to your Healey Library's InterLibrary Loan account if you decide to request a book or article.  Look for this button in UMass Boston WorldCat: 

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Why do I need to log into an Interlibrary Loan account?

Your last name and Healey Library barcode allow us to give you secure access to information about your interlibrary loan requests. You are also able to edit your personal information such as your email address or phone number.   If you ever have a problem logging on to your Interlibrary Loan account with your last name and barcode send an email to library.ill@umb.edu

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How much does Interlibrary loan cost?

At the present time there is no charge to you for materials obtained through interlibrary loan. The Library absorbs most of the charges paid to obtain the materials needed by UMass Boston faculty, students and staff. In cases where the documents needed can only be obtained through an expensive purchase, you may be notified and referred to the appropriate source for the material.  Please be aware that although we have many agreements with other libraries which allow for the free exchange of materials, we also often pay from $10.00 - $25.00 per transaction when we locate needed materials outside of our memberships. 

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The book I need does not circulate in Healey Library. Can I borrow this through Interlibrary loan?

No, we will not request items that are owned and available in some manner at Healey Library.  This means we will not request items that are at Healey on course reserve or in the reference collection.

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Can I get dissertations through Interlibrary loan?

We are often successful in borrowing dissertations from other institutions. If the dissertation you need is not available for loan (we would notify you of this fact), and we may purchase it directly from Dissertation Express for the Healey collections.

Boston Public Library subscribes to the online full text version of Dissertation Abstracts International and it may be that the dissertation would be available through Boston Public.  However you would have to go to Boston Public Library to download the dissertation. The Boston Public is no longer able to provide remote downloading service

 

 

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How many requests can I place through Interlibrary loan? Is there a limit?

We have an request limit of 30 active requests per person at any one time. This ensures fair and equitable service to ALL of our users by assuring that no one person or research project monopolizes our services at any given time.

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How are materials delivered and notifications sent?

Articles are delivered electronically--usually to your Interlibrary Loan account, and sometimes directly to your email address. Books must be picked up and returned to the  Healey library circulation desk. Notifications of delivery of articles and books will be sent to the email address provided in your Interlibrary Laon account. You may also check the status of your requests within your Interlibrary Loan account by choosing the "Outstanding Requests" option on the left hand side of the screen after you log in to your account

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What are the loan periods and restrictions for interlibrary loan materials?

Loan periods are established by the lending library and usually vary between two to four weeks. These loan periods must be respected.  Some lenders will indicate right away that they will not renew the title and we indicate that on the book band you will find around all Interlibrary Loan books. You will not find a renewal option on those requests

Lending libraries sometimes require that their materials be used only in the library, or that they not be photocopied. Healey Interlibrary Loan  cannot waive such restrictions for individuals.

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What is the overdue policy on interlibrary loan materials?

Interlibrary Loan books are lent as a courtesy by another library. In order to maintain our reputation as a borrowing library, and our privilege to borrow, we must adhere to the due dates and restrictions imposed by that library. Please help us to keep good relationships with the libraries we borrow from by returning your materials in a timely manner.

Overdue notices are sent from the Interlibrary Loan office on the following schedule:

  • 1st Overdue is sent when an item is more than 5 days overdue.
  • 2nd Overdue notice is sent when an item is more than 10 days overdue.
  • 3rd Overdue notices are sent when an Interlibrary Loan item is more than 30 days overdue.

When the 3rd overdue notice is sent you will be automatically BLOCKED from using Interlibrary Loan services. A BLOCK on your Interlibrary Loan account  will also be placed for failure to return materials that have been RECALLED within 5 days of the recall notice or a notice that a renewal request has not been granted. All blocks on your Interlibrary Loan account  will be removed when the overdue material is returned.

If a book becomes very overdue we will add the charges for overdue fines & book replacement and processing to your Healey LIbrary account. At present the charges for fines are the same as those for Healey Library books 25 cents per day.  However the replacment charges are at the discretion of the lending library and some libraries have institutted a flat rate of $150 for replacment of any item lost through Interlibrary Loan.  These charges are added to your Healey Library account by the Interlibrary Loan office.

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How can I check the status of my request?

