Interlibrary Loan Guide

A skill for accessing research papers and books through interlibrary loan (ILL) and document delivery services when your institution does not have a subscription. Covers ILL workflows, alternative free access methods, and strategies for rapid document retrieval.

Understanding Interlibrary Loan

What Is ILL?

Interlibrary loan is a service where your library borrows materials from another library on your behalf. Most academic libraries offer ILL free of charge to their students, faculty, and staff. Turnaround time is typically 1-7 business days for articles and 1-3 weeks for books.

Types of Requests

Article/Chapter Request:
  - You receive a digital scan (PDF) of the article
  - Usually delivered to your email or ILL portal
  - Turnaround: 1-5 business days
  - Typically free

Book Loan:
  - Physical book is shipped from another library
  - Must be returned by a due date (usually 3-6 weeks)
  - Turnaround: 5-15 business days
  - May have a small shipping fee

Thesis/Dissertation:
  - Some are available digitally via ProQuest or institutional repositories
  - Others must be requested as physical loans or scans
  - Turnaround varies widely

Step-by-Step ILL Process

Submitting a Request

def prepare_ill_request(item_type: str, metadata: dict) -> dict:
    """
    Prepare an interlibrary loan request with required information.

    Args:
        item_type: 'article', 'book', or 'chapter'
        metadata: Bibliographic information about the item
    """
    required_fields = {
        "article": [
            "article_title", "journal_title", "author",
            "year", "volume", "issue", "pages", "doi"
        ],
        "book": [
            "title", "author", "publisher", "year",
            "isbn", "edition"
        ],
        "chapter": [
            "chapter_title", "book_title", "author",
            "editor", "publisher", "year", "pages", "isbn"
        ]
    }

    request = {"type": item_type}
    fields = required_fields.get(item_type, [])

    for field in fields:
        value = metadata.get(field, "")
        request[field] = value
        if not value:
            request.setdefault("missing_fields", []).append(field)

    if request.get("missing_fields"):
        request["note"] = (
            "Provide as many fields as possible. "
            "DOI or PMID alone is often sufficient for articles."
        )

    return request