Who is eligible to use the Interlibrary Loan service?
How do I submit requests?
How long does it take?
How can I speed up the process?
How many requests may I submit?
How much will it cost?
How will I be notified?
May another person pick up my ILL materials for me?
How long may I keep materials borrowed through ILL?
May I renew materials borrowed through ILL?
What types of materials will ILL not order?
What types of materials are difficult to obtain through ILL?
Can I obtain materials held at other FAU campuses?

Who is eligible to use the Interlibrary Loan service?

FAU Libraries extend Interlibrary Loan privileges to all currently-enrolled students, faculty, and staff of Florida Atlantic University at the Boca Raton, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie and SeaTech campuses. Privileges are also granted to currently-enrolled students, faculty and staff of Palm Beach Community College (South campus), Non-native Fish Research Laboratory staff, and to distance learners from within the Florida Division of Colleges and Universities (DCU) and Florida Community College Systems, once they are issued a valid FAU Library card (or Owlcard).

FAU faculty, staff, and currently-enrolled students at the Davie campus should use the ILL services provided by the University/College Library, and those at the Ft. Lauderdale Tower campus should use the ILL services at the Broward County Main Library (see links above). FAU Broward faculty, staff, and students may use the ILL services at the Boca Raton campus library, but must pick up and return materials at the Boca Raton campus library.

Interlibrary Loan privileges are not extended to holders of Friends of the Library nor Alumni Library Card holders. These cards provide check-out privileges for items owned by the FAU Libraries only. These individuals, as well as members of the Lifelong Learning Society and other non-affiliated users, may seek ILL services at their local public library.

ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan Internet Accessible Database) is the online resource sharing and ILL management system used by the FAU Library to send, receive and process interlibrary and intralibrary loan requests. The system allows us to provide expedited services to our ILL users and allows users to track the progress of their requests online. ILLiad is available to users on the Boca Raton, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and SeaTech campuses. The libraries serving the Davie and Ft. Lauderdale Tower campuses have separate electronic ILL forms which should be used by individuals desiring delivery to those campuses:

Davie

Ft. Lauderdale Tower

ILLiad will soon be the primary means of submitting intralibrary and interlibrary loan requests to the FAU Library. Requests may continue to be submitted through the FirstSearch databases, but patrons must be registered as ILLiad users for these requests to be processed. To register as an ILLiad user, click on the link to ILLiad on the ILL Department home page and complete and submit the First Time Users registration. Printed request cards will not be accepted after December 2001.

FAU ILLiad FAQ

How long does it take?

In most cases, obtaining materials from non-FAU libraries takes from 7-10 business days. The turn-around time is usually less for items coming from within the state of Florida (where most libraries are part of a statewide courier service), and more coming from out-of-state libraries, which are usually sent by USPS.

Typically, intralibrary loan (materials owned by one of the FAU branch campuses) takes from 2-5 business days, assuming the material is on the shelf and not checked out to another patron.

How can I speed up the process?

1. Make sure that FAU does not own the item you are requesting. On average, ILL rejects about 15% of requests received because FAU owns the material. Be sure to check the WebLUIS catalog as well as the FAU Libraries list of electronic journals before submitting any ILL request.
2. Complete a separate request for each item. Do not attempt to paste in a list of citations or a bibliography. Copyright regulations require a separate request for each item, even if they are articles in the same journal.
3. Provide as much information about each item as possible, including the ISSN or ISBN number if known.
4. If FAU owns some issues of a journal but not the specific issue needed, or, if the pages needed are torn out of the issue, make a note of this in the comments field.

How many requests may I submit?

The ILLiad system allows the following number of active requests:

1. Faculty                     100
2. Graduates                 50
3. Undergraduates        10
4. Distance Learners     10
5. Staff                          10

Through membership in statewide, regional and national resource sharing consortia, the FAU Library can supply most (over 90%) ILL materials to its users without charge. All avenues for “free” loans and copies are pursued first. However, some lenders will only provide materials if a fee is paid. In these cases, the fee is passed on to the user borrowing the materials. An invoice will be presented with the material you pick up, which is payable at the Cashier’s Office or by mail.

For this reason, always indicate on the request form whether you are willing to pay for the item, and if so, the amount you are willing to pay. The library will not exceed the amount you authorize without consulting you first. In general, most libraries that do charge usually charge a flat fee ranging from $10.00 to $20.00 per book loan or photocopy. Some institutions charge more or less than this amount.

