brycewang-stanford Interlibrary Loan Guide
A skill for accessing research papers and books through interlibrary loan (ILL) and document delivery services when your institution does not have a subscription. Covers ILL workflows, alternative free access methods, and strategies for rapid document retrieval.
Understanding Interlibrary Loan
What Is ILL?
Interlibrary loan is a service where your library borrows materials from another library on your behalf. Most academic libraries offer ILL free of charge to their students, faculty, and staff. Turnaround time is typically 1-7 business days for articles and 1-3 weeks for books.
Types of Requests
Article/Chapter Request:
- You receive a digital scan (PDF) of the article
- Usually delivered to your email or ILL portal
- Turnaround: 1-5 business days
- Typically free
Book Loan:
- Physical book is shipped from another library
- Must be returned by a due date (usually 3-6 weeks)
- Turnaround: 5-15 business days
- May have a small shipping fee
Thesis/Dissertation:
- Some are available digitally via ProQuest or institutional repositories
- Others must be requested as physical loans or scans
- Turnaround varies widely
Step-by-Step ILL Process
Submitting a Request
def prepare_ill_request(item_type: str, metadata: dict) -> dict:
"""
Prepare an interlibrary loan request with required information.
Args:
item_type: 'article', 'book', or 'chapter'
metadata: Bibliographic information about the item
"""
required_fields = {
"article": [
"article_title", "journal_title", "author",
"year", "volume", "issue", "pages", "doi"
],
"book": [
"title", "author", "publisher", "year",
"isbn", "edition"
],
"chapter": [
"chapter_title", "book_title", "author",
"editor", "publisher", "year", "pages", "isbn"
]
}
request = {"type": item_type}
fields = required_fields.get(item_type, [])
for field in fields:
value = metadata.get(field, "")
request[field] = value
if not value:
request.setdefault("missing_fields", []).append(field)
if request.get("missing_fields"):
request["note"] = (
"Provide as many fields as possible. "
"DOI or PMID alone is often sufficient for articles."
)
return request
Typical Workflow
1. Verify your library does not have access
- Check library catalog and database A-Z list
- Try off-campus access via VPN or proxy
2. Gather bibliographic details
- Title, author, journal/book, year, DOI or ISBN
- The more detail you provide, the faster the request is filled
3. Submit request through your library's ILL system
- Common systems: ILLiad, Tipasa, OCLC WorldShare
- Usually accessible from your library's website under "Interlibrary Loan"
4. Wait for delivery
- Articles: PDF delivered to your email or ILL portal
- Books: Pick up at the library circulation desk
5. Return books by the due date
Free Alternatives Before Requesting ILL
Check These Sources First
1. Open Access repositories:
- PubMed Central (PMC) for NIH-funded biomedical research
- arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv for preprints
- SSRN for social science and economics working papers
- Institutional repositories (search via BASE or OpenDOAR)
2. Author contact:
- Email the corresponding author requesting a copy
- Check the author's personal or lab website for PDFs
- ResearchGate: request full text from the author
3. Legal free access tools:
- Unpaywall browser extension (finds legal OA copies)
- CORE.ac.uk (aggregates open access research)
- Google Scholar: click "PDF" links on the right side
4. Your institution:
- Try different databases (your library may have access via
a different provider)
- Ask a librarian: they know about access paths you may miss
Document Delivery Services
Commercial Alternatives
When ILL is too slow or unavailable, commercial document delivery services can provide articles within hours:
| Service | Turnaround | Typical Cost |
|---|---|---|
| British Library Document Supply | 1-2 days | Varies by country |
| Reprints Desk | Same day to 48 hours | Per-article fee |
| Copyright Clearance Center (Get It Now) | Minutes to hours | Per-article fee |
| DeepDyve | Instant (rental model) | Monthly subscription |
When to Use Document Delivery vs. ILL
- Use ILL for non-urgent requests (1+ week lead time is acceptable)
- Use document delivery when you need the article within 24 hours
- Use document delivery when your institution has no ILL service (e.g., independent researchers)
Tips for Efficient Access
- Keep a reference manager (Zotero, Mendeley) to avoid requesting the same paper twice
- Batch ILL requests: submit several at once during literature review phases
- Build relationships with your subject librarian -- they can often expedite requests or suggest alternative access routes
- For systematic reviews, inform your library early about the volume of ILL requests you will need