Home | Library | Services | Interlibrary Loan Desk

Services

  • Interlibrary Loan Desk

    The Interlibrary Loan Desk service borrows books and obtains copies of journal articles not owned by the Worcester State University Library. We get much of our requested material from area libraries, but Interlibrary Loan is not restricted to just local service. We can request material from almost any library in the United States. You can submit requests using these online forms:

    Interlibrary Loan Book Request Form  Interlibrary Loan Article Request Form

    Paper request forms can be found at the Circulation Desk. 

    When material is received, it can be picked up at the Circulation Desk at any time during normal Library hours.

    The Interlibrary Loan Department is part of Access Services and is located at the Circulation Desk.

  • Who Can Borrow

    With the exception of staff salaries, all the costs for the Interlibrary Loan Service (forms, mailing, computer time) are subsidized by the semester fees that are paid when registering for a course. Any undergraduate or graduate student may use this service. However, students must be registered for courses in the semester during which the forms are submitted. The service is also open to any faculty member (full-time or adjunct), staff, or administrator.

    This service is not available to anyone not currently affiliated with Worcester State, or other types of borrowers such as alumni or WILL and ARC card holders.

    Types of Materials

    We try to accommodate requests for most types of material. However, due to the lending policies of many libraries and the guidelines set forth by the National Interlibrary Loan Code, there are some items that should not be requested for loans through Interlibrary Loan:

    • Items not needed for research (leisure reading)
    • Books on reserve in the WSU Library
    • Books (from other libraries) to be placed on reserve at WSU
    • Textbooks required for WSU courses
    • Entire issue of a journal (Ask for copies of individual articles instead.)
    • Articles from our full text online databases
    • Videos, DVDs, audio compact discs, or cassette tapes. Many libraries do not lend audio or visual materials, so availability is limited. Ask our Interlibrary Loan assistant to research availability for your specific request.
    • Books printed this year (most public libraries will not lend)
    • Oversize, fragile, rare, multi-volume, or reference material
    • Dissertations (There is limited availability and almost always a cost involved.)
    • ERIC documents (those with ED numbers) 
    Costs

    We can almost always get books at no cost as a result of our membership in several library networks. However, some research libraries do charge for loans of books not readily available at other libraries.  

    If journals that you need are owned by libraries in the Worcester area, photocopies from these issues will be made at no charge. However, if we have to send beyond the local area, there is a good chance that there will be a charge for copies. The cost varies from library to library and can be anywhere from 25 cents per page, to a minimum of $5, or up to $25 (even for a single page). We make every attempt to get your journal articles at no cost, but requesting "free only" does limit obtaining photocopy requests for any hard-to-find journal titles.

    Again, each request can be different. Check with our Interlibrary Loan assistant for specific answers to your questions. 

    Please note that there are no guarantees of timely delivery; you are responsible for any charges, even if your material arrives after your deadline.

    Length of Loans
    • Article copies are yours to keep and do not need to be returned.
    • Length of loans for books are set by the lending library and apply to all borrowers, including faculty.
    • Renewals may only be requested once, and it is at the discretion of the lending library whether or not an extension is granted. 
    Number of Requests
    You will need your Library barcode number (printed on the front, lower right of your WSU OneCard) each time that you submit an Interlibrary Loan request. All requests must be made by submitting the appropriate online form. We cannot accept requests over the phone, email, or fax.

    Please note that for undergraduates, there is a limit of no more than 5 requests that can be outstanding at any one time. This means that material must be received in the Library before you can submit more requests.
    Request Fulfillment Times

    We make every effort to obtain wanted items from libraries we know provide the fastest service, but please allow enough time to receive your items before your due date. Each request is different. Please check with our Interlibrary Loan assistant.

    Due to recent changes in the copyright law, and the complex nature of searching for journal articles, this type of request is more complicated than the one for books. Therefore, this means that it also takes longer to research and locate these titles in libraries. 

    Receiving books through the mail depends on the delivery service used by the lending library. Over 90% of our requests are filled, and most of that material is received within 4 to 10 days.

    If your material is available in the Worcester area, we can usually get it for you within 3 to 4 days. But, if we have to send outside the area, it can often take 2 to 3 weeks to receive material. 

    Fines
    Our reputation as a borrower depends upon your prompt return of items obtained on your behalf. To ensure our continued ability to borrow from other libraries, we charge a fine of 10 cents per day per book for each day that the book is overdue.