Interlibrary Loan Frequently Asked Questions
General Policies
Who may use interlibrary loan?
Why must I register before using interlibrary loan?
How long does it take?
How much does it cost?
What is not available for loan?
May I borrow titles owned by the HSU Library?
How long may I keep materials?
Are there fines for overdue materials?
Are there alternatives to the HSU interlibrary loan service?
Procedures for Requesting Materials, Checking Request Status and Renewing Materials
Where can I check to see if HSU already owns the item I need?
Where do I make requests?
Where do I check the status of my requests?
Will I be notified on the status of my requests?
How will my requests be delivered to me?
May I renew items?
Troubleshooting
Why do I get an alert about a security certificate when I first try to connect to the ILL logon page?
Why can't I logon?
Why can't I view the electronic file that was sent to me?
Why was the request I submitted through the CSU Catalog/Pharos Interlibrary Loan Service returned to me?
Why doesn't my browser's back button work?
Why does my browser say that you are sending a cookie?
Who do I contact if I have problems or questions?
Who may use interlibrary loan?
Interlibrary loan is available to current HSU faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students; Extended Education students enrolled in for-credit classes; emeritus faculty and retired staff; and users with "mutual use" library cards (other CSU faculty and students). The purpose of interlibrary loan is to obtain materials essential for scholarly and curricular research when there is not a satisfactory substitute available in the HSU Library.
Why must I register before using interlibrary loan?
Our ILL system requires new users to register for the first time. Registering involves entering your name, address, email and other university-related information through our secure server. Because commerical email services sometimes filter notification messages as SPAM we require that you use your HSU email address. Once registered you will also be able to track your requests and ask for renewals. You may modify your personal profile anytime by logging on and choosing the "Change User Information" option.
It takes an average of ten days for books and six days for articles and sections of other materials, e.g., a conference paper that can be copied. In completing a request form please indicate the last possible date you can use the item. Submitted requests are processed before 5 p.m on the following work day. The time period for receipt is then in the hands of the lending library receiving the request. Some lending libraries provide materials more rapidly than others. Obscure items may take much longer to locate and process.
For most ILL requests the HSU Library absorbs all costs. On rare occasions there may be charges for high cost items which will need to be passed on to you. On such occasions you will be asked by email to approve these charges before we proceed with the request.
What is not available for loan?
- Titles owned by HSU (See May I borrow titles owned by the HSU Library? for exceptions)
- Some very recently published books
- Required class textbooks
- Some master's theses
- Entire issues of most periodicals
- Most reference, very old, or fragile books
- Computer software
- College catalogs
May I borrow titles owned by the HSU Library?
Titles owned by HSU Library cannot be borrowed on ILL unless:
- The title is checked out at HSU and is available from another CSU Library through the CSU Catalog.
- The title is an ebook and you need a print version.
- The title is noted as "lost" or "missing" in the HSU Library Catalog.
How long may I keep materials?
The loan period is set by the lending library and typically averages 2-3 weeks. There may be additional restrictions placed on the use of some materials by the lending library, e.g., "in-library use only". Photocopies and electronic copies of articles are yours to keep. For renewal possibilities see May I renew items?
Are there fines for overdue materials?
Overdue materials carry fines of $1 per day or any fraction thereof (with a $25 maximum). You will also be charged for any lost or damaged materials.
Are there alternatives to the HSU interlibrary loan service?
- Full-service document delivery vendors. There may be times when you can't wait for interlibrary loan where exact turn-around time guarantees cannot be given. If you are willing to pay, you can contact directly a full-service document delivery vendor. Following are three recommendations.
- Ingenta: will deliver online fulltext or fax articles from 20,000 journals.
- Infotrieve: specialiles in scientific, technical and medical (STM) content.
- Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI)
- British Library Direct
- Local libraries: For those not eligible to use the HSU Interlibrary Loan service the College of the Redwoods Library offers its own ILL service to people affiliated with CR. The Humboldt County Public Library also offers ILL service to anyone with a library card; they charge $1 for each request processed.
- Book Vendors: You can purchase books online from vendors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- Out-of-Print Book Vendors: You can search vendors listed under Book Search that list OP books available for purchase.
Where can I check to see if HSU already owns the item that I need?
The item that you need may already be owned by the HSU Library in print or electronic format and available to you immediately. 20% of requests are returned to the requester because HSU owns the item. Please check the following sources before submitting a request:
- For books, theses, videos, DVDs and conferences: check the HSU Library Catalog.
- For journals, magazines, newspapers and other publication issued in a series: check the Journal and Newspaper Finder holdings for print and online fulltext availability
- For U.S. and California government documents: check the HSU Library Catalog for holdings since 1998 and see Government Documents for how to locate older government documents in the HSU Library.
(Remember, if you don't find what you need, Ask a Librarian for assistance.)
To access the web-based request forms you will need to logon to the interlibrary loan system. First time users will need to register. After registering you will have immediate access to 7 format based request forms--books; articles; book chapters; conference papers; government documents; theses or dissertations; and videos, DVDs, CDs. Submitted requests are processed before 5 p.m on the following work day.
