About Interlibrary Loan at WWU

Interlibrary loan (ILL) supports the research needs of the current faculty, students, and staff of Western Washington University. Interlibrary loan requests may only be placed for material not owned by Western Libraries. Please plan your use of ILL carefully so that we can continue to offer this valuable service at no charge to our users. According to recent studies, the Libraries cost for filling each ILL request is approximately $15.00.

Undergraduate users are limited to twelve active interlibrary loan requests at any one time. At the time a journal article is checked in by the interlibrary loan staff and notification sent to you, or when a loaned item such as a book or microfilm is checked in as returned from you the number of active requests is reduced and more may be placed. Undergraduates who have reached this request limit are encouraged to work with the Reference and Information staff to identify appropriate materials that are held in our library's collections.

Using ILLiad for Interlibrary Loan

Delivery Information

The ILL staff is happy to try and borrow any item that you consider to be of value to your research. Be aware, however, that the following kinds of materials can be difficult to obtain through ILL.

Although turnaround times can vary widely, we suggest that you consider the following guidelines concerning delivery times when planning your research:

Electronic Delivery of Articles

Many libraries ship photocopies of articles to us in electronic format. In the past we printed these articles before delivering them to you. Now, through ILLiad, we are able to offer you the option of receiving them electronically. To use this delivery option choose "yes" for Electronic Delivery when you register for ILLiad. We will notify you by e-mail as soon as an electronically delivered document is available through your ILLiad account to be viewed or downloaded.

You can determine if your computer is capable of receiving articles this way and read more about electronic delviery on the Electronic Delivery Information page.

User Responsibilities

The success of ILL depends on a library's ability to maintain amicable relationships with other institutions. As an ILL user you are responsible for the timely return of all loaned materials. The due dates and use limitations assigned to these items are stipulated by the lending library and can range from a few days to several weeks. Books, microforms, videos and other loanables returned in poor condition may result in a replacement fee which will be added to your library record.

The ILLiad label attached to each book contains the item's due date as well as other important information needed to reconcile your ILLiad record. PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ILLiad LABELS FROM BOOKS, VIDEOS, OR OTHER LOANABLES!

Overdues

You will receive three overdue notices by e-mail. When an item becomes 10 days overdue, you will be blocked from making additional ILL requests as well as from checking out Wilson Library materials. Additionally, excessive Wilson Library fines or lost book fees will block use of your ILLiad account.

About your Username and Password

During registration, you will be asked to enter your WWU Universal Login and Password. If you change the password on your WWU Universal login you will also need to log in to ILLiad (using your old password) and change the ILLiad password to match.

Important Copyright Information

WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

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 judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.