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Library

Policy no. 5 - Interlibrary Loan

  1. Definitions and Explanations.

    Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is the lending of materials among libraries. This sharing of resources allows authorized users access to monographs and other materials not owned by the Porter Henderson Library (PHL). Library users may request copies of journal or newspaper articles, published books, and government documents. Theses, dissertations, and media materials may also be requested, but are sometimes difficult to obtain on loan. PHL participates in the OCLC ILL subsystem as well as other consortial arrangements deemed beneficial to the ASU community. The Circulation Policies Grid contains information on user categories authorized to use ILL services.
  2. Procedures and Limitations for Print Materials.
    1. ILL requests must be made through the appropriate methods. Library personnel will not accept ILL requests sent by telephone, fax, or E-mail. Each ILL request should include a complete and accurate bibliographic citation to the needed item.
    2. When it is possible, Library personnel will process ILL requests within two working days after receipt.
    3. Library personnel can only guarantee to place 10 requests per ASU student, faculty member, or staff member, per week through the ILL system; ASU students and faculty and staff members may submit more than 10 requests in any given week. Members of the Friends of the Library Group have a limit of three ILL requests per month.
    4. Unless the request exceeds copyright limits, PHL does not charge its authorized users with any fees for ILL services. However, if a lending library charges to send a requested item, the PHL must pass this fee on to the ASU authorized user. Overdue, damage, and/or lost item charges will be assessed as appropriate.
    5. To comply with U.S. copyright law and CONTU guidelines, each year PHL’s ILL service may order only five articles from any one periodical title published in the previous five years. No more than one article may be ordered per person from a single periodical issue published in the previous five years. When these limits are surpassed, the requestor must pay a copyright clearance fee for the needed articles. For additional information on copyright compliance, see PPM #8.
    6. ILL borrowers must ask for renewals at least three working days before an item’s due date. Library personnel will process only one renewal per item. Renewals are granted at the discretion of the lending library.
    7. ASU ILL will allow one reorder per requested item. An ILL borrower may not make multiple requests for the same item. Monographs needed for longer than two checkout periods should be considered for purchase by the individual or through the academic department’s Materials Budget allocation.
    8. Textbooks required for ASU courses are not appropriate for ILL. When identified as such, these items will not be ordered.
    9. Except when there is a charge involved and subject to available staffing, faculty members’ copy requests will be delivered to them either in a digital format or through the campus mail. Other materials for faculty (books, videotapes, compact discs, photocopy charges, etc.) must be checked out and any required borrowing charges paid at the circulation desk in accordance with circulation policies. (See the Circulation Policies Grid.) Lending periods for materials borrowed for ASU users through ILL are at the discretion of the lending library. Any ILL borrowing charges that are due must be paid prior to the user receiving the item.
    10. Because overdue and lost ILL materials jeopardize the borrowing privileges of all who are served by the PHL ILL service, ILL borrowers must return materials by the posted due dates. An overdue fine will be assessed of ALL patrons, including faculty and staff. There is no grace period for returning ILL materials late and no maximum fine amount. The University Library Committee sets the fine amount. [See the Circulation Policies Grid.] The total fine amount is subject to change due to extenuating circumstances at the discretion of the Library Director. Any ILL charges not paid within 10 days of the Library's billing date will result in the suspension of the patron's borrowing privileges. ILL borrowers who consistently abuse ILL privileges by keeping materials past their due dates will have all of their borrowing privileges suspended until all issues and debts are settled.
    11. Print ILL materials may be returned to the Circulation Desk or may be deposited in the Library’s book drop at the borrower’s risk. Non-print ILL materials must be returned to the Circulation Desk.
    12. Borrowers should plan careful use of ILL services and should maintain records to avoid duplicate requests. Requests for monographs should be spread out to assure adequate time to use the materials when they arrive. Library staff members will make every effort to insure the quick arrival of requested materials. ILL users should realize the limited time during summer terms often results in materials arriving too late to be of use to the student.
    13. Because of the holiday season and semester break, ILL service is not available from mid-December through the beginning of January.
  3. Lending Policy for Microform Material.

    Occasionally, some microform materials available in the Porter Henderson Library may be loaned through ILL and will follow the same restrictions and guidelines used for print materials, except as provided below. Microform materials will be given a 42 day circulation period.  If the material can be replaced/repurchased, microform materials will be loaned through ILL.  Subject to compliance with copyright restrictions and available staffing, PHL will copy selected portions of microform materials.
  4. Lending Restrictions.

    PHL does not lend juvenile books, individual issues or bound volumes of periodicals, materials from the West Texas Collection, materials on restricted access, media materials, optical discs, materials that accompany a monograph, Curriculum Collection materials, genealogy, music scores, books published in the current and previous year, current college level textbooks, theses (if there is only one copy available), designated government documents and materials from the Reference Collection. Subject to compliance with copyright restrictions and available staffing, PHL will copy articles from periodicals and individual chapters or pages from non-circulating materials.

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