Following are specific instructions which will speed the processing of your requests:
- A separate request form is required for each item requested, e.g., several articles from the same journal.
- If your source is abbreviated please do not guess at the full title. Either enter the abbreviated source as given, ask a librarian for help or see Finding Periodical Title Abbreviations for abbreviation sources.
- If your source does not give the title of a article, enter the subject of the article in parentheses.
- Include your reference source (where you found out about the item you are requesting). Lending libraries may require that requests be verified. Ask a librarian for help with this if necessary.
- When requesting materials missing from the Library or at the bindery, enter the Search/Hold form response in the "Other Information" box.
- For items checked out at HSU you may use the CSU Catalog to find a copy in another California State University library and request it using the Pharos ILL request system.
- If you anticipate your research project making extensive use of interlibrary loan please consult with the Interlibrary Loan prior to submitting requests.
Where do I check the status of my requests?
To check on the status of most requests logon to the interlibrary loan system and choose the "View/Modify Outstanding Requests" button. All items currently in process can be viewed along with their status. You may edit and resubmit any requests that have not already been sent to another library. The "View Request History" button shows your completed requests. The "View/Resubmit Cancelled Requests" button shows requests cancelled either by you or the interlibrary loan staff. You may resubmit these items with more complete and/or accurate information.
Will I be notified on the status of my requests?
Email notification is sent to you when a requested item arrives in the Library. All e-mail correspondence is sent to your HSU e-mail address. Please read the email message for instructions on how the item will be delivered to you.
How will my requested items be delivered to me?
- Books must be picked up at the Library. The email message you receive will give the pickup location. Books must be returned to the Circulation Desk.
- Articles received electronically are posted in your ILL account. The email notification you receive will tell you to Logon to interlibrary loan and choose the "View/Download Electronically Received Articles" option.
To request that a borrowed item be renewed logon to the interlibrary loan system and choose the "View/Renew Checked Out Items" button. Approval for renewal is at the discretion of the lending library. Requests must be made before the due date noted on the item cover slip.
Why do I get an alert about a security certificate when I first try to connect to the ILL logon page?
Interlibrary Loan uses a secure server that encrypts the transfer of data to and from a user and a "trusted" server to protect against unwanted data interception by third parties. To avoid having to repeatedly view this security alert see how to install a HSU Security Certificate on your personal computer.
Interlibrary loan is using a HSU campus server to verify authorized users. The server database contains all HSU students, faculty and staff. Logon requires the same HSU User name and password that are used to logon to other campus systems, e.g., webmail, Blackboard and Moodle. If you do not know this information or if you are sure you used your correct ID and password you may do the following to either verify your account information or correct problems.
- Contact the University Computing Services Help Desk at 826-4357 or help@humboldt.edu. They can verify your ID and password and walk you through any necessary changes.
- Use the Humboldt Web Information System-WebReg to reset your HSU User Name password.
- Connect to the Humboldt Web Information System-WebReg and login using your User ID number and PIN.
- Choose "Electronic services (including Email)".
- Choose "Verify/Change HSU User Name Password ".
- On the "Set your HSU User Name password" page follow the directions to change your HSU User Name password. You may reenter the same password you are currrently using or change your password. This will reset your password on all noted university systems.
If you are otherwise qualified to use ILL and do not have an HSU user ID and password you must contact the ILL Office to have a special account created.
There are also logon compatiblity problems for users that use a combination of Mac OS 9.x and Internet Explorer. Using either the Netscape or FireFox browsers will alleviate this problem.
Why can't I view the electronic file that was sent to me?
Documents received electronically are posted in your ILL account as PDF files and must be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader 5 or higher. (Note for MAC users: You may have Acrobat 5 installed, but the Mac default reader program is called "Preview". You will need to turn off the default and access your documents via Acrobat.)
Why was the request I submitted through the CSU Catalog/Pharos Interlibrary Loan Service returned to me?
Some items listed in the CSU Catalog are not available because they are either in use or not available for loan, e.g., reference books and videos. The email you received asks that you resubmit your request through the regular ILL request system. Current incompatibilities in the two systems prevent us from doing this automatically.
Why doesn't my browser's back button work?
The interlibrary loan system is controlled by a program dll (dynamic link library) that does not allow the use of a browser back button. . You must use the navigation buttons found at the top of each page.
Why does my browser say that you are sending a cookie?
The Active Server Pages technology that we use to provide live reporting for the web sends a Session ID to be stored on your machine. You can refuse this cookie and still be able to use the ILL web pages without any problems.
Who do I contact if I have problems or questions?
- For problems with logging on see the contacts listed under Why can't I logon?
- For interlibrary loan related questions contact the InterLibrary Loan Office located in Library 111B. Office hours during the normal academic year are Monday-Friday 8 am to 5 pm. Our phone number is 707-826-4889. You may also contact us by email.