Interlibrary Loan: Essential Documents & Resources
Interlibrary loan is a basic service available to all ILLINET libraries. Millions of items are exchanged between large, medium and small multi-type libraries in a single year throughout the state of Illinois. Governing interlibrary loan transactions in the state of Illinois is the ILLINET Interlibrary Loan Code.
Training staff, understanding basic requesting principles and basic supplying principles ensures successful transactions between libraries. Using tools such as SILC, full-text databases, and WorldCat resources enables a library to open a world of knowledge to Illinois citizens.
Table of Contents
- General Resources
- Interlibrary Loan Codes
- General Training
- Essential Elements of Interlibrary Loan
- Copyright
- Copyright Laws and Guidelines
- Other Copyright Resources
- Library Confidentiality
- Resources for Requesting Libraries
- ILLINET Resource Sharing Policy Directory
- Online Borrowing Policy Examples
- Online Catalogs
- OCLC Resources
- National Library of Medicine Resources
- American Library Association Resources
- Full-Text Articles Resources
- Instate Routing Resources
- Resources for Lending Libraries
ELI (Every Library in ILLINET)
Search ELI to find out information about which libraries are ILLINET members.
ShareILL – a new wiki. ShareILL is a gateway to electronic and print resources pertaining to all aspects of interlibrary loan (ILL), document delivery, and resource sharing. Designed to be comprehensive and international in scope, ShareILL features links to resources that will help practitioners locate materials for their clientele, manage the ILL process, and keep up with developments in the profession.
Interlibrary Loan Application Standards Maintenance Agency
This includes information about the ISO ILL Protocol Standards, links to specific implementations and implementer groups, new developments in ILL standards, and link to relevant articles and related web sites.
ILLINET Interlibrary Loan Code (Recently revised in 2008)
As partners in the Illinois Library and Information Network (ILLINET), more than 5,000 multi-type (academic, public, school and special) member libraries contribute to the ongoing enrichment of the state’s library resources. Dating from 1975, ILLINET relies on resource sharing to meet the information, recreation and
research needs of library users. Individual libraries challenged to meet the requests of their users can do so through statewide cooperative collection management agreements and with a high level of local commitment to interlibrary loan.
The leadership and collegiality of the Illinois State Library, the 10 regional library systems and the member libraries ensure the future of resource sharing in Illinois. Through automation and document delivery, the Illinois library community is assured continued access to information throughout the 21st century.
Note: The first “Illinois Interlibrary Loan Code” was written in 1971. It was revised in 1988, 1993 and 2000. The current revision was completed in 2008.
International Lending and Document Delivery - IFLA, revised, 2001.
"The shared use of individual library collections is a necessary element of international co-operation by libraries. Just as no library can be self-sufficient in meeting all the information needs of its users, so no country can be self-sufficient. The supply of loans and copies between libraries in different countries is a valuable and necessary part of the ILL process.
Since every country must determine the ways in which it conducts interlending and document supply, the following principles and guidelines have no mandatory force. However individual countries and libraries are strongly encouraged to use these guidelines as a basis for the conduct of international lending. The principles protect the interests of all libraries, and set out the recommended practice by individual nations for document provision.
There are eight major principles, each of which is supported by a number of guidelines."
National Interlibrary Loan Code - American Library Association
National Library of Medicine
I-Share Library Resource Sharing Code [pdf] – (formerly ILLINET Online).
I-Share is comprised of many academic libraries in the state of Illinois as well as the Illinois State Library and the Illinois Math and Science Academy.
It is essential that library staff is trained in interlibrary loan basics and procedures.
ILL-L: Interlibrary Loan Listserv - Discussion forum from WebJunction for anyone with a professional interest in interlibrary loan, document delivery and resource sharing.
“Essential Elements of Interlibrary Loan”[pdf] a PowerPoint presentation presented by Kate Boyle (Metropolitan Library System) and Laura Frizol (LaSalle Public Library) -
Copyright compliance is mandatory for some interlibrary loan transactions. All photocopy requests must indicate copyright compliance. To learn more about copyright try these sources:
Copyright Laws and Guidelines
- U.S. Copyright Office
- Copyright Law, U.S. Copyright Office
- Copyright Guidelines (CONTU), Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) - Guidelines on Photocopying and Interlibrary Arrangements,
- Copyright and Fair Use, Stanford University Libraries
- Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights, and Licensing Issues, Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act, THOMAS - Library of Congress
- Primer on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, from ARL
- The Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH), THOMAS - Library of Congress
- The TEACH Act, Stanford University Libraries
Other Copyright Resources
- Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) – You may use CCC’s Transactional Reporting Service (TRS) to pay royalties and obtain permission to photocopy copyrighted materials for interlibrary loan.
