Making an interlibrary loan request

Interlibrary loan forms are valid for one year from the date of purchase and may be bought from the Main Library, Barnes Library, Education Library, the Shakespeare Institute Library or the Orchard Learning Resource Centre.

Forms cost £7.50 for University members and £16.00 for external members and may be handed in at any library when completed.

Online requesting for interlibrary loans

You can also place interlibrary loan requests online.  To access the system you will need a unique Pre-paid Voucher Number.  You may be able to obtain these from your School or you can purchase one from the Main Library, Barnes Library or Orchard Learning Resource Centre or by telephoning Library Customer Support on 0121 414 5828.  The Voucher Numbers are also valid for one year from the date of purchase and cost £7.50 each, the same amount as printed interlibrary loan forms, and can only be used once.

Schools or departments wishing to purchase Pre-paid Voucher Numbers using their School Information Fund should contact library-acquisitions@bham.ac.uk.  Alternatively purchase orders should be marked for the attention of the Document Supply Team.

Accessing  the online system and placing a request

• You should log on to ‘my.bham’ and click on the 'Library & Computing' tab.  From the 'Interlibrary Loans' section you should select the option ‘Place an interlibrary loan request’.  You will then be given the option to choose to request a book or an article.  Once you have completed the form you will be asked to input your Pre-paid Voucher Number.

NB: In order to comply with copyright regulations you must use ‘my.bham’ to access the service.

• After successfully submitting your request you will receive an email confirming the details.
  
• Your request will then be processed by the Document Supply Team.  You will receive an email informing you when a book is ready for collection or containing a link to an electronic version of an article.

Electronic Theses Online System (EThOS)

Requests for most UK Doctoral dissertations should be made via EThOS , the service offered by the British Library.  You should only place an interlibrary loan request for UK PhD thesis, if Ethos is unable to supply a copy. Please see for details of other UK & Eire Theses Access Policies.

How long should I expect to wait for items to arrive?

Where possible material is obtained from the British Library.  Material requested from other institutions may take longer than the average to be delivered.

Articles can normally be obtained in 5 working days.  Articles delivered via Secure Electronic Delivery normally arrive within 3 days.

Books, conference proceedings and theses take on average 2-3 weeks

It can take longer to locate a supply library for more obscure material as it may be necessary to apply to a series of libraries in turn.  Material obtained from outside the UK can take much longer to locate and may cost more to obtain.  For these items requesters will be asked to submit extra interlibrary loan forms or Pre-paid Voucher Numbers to cover the cost if necessary.

Please note: Some libraries decline to lend certain material they hold or may lend upon condition that  that the material is consulted in the library as a Reference Only item.

 Electronic Articles

Journal articles that can be obtained from the British Library may be delivered to you in electronic format.   Articles are supplied under the Library Privilege Service and incur no copyright fee but for this reason they cannot be stored electronically or forwarded to anyone else. The document may only be accessed once so you should print it immediately.

The document will only be available to download for a period of 30 days and you should contact us if you unable to collect the article within this time

To use this service, place your request using the Online Interlibrary Loan Requests Service or tick the 'Format Required' box on your interlibrary loan form and ensure you have included your University email address in the appropriate section.  You will receive an email when the article is ready for you to download.

N.B. All items requested using the Online Interlibrary Loans Requesting Service will be delivered electronically unless you specifically request a paper copy.

To download articles you will need Adobe Reader version 4 or above on your computer with FileOpen plug-in.  This is available free of charge and may be installed using the link contained in the arrival email you will receive.  You should also download the British Library test document before attempting to download your article.

Contact the Document Supply Team

Email: inter-library-loans@bham.ac.uk

Telephone: 0121 414 5821

Enquiries may be made in person at the Main Library Reception & Information Desk or via staff at the Barber Music Library, Barnes Library, Education Library, Shakespeare Institute Library or Orchard Learning Resources Centre.