University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

What is Interlibrary Loan?

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a formal cooperative agreement among libraries to share materials with, or provide photocopies to, other libraries. Once you have tried and failed to locate the research items needed in the Cofrin Library, you then may initiate an interlibrary loan request.

Cofrin Library augments its borrowing and lending capabilities through numerous consortia memberships and participation in the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) network, an automated system that allows both national and international access to library collections.

Who may use Interlibrary Loan Services?

Interlibrary loan service is available to UW-Green Bay students, faculty, and staff.  Patrons from other institutions must use their own interlibrary loan service.

What material may be borrowed?

Books and photocopies of journal and newspaper articles are easily obtained from most participating libraries. However, reference items, dissertations (unless a second copy exists), genealogical material, rare books, and entire issues of periodicals are usually deemed non-circulating and subsequently can not be borrowed.

Cofrin Library is bound to uphold any restriction on use as imposed by the lender. It is not unusual for libraries to require that items they lend to us be used in the Library or that their materials not be photocopied.

Fulfillment of requests for Interlibrary Loans are subject to the availability of the material and to the policies and fees that the lending library may impose.  You will be notified of any charges before we borrow the item.

How much time does it take?

The turnaround time involved in requesting and receiving varies depending upon the location, time of year and availability of your item(s). But, You should allow 5 days for articles and 10 days for books from the time you turn in your requests. If there is a problem, or the item is only available out-of-state, it may take longer

Are there costs involved?

If there are no Wisconsin locations that possess a requested item, there may be additional charges for obtaining books and photocopies from out-of-state libraries. Patrons will be contacted before items with additional charges are ordered.

How do I initiate a request?

Fill out an Interlibrary Loan request form using ILLiad.  

What information do I need?

In order to rapidly facilitate the processing of your requests, you must supply the following information:

For books:

Author's full name
Title
Date, publisher and place (if known)

For articles:

Title of periodical, journal, or magazine
Author's full name
Article title
Volume, issue number, date, and page numbers
ISSN number (if available)

For both please provide Source of reference (meaning where did you obtain your citation? Social Sciences Abstracts? PsycINFO? FirstSearch?).

How will I know when my material is in?

You will be notified via your campus e-mail account when the item or items you requested arrive.  Articles will be delivered electronically and can be accessed using this email message. Books are held for you at the circulation desk on third floor. Tell the circulation assistants at the circulation desk you have received a notice that your materials have arrived.

How long can I keep the materials?

Photocopies are yours to keep. Loan periods for other items can vary and are set by the lending library, ranging from two to four weeks. Materials kept past the due date jeopardize our borrowing privileges with the lending libraries. Thus, it is imperative that you honor all due dates. When a book is 30 days past the due date, it is presumed lost. Lost or presumed lost items are subject to the replacement fees assessed by the lending library. You will be held responsible for these charges.

Many libraries allow one renewal. Some will not. Please request renewals prior to the due date. Only one renewal per book is allowed. We also ask that you change the due date on the book band to make processing easier.

Where do I return the materials?

Return all interlibrary loan materials to the circulation desk on the third floor of Cofrin Library

Questions or Concerns?

Questions or concerns about Interlibrary Loan policies, procedures, or the status of your requests should be directed to the Interlibrary Loan Department located behind the Circulation desk on the third floor of Cofrin Library either in person or by calling (920)-465- 2385, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Voice Mail is available for the times we are away from the department or when the library is closed.  You can also leave an e-mail notice at interloan@uwgb.edu.