FAQ

ill office had temporarily moved
 

The ILL office has temporarily moved out of their 2nd floor office due to the ongoing construction at the S.E. Wimberly Library. All patron services will continue as normal, however staff will not have access to the ILL office phones. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us by email at lyill@fau.edu. We are also happy to come down to speak to you at the front desk.

interlibrary loans

FAU and Palm Beach State College students, staff, and faculty may place Interlibrary Loan requests for physical materials as well as electronically-delivered book chapters and articles.

What is Interlibrary Loan?

The Interlibrary Loan Department is here to facilitate the borrowing of materials from other libraries for your research needs. Be it a book, article, or multimedia item, if the FAU Library doesn’t have it the Interlibrary Loan Department will work to find a copy for you from thousands of libraries located across the world.

Where is the Interlibrary Loan Office located?

The Interlibrary Loan Department is located at the S.E. Wimberly Library on the Boca Raton Campus. We are a closed office, however we are happy to come down to speak to you at the front desk.

Who is eligible for ILL Services?

• All FAU enrolled students,* faculty, and staff have Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Privileges.
• Palm Beach State College South Campus enrolled students, faculty, and staff are also extended Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Privileges through their FAU ILL account; PBSC does not have UBorrow Privileges through FAU.
• Retired FAU faculty and staff have Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Privileges.
• SUS Faculty, Visiting Researchers, and Library Volunteers may have Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Privileges with the permission from the Dean of University Libraries.

*Tower Campus students are eligible for service through the Broward County Library's Interlibrary Loan Department, unless your pick-up location is Boca or Jupiter.

How much does it cost?

The FAU Library does not charge patrons for ILL Services. However, some lenders will only provide materials for a fee. In addition, items published within the last five years may also require a copyright fee to be paid for use. The FAU Library will cover the basic shipping costs on all requests, and will subsidize up to $12 per request for Graduate Students and up to $25 per request for Faculty members.

The ILL Office works hard to fill your requests at little to no cost to you. Any costs over the amount subsidized by FAU for each request will have to be paid by the patron. We will not charge your account without your written pre-approval.

How long does it take?

• Articles – 2 or more business days
• Loans – 7 or more business days
• Branch Campus Delivery -- 2 to 3 days
• International or rare and hard-to-find materials may take longer

Can I do anything to get materials faster?

Yes! For articles, be sure to also include the journal title, the year, and the ISSN number (the unique 8 digit number used to identify a print or electronic journal) with the article title. For loans, be sure you include the ISBN number with the book title.

What is the difference between UBorrow and ILL?

UBorrow allows patrons to directly request materials from participating libraries within Florida’s state University/College library system. This can cut down on the processing time for requests, meaning materials are generally delivered more quickly than traditional ILL Requests. Currently, you can only request books and a limited selection of media items via UBorrow.

ILL Requests are open to all libraries that participate in the interlibrary loan of materials. Requests are not limited to books, but also include requests for articles, book chapters, and multimedia items. As ILL Requests are processed by staff and include lenders outside of Florida, it can take longer to receive materials via ILL than UBorrow.

What is the difference between Branch Campus Delivery, Document Delivery, and Paging?

Branch Campus Deliveries are requests for materials to be transferred between FAU campuses.

Document Delivery requests are requests for Articles or Book Chapters from items owned by FAU that are not held at your local campus. Note: faculty members may also request Document Delivery scans of local materials as well.

Patrons at the Boca Campus may place Paging requests from Access Services to have locally held materials pulled for them. Jupiter Campus students may also choose to have locally held material pulled by filling out a Request to Pull form. Please note the Paging and Request to Pull forms are only intended for local patrons to request local materials. If the item is not held at your local library, please use the Branch Campus Delivery service via your ILL Account.

How do I place a request?

Branch Campus Delivery, Document Delivery, and ILL Requests are made via your ILL Account. UBorrow Requests are made via your FAU Library Account. Step-by-step instructions can be found on the Requesting Items tab of the ILL Help Guide.

All FAU Boca Library Paging requests are handled by Access Services. You may find their eForm here. For any questions, please contact Access Services at lycirc@fau.edu or call 561.297.6911 for more information.

Jupiter Campus students may also choose to have locally held material pulled by filling out a Request to Pull form.

Why doesn't my old username and password work anymore?