- Interlibrary loan FAQ, Medical Library Association (MLA) – This gives you answers to questions related to interlibrary loan and copyright.
- When Works Pass into the Public Domain. By Laura N. Gasway, Law Library Director, University of North Carolina. You may use this chart to determine whether a work remains copyright-protected in the U.S.
- WebJunction Illinois Copyright resources
As with any library records, interlibrary loan requests fall under the state Library Confidentiality Act (75 ILCS 70/)
Online Borrowing Policy Examples:
Here are some samples of Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Policies
Online Catalogs
If you are part of a regional consortium, follow the guidelines of your Local Library Service Automation Program (LLSAP).
SILC, Statewide Illinois Library Catalog.
The Statewide Illinois Library Catalog, known as SILC, is Illinois' first all inclusive statewide union catalog that integrates WorldCat and the Illinois Library Systems' local consortial OPACs, to provide both shelf status and interlibrary loan capabilities in a single searchable interface.
FirstSearch
The Illinois State Library also provides all ILLINET member libraries with an authorization and password to OCLC’s FirstSearch - If you don’t know your authorization number or password, contact your regional library system interlibrary loan contact or the Illinois State Library. OCLC is a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Dublin, Ohio and is the producer of the OCLC WorldCat database, the world's largest and most comprehensive electronic database of bibliographic information. FirstSearch is an online service that gives library professionals and users access to a rich collection of reference databases including WorldCat. As indicated, WorldCat is an electronic database of bibliographic information (cataloging records). Many ILLINET libraries (and other libraries throughout the world) have attached their holding symbol to these records so you can identify which library owns an item.
I-SHARE
I-Share includes the resources of over 65 Illinois libraries belonging to CARLI, the Consortium of Academic & Research Libraries in Illinois.
SHARE Illinois
SHARE (Share Holdings And Resources Easily) is a cooperative project to facilitate staff-initiated interlibrary loans among participating Illinois library automation consortia. SHARE was at one time known as the LANDL (Live And Learn) Project.
Participating consortia provide access to their online catalogs:
- iBistro (CCS)
- PrairieCat (PALS)
- LINC/iBistro (LINC)
- MAGIC (DLS)
- NIC (PALS)
- SWAN (MLS)
OCLC Resources
- OCLC ILL Policies Directory
OCLC provides an interlibrary loan policy directory for those libraries that have cataloged their items on OCLC. While some OCLC libraries do not share their items via the OCLC interlibrary loan system, for those libraries that do interlibrary loan their items, OCLC has provided the policy directory. The OCLC Policies Directory will tell you which items a library is willing to lend, fees associated with the interlibrary loan process, contact information, etc. See further information on the OCLC ILL Policies Directory. - OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing tutorials
- LVIS (Libraries Very Interested in Sharing - LVIS is an OCLC resource sharing group that allows for no-charge interlibrary loaning of circulating items (loans that are returnable) and photocopies for up to 30 pages per bibliographic citation among group members. Find out more information about LVIS.
- OCLC-SHARING-L
iInternet subscription list with announcements, changes and enhancements to OCLC resource sharing services.
National Library of Medicine Resources
- DOCLINE® - DOCLINE® is the National Library of Medicine's automated interlibrary loan (ILL) request routing and referral system. The purpose of the system is to provide efficient document delivery service among libraries in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM).
- LOANSOME DOC®. Loansome Doc enables PubMed® and NLM Gateway users to order documents found in MEDLINE®. It is available to users in the U.S. and internationally. A user can order articles from a list of citations retrieved from PubMed and the NLM Gateway by sending requests to a library for the full-text documents.
American Library Association Resources
Full Text Article Resources
Patents
In-state Routing Resources
Online Lending Policy Examples:
Here are some samples of Interlibrary Loan Lending Policies
Update your lending policy on:
- ILLINET Resource Sharing Policy Directory
- OCLC Policy Directory - OCLC provides an interlibrary loan policy directory for those libraries that have cataloged their items on OCLC. While some OCLC libraries do not share their items via the OCLC interlibrary loan system, for those libraries that do interlibrary loan their items, OCLC has provided the policy directory. The OCLC Policies Directory will tell you which items a library is willing to lend, fees associated with the interlibrary loan process, contact information, etc.
American Library Association Resources
In-state Routing Resources
Thank you to our content editor, Laura Frizol, Director, LaSalle Public Library.
Updated, 10/28/09, KB
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