Introduction
Sharing resources among libraries has been advocated by the American Library Association since its inception in 1876, and the first formal draft of "Some General Development Rules for Conduct of Inter-library Loans" was presented at its 1912 Annual Conference. The most recent revision of the National Interlibrary Loan Code, 1 reiterates the increasing necessity for interlibrary sharing and includes, for the first time, a statement addressing the costs of interlibrary loan. The Code states that, "The effectiveness of a national system of interlibrary lending is directly related to the equitable distribution of costs among all the libraries involved. Interlibrary loan is an adjunct to, not a substitute for, collection development in individual libraries." The Code also urges that it be "understood that every library must maintain an appropriate balance between resource sharing and responsibility to its primary clientele."
The Library abides by the National Interlibrary Loan Code of the American Library Associate, except in cases where special agreements with other institutions have been mutually adopted, thus superseding the relevant ALA agreements. Such agreements have been reached within the State of Utah, with the BCR-AMIGOS network, and with numerous other libraries. Copies of these agreements are available in the Interlibrary Loan Office.
The Weber State University Library is committed to sharing resources among libraries, and it is the policy of the Library to provide efficient, courteous and cost effective interlibrary loan service that:
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Affords the University community access to resources that are not available in the Library's collections; and
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Makes the Library's resources available to patrons of other libraries.
Interlibrary loan services are available to WSU students, faculty, staff, visiting scholars and individuals with current Alumni cards. Community borrowers should use their local public library for interlibrary loan requests.
Every reasonable effort will be made to locate material through regional, national and international sources and to expedite request within the limits of the available interlibrary loan staff.
The Interlibrary Loan staff follows the established policies and procedures for the use of OCLC and the online circulation system and respects the confidentiality of patron records and requests.
Interlibrary loan service is traditionally subdivided into interlibrary borrowing and interlibrary lending. Interlibrary borrowing refers to requests from the WSU community for resources that are not available in the Library's collections. Interlibrary lending refers to requests from other libraries for resources available at the WSU Library.
Interlibrary Borrowing
1. Requests
A. Request must be made using the online Interlibrary Loan ILLiad system. Telephone requests are not accepted.
B. The information supplied on the request form must be as accurate and complete as possible. Requests that cannot be verified will be returned to the patron for clarification.
C. Requests for items owned by the Library will be processed after it has been determined that they are not available in the collection.
2. Non-Circulating Materials
While all types of materials may be requested through Interlibrary Loan, the following categories of materials are generally non-circulating:
A. Rare or valuable material
B. Bulky or fragile items that are difficult or expensive to ship
C. Material in high demand at the lending library
D. Material with local circulation restrictions (Reference books, periodicals, dissertations, reserve books, and media items.)
3. Borrowing Privileges
A. Lending libraries may place restrictions on the use and photocopying of their materials. The Library will strictly adhere to any restrictions specified by the lending library.
B. Most borrowed material may be photocopied under the "fair use" doctrine, which provides that one copy may be made for scholarly purposes. If such copying is specifically disallowed by the lending library, the borrower must comply with that restriction.
C. Borrowers are responsible for items received through interlibrary loan from the time the material is picked up until the time it is returned to the Interlibrary Loan Office.
D. The Library reserves the right to deny interlibrary borrowing privileges to anyone who abuses borrowed material or who disregards borrowing restrictions imposed by lending libraries.
4. Loan Periods
A. The length of the loan period is determined by the lending institution.
B. Renewals may be requested for materials borrowed through interlibrary loan unless "non-renewable" is stated on the form attached to the item. Renewals may be requested up to 14 days before the item is due back in the Interlibrary Loan Office.
C. Materials must be returned to the Interlibrary Loan Office by the date due.
5. Overdue Materials
A. An overdue notice will be sent to the patron when material is not returned by the date due.
B. If it becomes necessary to send a second overdue notice, it will include an itemization of charges assessed by the lending library.
C. If the material is not returned within fourteen days after the second notice is sent, a hold will be placed on the patron's registration, library privileges, transcripts, etc. The hold will be removed once the item is returned and any fines levied by the lending library are paid.
6. Charges
A. While photocopies and interlibrary loans from libraries in Utah and most BCR-AMIGOS libraries are free, many other libraries assess fees for interlibrary borrowing. The Library subsidizes direct charges for current University students, faculty and staff. Patrons will be notified by the Interlibrary Loan staff of any charges in excess of the subsidy before the request is processed. This subsidy does not apply to commercial document delivery vendors when more cost effective alternatives are available.
B. Alumni card holders do not qualify for the subsidy. Patrons will be notified by the Interlibrary Loan staff of any charges related to ILL borrowing prior to the processing of the ILL request.
C. If an item is not returned, any charges assessed by the lending library will be passes on to the borrower.
Interlibrary Lending
1. Request
The WSU Library lends to any requesting institution submitting its request on appropriate interlibrary loan forms or through the OCLC-ILL subsystem. Priority is given to request from Utah libraries and BCR-AMIGOS network libraries.
2. Non-Circulating Items
Reserve, microform and reference materials are designated as non-circulating and will not be lent through interlibrary loan. Material located in Archives and Special Collections cannot be loaned but may be photocopied at the discretion of the individual responsible for those collections.
3. Journals
Photocopies of articles are provided in lieu of loaning journal volumes and/or issues.
4. Loan Periods
A. Monographs are lent through Interlibrary Loan for six weeks use.
B. Items lent through Interlibrary Loan that are requested by a WSU patron will be recalled.
5. Overdue Material
Overdue notices are sent on items that are not returned. Borrowing libraries will be billed for replacement cost of material that is two months overdue.
6. Restriction on Use
Borrowing privileges may be revoked if an institution consistently damages or fails to replace lost WSU material or if restrictions placed on borrowed items are ignored.
7. Charges
The Library does not charge for interlibrary loan lending or photocopies.