INFORMATION AND LIBRARY SERVICES

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Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery Policy

I. Introduction

Information and Library Services (ILS) provides interlibrary loan and document delivery services to current UMUC students, faculty, and staff in the United States and overseas. The tiers of service vary by UMUC category, e.g., undergraduate, graduate, faculty, staff. To be eligible to use ILS’ interlibrary loan service, a student must be currently registered in at least one UMUC course; faculty must be currently teaching in the semester the request is made; and staff must be currently employed by UMUC.  UMUC alumni are eligible to use ILS’ collection but cannot make interlibrary loan or document delivery requests.  Loan periods for materials are set by the lending library, not ILS.

ILS loans its materials to other libraries free of charge, nationally and internationally.

II. Definitions 

  1. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) – a library service that obtains books that are not available for borrowing, i.e., not present or not allowed to circulate, via the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions’ (USMAI) libraries (see UMUC’s Circulation Policy 240.90).    ILS’ interlibrary loan service is called DocumentExpress.

  2. Document Delivery – an ILS initiative that provides PDF (Portable Document Format) versions of journal/magazine articles not available in ILS’ full-text databases or E-journals collections. Also provided are book chapters (generally no more that 20% of any given book due to copyright restrictions).  These materials are delivered to an online account accessible to current UMUC students, faculty and staff via the DocumentExpress interface.  Document delivery is a subsidiary of ILL, not a separate service. 

 III. Interlibrary Loan Policies

  1. Cost: There is no charge to UMUC patrons to use ILS’ ILL or document delivery services.  However, patrons are held responsible for returning books by the due date.  If books are not returned within three (3) weeks of the due date, the patron may be liable for a $60.00 replacement fee per item charged by ILS on behalf of the lending library.    

  2. Services: ILS provides ILL (as defined in II, A) services to current UMUC students, faculty and staff within the continental United States and to faculty in AK and HI. ILS provides document delivery (as defined in II, B) services to all current UMUC students, faculty and staff regardless of residency location.


    3. Summary of ILL service by patron type

     

    Patron

     

    Eligibility

     

    Privileges

     

    Fines

    Undergraduates

    Must be currently
    registered in a UMUC class.

    20 ILL / document delivery per semester.

    (Full length, hardcopy books may be obtained for those in the continental US only)

    A $60 non-refundable UMUC fee if books are overdue and not returned within three weeks of the due date.

    Graduate Students

    Must be currently
    registered in a UMUC class.

    Unlimited number of ILL / document delivery.

    (Full length, hardcopy books may be obtained for those in the continental US only)

    A $60 non-refundable UMUC fee if books are overdue and not returned within three weeks of the due date.

     Faculty

    Must be currently
    teaching a UMUC class.

    Unlimited number of ILL / document delivery

    (Full length, hardcopy books may be obtained for those anywhere in the US)

    A $60 non-refundable UMUC fee if books are overdue and not returned within three weeks of the due date.

    Staff

     

    Must be a
    currently employed UMUC staff member.

    Unlimited number of ILL / document delivery

    (Full length, hardcopy books may be obtained for those in the continental US only)

    A $60 non-refundable UMUC fee if books are overdue and not returned within three weeks of the due date.

    Alumni

    Not eligible

    N/a

    N/a


  3. Requesting ILL or Document Delivery Materials

    1. ILL and document delivery requests are accepted via the DocumentExpress interface at this URL: https://illiad.umuc.edu/Illiad/logon.html and from within ILS’ collection of online databases via the Find it! button. 

    2. Audio/visual materials such as CDs, CD-ROMs, VHS, and DVD titles are seldom loaned via ILL, and they are not available for document delivery.  Stateside patrons may inquire with ILS but should be aware that the likelihood of obtaining these materials is minimal. 

    3. Textbook materials are rarely purchased by libraries for their collections.  ILS refers patrons making ILL or Document Delivery requests for textbooks to UMUC’s online bookstore: MBS Direct. 

    4. Item availability and loan periods for ILL books are entirely dependent on the policies of the lending library.  ILS cannot override or interfere with the policies of other libraries.

  4. Delivery and Return of ILL and Document Delivery Materials

    1. Books:  ILS will hold ILL books at the Largo campus for pick-up.  It will also deliver ILL books via UPS to current students, faculty and staff living within the continental United States (or to faculty in AK or HI) upon request.  UPS return labels are included in the initial shipment.  Patrons should use these labels to return materials to ILS. 

    2. Electronic document delivery:  Materials delivered via document delivery are not subject to return and may be kept by the requestor in digital or paper format.  Document delivery materials will be deleted from the DocumentExpress server after twenty-one days of availability and are not retrievable after this time lapses.

    3. Delivery turnaround times:  The average time for an ILL book to be delivered to the requestor is two to three weeks.   The average document delivery time for journal articles and book chapters varies from a few days to a few weeks.  Speed of delivery for both ILL and document delivery depend in large part upon the operational capabilities of the loaning libraries.

  5. Lending UMUC Materials to non-USMAI Libraries

    ILS adheres to US copyright law, Title 17 of the US Code, the CONTU Guidelines and the Universal Copyright and Berne Conventions regarding international copyright. 

    1. Materials Available to Borrowing Libraries

      1. All monographs except those classified as non-circulating.
      2. Articles from periodicals.
      3. Portions of books, e.g., copies of book chapters.
      4. VHS, DVD, other audio-visual and computer files are not part of the ILS interlibrary loan lending program.
      5. Photocopies of archival material, theses and dissertations may be made available on a case-by-case basis. 

    2. Process Information

      1. All requests for materials should be made via OCLC.  ILS may consider requests received via mail, electronic mail, telephone or fax if unusual circumstances exist.
      2. ILS does not charge borrowing libraries for the use of its materials. 
      3. ILS does not charge late fees
      4. The loan period for ILS monographs is twenty-eight days.  Loans may be renewed up to five times.
      5. If ILS must recall an item, we expect it to be returned within fourteen days.
      6. All materials delivered electronically need not be returned to ILS. 
      7. ILS prefers that all borrowing institutions use an expedited postal or courier service with tracking capability when returning ILS materials.