The ILLIad software provides tracking of current requests. Log into your account and your outstanding requests will be on default screen.  Choosing the Outstanding Requests option on the left side menu will also bring up current requests.  Click on the "Transaction Number" to view the full status information for a given request.

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How can I check to see what I've requested in the past?

Log into your Interlibrary Loan account and choose the "History Requests" option on the left side menu. We will keep requests online for several years to comply with record keeping requirements.

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Can I renew items?

Renewal requests should  be made prior to the due date of your item.   Renewal requests are granted by the lending library and not all libraries will renew.

To request a renewal:

  • Check the book band around the item to be sure there is no note indicating renewals are not allowed.
  • Be sure to ask for renewals before the book is due back at Healey
  • Go to Interlibrary Loan login  screen. and log in with your last name and barcode
  • Choose View/ Checked out items, from the menu column on the left hand side of the screen
  • Click on  the transaction number of the item you want to renew.  If the item can be renewed there will be a red button at the top of the screen RENEW which should be clicked to ask for renewal.
  • If you do not see that red button the book may not be renewed -either because the lender has denied renewals for their items or you may have requested a renewal after the due date of the book
  • If you feel you should be able to renew an item and you do not see the red renewal button at the top of the request,  you may send you renewal request to library.ill@umb.edu   Please include the transaction number of the request.

When the Interlibrary Loan department learns of the lending library decisions regarding renewal the department will inform you via email.
 

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I submitted a request with the wrong information. Can I change it?

Yes, as long as the request is still outstanding (staff have not processed the request)

  • Login to ILLiad using your user name and password.
  • Choose View/Modify Outstanding Requests under the main heading, Review Requests.
  • Choose the appropriate transaction number and then choose Edit Request.
  • Choose Submit Request so it can be processed by staff.
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I submitted a request but now I want to cancel it. Can I?

         That depends on the status of the request.  An item that has already been sent cannot be canceled.  Articles in many cases are delivered within 24 hours so one must cancel very promptly. To check if an item may be cancelled, perform the following steps:

  • Login to ILLiad using your user name and password
  • Choose View/Modify Outstanding Requests under the main heading, Review Requests.
  • Choose the appropriate transaction number and note its status.  If it is "awaiting request processing" it can be canceled. Then choose Cancel Request button. 
  • Remember to click "Submit Request" so the cancellaton can be processed by staff.

 

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How do I get my articles when they arrive?


Logon to your Interlibrary Loan account and choose "View/Download Electronically Received Articles" from the ILLiad Main Menu. This will give you a list of articles waiting to be viewed and downloaded  The Interlibrary Loan department will also email you when articles are delivered to your interlibrary Loan account. The email will explain how to retrieve the articles online.

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How much time do I have to cancel or modify a request?

Not much. Between regular business hours M - F , 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., staff generally act on submitted requests within four hours of receiving them. You will have more time to cancel or modify when you are submitting your requests after business hours.

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What is electronic delivery?

Most libraries ship photocopies of articles to us in electronic format.  The Illiad software allows us to  provide delivery of the PDF's of these articles to your Interlibrary Loan account..  You will receive an e-mail when an article has been placed in your ILLiad account for electronic retrieval.

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How do I keep track of the books I have out on InterLibrary loan so that I remember to return them on time?

There is no connection at this time between your Healey Library account and your Interlibrary Loan Iliad account - we're working on that!  For now, you must use your Interlibrary Loan account to track all your activity for interlibrary Loan. You can log on to your account and select items from the VIEW menu on the left whether it be "checked out items" or "outstanding request" or "history request" which means all the requests you have ever made of the system

If a book becomes very overdue, the charges for overdue fines & book replacement and processing will be added to your Healey Library account. 

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Do I have to find a library that has the material I need before I order it?

No.    The Interlibrary loan staff will search for a library that holds the item you've requested, and will order it for you. 

However, Using the new UMass Boston WorldCat system is a quick way of determining what is owned by UMass Boston and ordering those items you need that are not owned by Healey Library.

Simply search for a  specific item or for items on a topic,  and the system will let you know if it is held by Healey Library.  If not, you will see a button labelled which will take you directly to your Interlibrary Loan  account  AND will copy the citation information from the catalog record into the request form!

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Related tags: Off-Campus Users