ILL FAQ
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) allows patrons to obtain materials such as books, articles, and microfilm that are not available from Benner Library from other libraries.
Books, theses, periodical articles and some materials reproduced in microform, such as newspapers, may be borrowed in accordance with the US copyright law. Books owned by ONU that are currently checked out or are designated missing or lost in the library catalog may also be requested.
The following types of materials may not be borrowed through interlibrary loan: e-books, non-circulating materials in the reference collection, and reserve items; entire issues or volumes of periodicals; materials for reserve, group, or extended use; and archival materials. The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research". If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.
Current ONU undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff may use this service. Alumni and community patrons are not eligible for interlibrary loan services. We encourage these patrons to use the interlibrary loan services of their local public library.
Students who live more than 30 miles from campus and are enrolled in online courses may request delivery of ILL books to their home by using the drop-down option in the IShare request, and selecting the “Mail: Online Students Only” option. Students will be responsible for the cost of returning the book to ONU.
If your book is not available in the IShare catalog, we recommend buying or renting your textbooks when possible. You can also ask your instructor to place a copy in course reserves.
Yes.
Faculty may request a library proxy account so that research assistants can request and check out interlibrary loan materials on their behalf. Faculty maintain responsibility for these materials. Contact the circulation department to set up the account.
ONU ILL services are free to all current Olivet students, faculty, and staff.
For all IShare requests, log into your library account and look under Pending Requests. For all other requests, contact the ILL dept. for more information.
For articles: If working in a database, use the check for full text links first to make sure the article fulltext is not available. If not, click on the “Request this item (ILL)” link to request. For books: Place requests from the WorldCat catalog by clicking on the ILL icon and filling out the request form. Contact ill@olivet.edu for assistance.
Articles pdfs will be sent to your ONU email. We do not send to personal emails.
For loans in the IShare consortium: Books are loaned for 16 weeks maximum. It is recommended that you go into your account every 4 weeks and renew your items, however the system will automatically renew for you up to 16 weeks. For loans outside of the IShare system: The loan period is determined by the lending library and is usually between three and six weeks. One renewal for two additional weeks may be requested before the due date subject to the lending library’s approval. Instructions to renew are printed on every green slip placed in the item upon checkout.
Factors that affect delivery time include the number of libraries that own the item, the demand for the material, and the distance of the supplying library from ONU. Articles arrive in an average of 1-3 calendar days. IShare requests should arrive in 2-3 days. Non-IShare items arrive in an average of 8 calendar days, but your request may take more or less time. We cannot guarantee the arrival date of any item and suggest that you place your requests well ahead of any deadlines.
We will send you an email when your item arrives. Articles and book chapters are usually delivered as pdfs. Books should be picked up promptly at the ONU library circulation desk in order to make use of the entire loan period.
Document Delivery is a service that allows you to request scanned copies of articles and book chapters from ONU’s print collections. If the material is not otherwise available online, the library staff will send you pdfs of articles and book chapters within the limitations of copyright law.
