Using Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan is a PSU Libraries’ subsidized service which supports the scholarly research and curriculum needs of current Penn State faculty, staff and students. Interlibrary Loan supplements the services offered by the PSU Libraries and should be used when your needs cannot be met with the Libraries’ resources. Material received through Interlibrary Loan is by permission of the lending library. Every effort should be taken to be good stewards of the borrowed material. Interlibrary Loan staff process requests daily Monday through Friday. Interlibrary Loan reserves the right to limit the number of requests processed per day for an individual.^[1]

Interlibrary Loan designates Extension faculty and staff as “World Campus & Distance Researchers.”^[2].

Borrow, delivery, and return procedures for Extension faculty and staff using Interlibrary Loan and the items that may and may not be requested through Interlibrary Loan are discussed further in this chapter. More details on the Interlibrary Loan policies and procedures for “World Campus & Distance Researchers” are available here.

Borrow

• You must have both My Library Account and an ILLiad account (an Interlibrary Loan account that you can create here, and that will require your Penn State log in.)
• You need to keep a current address in both accounts, and specify your campus location (World Campus) and pick up location.
• For items you find through library resources, simply click “I Want It”, “Request” or “Get It!” buttons to submit requests.^[3]

Delivery

• Books will be sent via UPS to the address in your account but will not be shipped outside North America.
• Articles will be scanned and delivered to you in your ILLiad account.
• You can sign up for UPS My Choice® to track UPS shipment.^[4]

Return

• You can return the item on site at any PSU Library or by mail.
• A return mailing label will be included with the item.
• You are responsible for the shipping costs and for returning borrowed materials by the due date.
• You are responsible for any damage, so please wrap the items securely.
• Return items to:
  Interlibrary Loan
  127 Paterno Library, Curtin Rd.
  University Park, PA 16802^[5]

Items that may be requested through Interlibrary Loan

Please note: All items are subject to recall at any time by the lending library.

• Loans of Books
• Copies of Journal and Newspaper articles  (University Libraries reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.)
• Loans of Dissertations/Theses
• Loans of Newspaper Microfilm
• Loans of older journal volumes^[6]

Items which cannot ordinarily be obtained through Interlibrary Loan

• Textbooks
• Entire volumes of (recent) periodicals
• Reference books
• Very old or rare books
• Computer software (including language programs)
• Manuscripts
• Theses/Dissertations from some universities
• E-books (requests for E-books will be switched to the physical/bound volume format)^[7]