Interlibrary Loans

• The Interlibrary loans service gives you access to books and journal articles that are not in our collections. If the material requested is on a reading list, or has been given as a reference to your class, please see your Academic Liaison Librarian or speak to staff at the Information Desk, so that we can try to obtain it for our stock.

Who can request Interlibrary loans?

• Are registered with the libraries
  
  
• Do not have large outstanding charges

PSD staff do not normally have recourse to Inter-Library Loans, but if there is a specific need to use this service, please contact the Head of Customer Service Development with your request.

Students and Staff at partner institutions are not eligible for Inter-Library Loans

Do I need to register for the service?

Are there any restrictions?

We would not normally apply for an Interlibrary loan if:

• You require the material within two weeks.
  
  
• The item is two pages or less.
  
  
• You are an undergraduate student and the item is a student project, patent or standard.
  
  
• The item is not directly relevant to your course of study, research or teaching.
  
  
• If you have previously requested the same item.

All requests are checked and approved before being submitted to the British Library.

How many Interlibrary loan requests can I make?

Allowances for each academic year are:

• Undergraduate students - 10 requests
  
  
• Postgraduate students (Masters) - 30 requests
  
  
• Research students (MPhil, PhD) - 30 requests
  
  
• Academic staff - 40 requests

Access the online library catalogue and check that the item you want is not available in this University. If it is not listed, then:

• Click on the Interlibrary loans option.
  
  
• Click on one of the following:
  Book Request, Journal Request, Thesis Request.
  
  
• You will see a form on screen and you must fill in as much of the requested information as possible.
  
  
• You should then complete the request form by filling in your university network account username and password.
  
  
• Click on Submit request.

• Journal articles and chapters of books are supplied as photocopies, and there is a charge of 10p per printed side, i.e. 20p per sheet if printed both sides, which is to be paid on collection.
  
  
• There is a minimum charge of £1.00 per item per day for the late return of books and theses. If an item is not returned within 5 days of the due date, you may be subject to a British Library invoice for a minimum of £150.
  
  
• Where material is supplied on microfiche for the reader's retention, there is a charge of 10p per microfiche sheet, which is to be paid on collection.

• You can keep photocopies and microfiches which have been supplied for retention. Other items are normally issued to you for six weeks. If you would like to renew please contact the Interlibrary loan staff for your site on or before the date it is due back. There is a £4.50 charge for renewal.
  
  
• If you fail to return or renew an item on time you will be charged £1.00 per item per day for late return. If an item is not returned within 5 days of the due date, you may be subject to a British Library invoice for a minimum of £150.
  
  
• Any item recalled by the lending library whilst you have it on loan MUST be returned immediately, regardless of the due date. The British Library charges the library a minimum of £150.00 (often considerably more) if items are not returned when requested. These charges will be added to your library record and must be paid by all users.

To request a thesis go to http://ethos.bl.uk/ and follow the links.

If the thesis has already been digitised you will be able to download it straight away. You will be given a password to use, which records your use of the thesis for copyright reasons.

If the thesis has not been requested before you will have to wait up to ten days while a digital copy is made so that you can access it online.

Occasionally you may be told that you will have to pay to access a thesis. In this case contact your Academic Liaison Librarian to see if the University is able to pay for this.