We have updated the log-in procedures to use your FAUNetID login instead of the username and password that you created for your ILL Account. This will improve the security of those logins and brings the system in line with campus security expectations.

If in the past you created an ILL username that was not your FAU email, a new account will be created when you log in for the first time. You will be asked to verify and update any account details including address and department.

How can I get to my old ILL Account to see my history or download existing electronic documents?

After you have re-registered using your FAUNetID, Interlibrary Loan staff will be alerted and they will then merge your accounts. All active requests and your request history will be transferred to your new account. As this merging must be done manually, there may be a slight delay - but you will be able to submit new requests in the meantime.

What kinds of materials can I request?

ILL Requests aren't just for books! You can also borrow other materials like:

• DVDs (movies, TV series, educational)
• CDs
• Articles
• Book Chapters
• Microfilm/Microfiche (NOTE: the FAU Libraries do not have microform readers)
• Music Scores
• Audiobooks
• Thesis or Dissertations

The following items might be difficult to find a lender willing to loan them, but are eligible for ILL Requests:

• Newly released materials
• Entire issues of periodicals
• Genealogical materials
• Non-circulating materials (reference books, archival materials, special collections, rare or very old books)
• International materials
• Textbooks (many libraries are unwilling to loan their copies of textbooks, or will only allow a short-term loan)
• eBooks within the Public Domain or allowed by publisher's license agreement

The following materials cannot be filled by ILL Request:

• eBooks still under copyright restrictions
• Items available at the FAU Library

How many requests can I put in?

• UBorrow allows for up to 100 active requests.
• Regardless of the number of requests submitted, ILL Staff will only work on a maximum of 10 requests per person in a single day. Please prioritize your requests.

I got an email my item is ready, now what do I do?

• If your request is for an Article or Book Chapter, it is available to download from your ILL Account.
• If your item is a loan and you have a Boca Campus pickup location, your item is now available to pick up at the Service Desk.
• If you have a Jupiter or HBOI pickup location, your item has been shipped to your campus and you will receive notification when your material arrives.
• For Davie, Tower, or Sea Tech faculty, your item will be shipped directly to your office via campus mail and should arrive in a few days.
• For Distance Learners, your item will be shipped to the address on file and should arrive in a few days.
• For Boca Campus patrons who have chosen Locker Pickup - BOCA ONLY, you will receive an email with the locker number and pin.
• For Boca Campus faculty who have chosen Office Delivery, the item will be delivered to your office. Delivery will usually occur on the same day as received from the lending library, but due to weather and time constraints may be the next day.

Can someone else pick up my request?

Yes! You can add Authorized Users to your FAU ILL Account that will allow them to pick up your item for you. They will need to present their ID, and either your ID or your Owl Card when they pick up your item. For more information, please see the Updating User Information section of the ILL Account Information tab of the ILL Help Guide.

How long can I keep my request?

Articles and Book Chapters will remain on your ILL Account for 30 days, before being deleted. You can download and save the file at any time during this period.

UBorrow items are loaned for a period of 90 days from the time the item arrives on campus plus one 30 day renewal.

For ILL Requests, the due date is set by the lending library and varies by institution and type of material. Shorter loans may only be a few weeks while longer loans may be several months.

Can I renew my request?

UBorrow items may be renewed once. ILL Loan Requests can be renewed at the discretion of the lending library.

For step-by-step instructions on renewing your materials, see the Renewing & Returning Items tab of the ILL Help Guide.

What happens if my loan is overdue?

Items not returned in a timely manner will be charged a Replacement Fee, and your FAU Library Account will be blocked until the item is returned and any non-refundable fines/fees are paid.

What happens if I lose or damage my ILL?

You are liable for any replacement costs the lending library charges for the replacement of their material.

Can I pay with a credit card for my fines/fees?

Yes! Charges for lost materials, rush fees, copyright fees, handling fees, service fees, damage costs or any other fees associated with an Interlibrary Loan transaction may be paid by credit card via the FAU Marketplace.

My Article Request was canceled because of Copyright Limitations. Why was that?

Interlibrary Loan reserves the right to refuse to process a request for a photocopy of an item, if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. All article requests must also be for a single article or book chapter only.

For more information on Copyright and Interlibrary Loan:

CONTU guidelines (p. 18)
FAU Libraries Copyright Policies