Inter-Library Loans (ILLs) are items that we request from another library or information service because we do not hold that book/journal/article in our collections or subscriptions at DMU. Our Service Level Agreement sets out the aims of the ILL Service at DMU Libraries so that you know what to expect from us.
ILL processing and delivery
- Please provide full and accurate information about the item you are requesting otherwise this can delay the whole process considerably.
We aim to process all eligible ILL requests within 24 hours of receipt (weekdays only). Please see the notes below on Entitlement and Item Types as this will affect whether we can actually process your request or not.
- We require a minimum of 14 calendar days to process, apply for, and supply your items to you. We cannot process any ILL request which has a date of less than 14 days before its Last Useful Date.
- The majority of our ILL items will be supplied to you within 14 days however we cannot guarantee this because the item may be on loan to another library, not yet published, or subject to copyright restrictions.
- It is your responsibility to collect, or to open and print, your ILL item within the specified period:
- Secure Electronic Documents (SEDs) are sent by email with a “one use only” link which will expire 30 days after the date of despatch from the British Library.
- Books must be collected and returned to us within the given Due Date, to avoid you incurring charges for the late return of the item.
- We will let you know ASAP if we cannot supply any ILL item.
Entitlement to ILL requests
You must be a Final Year Student, Postgraduate, Researcher, Visiting Academic, or Member of Staff registered at DMU in order to use this service. Other undergraduates should consult their Subject Librarian if they need to request an ILL.
We cannot process ILL requests if:
- you owe £15.01 or more in Library Charges.
- you have any items on loan that are overdue.
- you have more than the permitted number of concurrent ILL requests. If this happens, we will refer your request to your Subject Librarian for consideration. Please check your ILL Entitlements before placing your request.
Item types
We will aim to supply:
- Books - but do check our library catalogue first to see if we have it in stock at DMU
- Journal articles (paper) - but do check our library catalogue first to see if we have it in stock at DMU
- Journal articles (electronic) - but do check our E-publication finder first to see if we have access to it through our existing subscriptions
Please note that due to Copyright legislation, you are only permitted to request one article from any one issue of a journal. If you require more than one article we will have to request the whole issue for you (however some libraries may not permit this type of loan).
We cannot supply:
- Theses
- Conference Proceedings more than 5 years old (these are generally very difficult to locate and borrow)
- Books which have not yet been published: please wait until after the publication date.
- DVDs
Please be aware that we may have difficulty in supplying:
- Journals less than 12 months old, as these are often subject to publishers’ restrictions
