No.8: Interlibrary loans
About the service
Statistics for the 2005/2006 financial year showed that the library processed around 4,000 Interlibrary Loan requests.
Results from the latest internal benchmarking study showed that on average it took less than four calendar days to receive an article from the time the request is sent to the first potential supplier.
Charges
- Normal request: $6 per item
- Urgent request: $25 per item
These charges are to cover administrative costs; they do not recover the cost to the library of fulfilling a request. Provide a cost centre or photocopy PIN on each request for billing to your department, or pay in cash on receipt of the item.
Journals
To find a journal article we first try other hospital or pharmaceutical libraries around Australia, all members of a reciprocal lending network. If unsuccessful we try other nonmember libraries.
Requests marked "Urgent" can be received within 48 hours, half a day, or sometimes within two hours. A charge of $25 per item applies.
Important: If an "Urgent" article is not available in Australia, the library reserves the right to use commercial suppliers to obtain the item from overseas. In this event, we cannot guarantee delivery within 48 hours (Mon-Fri), but the $25 charge will still apply to cover costs.
Urgent requests must be handed directly to a member of the library staff so that processing can begin immediately. All requests left in the Interlibrary Loans box at the library front desk will be treated as routine requests even if marked "Urgent".
Books
Books take longer to receive than journal articles. Most are held at larger libraries that often have overburdened and slow-moving Interlibrary Loan services, or the book may be out on loan to another user, on reserve, or unavailable for loan.
If the book is not held in Australia, overseas sources can be tried but the full cost will be passed on to you. This can become very expensive and we recommend that this be done only if the book is extremely important.
How to request
Check the journals list before requesting journal articles. The journal may already be held in the library, or be available electronically.
Check the catalogue before placing requests for books.
All requests for items already available at the library, whether in hard copy or electronic format, will be returned to you unfulfilled. Indicate clearly and in full where the item should be sent.
To request an item:
- Complete a request form by hand at the library
or - Make an online request. Register for this service.
When the item arrives
Journal articles are sent via internal mail, or electronically where possible. You will be notified of any urgent articles, and may collect these from the library.
Books are held at the library. You will be notified upon their arrival, and may collect the item(s) from the library. Books from other libraries are on loan for a limited period and may be recalled by the supplying library at any time. It is important to return these books to the library by the due date. Late returns may result in our library being "black listed" and future loans may not be permitted.
Enquiries
Email michelle.thomason@rch.org.au, or phone x5158.