Faculty members may pay fees by expenditure transfer from their grant account number. If this option is desired a note including the grant number should be placed in the comments field of the request form.

How will I be notified?

The ILLiad system provides e-mail notification to people when their materials arrive. All registered users must have a Florida Atlantic University e-mail account to insure proper notification. E-mail accounts are provided automatically for all students from the point of application to the University. To find out what your username is, also known as FAUNetID, go to MyFAU and click on Account information then select How To Look Up Your FAUNet ID. This will take you to a secure site where you can enter your Social Security number and your six-digit PIN. Your PIN, unless you've changed it, is 2 zeros followed by the 2-digit day and 2-digit year of your birth (if your birthday were August 4, 1987 your PIN would be 000487). Once you've entered your SSN and PIN, the system provides you with your username. Your initial password will be the same as the PIN you had entered.

May another person pick up my ILL materials for me?

When registering as an ILLiad user you can indicate other persons that you authorize to pick up your material for you. However, these individuals must present your ID or Owlcard to do this.

How long may I keep materials borrowed through ILL?

The loan period for borrowed materials is determined by the supplier. You may usually have the item for 3-4 weeks from the time of receipt. Any special requests by the lending institution must be honored, for example, “14 day Loan,” “No Renewals,” or “In-Library Use Only.” Please note that although your library card might entitle you to semester or academic year loans for books owned by FAU, these loan periods do not apply to materials borrowed from other libraries. Please observe the due date on the book band covering the ILL book. Do not remove the book band!

May I renew materials borrowed through ILL?

Materials borrowed from other libraries may only be renewed with the permission of the lending library. If you want us to request the renewal of an ILL book, log into your ILLiad account 10 days or less prior to the original due date, and select "View/Renew Checked Out Items." Select the item you’d like to renew and click on the "Request Renewal" button. No renewals will be requested if the material is already overdue. Check your account in 2-3 days to see if the item has been renewed and what the new date is, or if the request has been denied. If the renewal request is denied, the book must be returned on the original due date. Since the FAU Library does not own the book, we have no jurisdiction over lending libraries’ due dates.

Individual items may not be borrowed more than once per semester through Interlibrary Loan. ILL does not support long-term borrowing of materials from other libraries. If an item is need for an extended period, the FAU Libraries Collection Development Coordinator or Campus Librarian should be contacted to investigate purchasing it for the FAU Libraries collection.

What types of materials will ILL not order?

The ILL Department will not order any of the following categories of materials:

1. Items available in the FAU Library in any format, including microform or electronic.
2. Items available on Course Reserve in the FAU Library.
3. Textbooks required/recommended for use in classes. Textbooks are available for purchase in the FAU Bookstore.
4. Standardized test preparation books (i.e. LSAT, GRE, MCAT, etc.)
5. Items which the lender is charging FAU to borrow, and would cost more than the requestor has indicated that he or she is willing to pay.

Exceptions:

1. Books listed as “Lost” in WebLUIS, provided that they do not come under categories 2-5 above.
2. Photocopies of articles which are torn out of FAU’s copy of a journal or book (if not available electronically).
3. Photocopies of articles from FAU journals which are currently at the bindery (if not available electronically).
4. If an item is not found on the shelf, and is not checked out, complete a “Report of Book and/or Periodical Not Found” form at the Circulation Desk. The staff will attempt to locate your material, and if it is not found, will pass your request on to ILL.
5. A hold or recall should be placed on an FAU book which is currently checked out to another patron. If the book is not returned within 10 days, it may be ordered through ILL.

What types of materials are difficult to obtain through ILL?

The following categories of materials may be difficult or impossible to obtain. The ILL Department will attempt to do so, but these are often subject to more restrictive lending policies at most libraries and may not be available:

1. Non-circulating materials (often: reference books, rare or very old books, archival materials, special collections, etc.)
2. Very new books and current bestsellers
3. Entire issues of periodicals
4. Audiovisual materials (videos, CDs. etc.)
5. Genealogical materials
6. Patents, standards, specifications, and internal corporate/technical reports
7. Non-circulating theses and dissertations. In many cases these may be available for purchase through a service called Dissertation Express

Can I obtain materials held at other FAU campuses?

Yes, the ILLiad system will allow Boca Raton users to request materials held at the Jupiter or Port St. Lucie campuses, and users at those campuses to request materials from the Boca Raton campus. This process in known as Intralibrary Loan. Users at SeaTech may request materials held at any of these 3 campuses.