Who May Borrow
Individuals in the following categories who have a current, valid Yale ID are eligible to use Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services: faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, University staff, visiting fellows, post-docs, and research fellows. Other patrons may check with a staff member in the Privileges Office in Sterling Memorial Library.

Submitting Requests
Requests should be submitted to the Yale University library that supports your area of study and research. A list of interlibrary loan departments can be found at the top of this page. Requests can be submitted using the paper forms available in the libraries or the Web forms accessible from each department's Web site.

Requests are NOT taken over the telephone.

Borrow Direct requests should be submitted through the Borrow Direct Web page.

Requestor Responsibilities
Complete and accurate requests will prevent undue delays in processing.

Fill in all relevant information and provide the source of your citation if possible.

Paper forms should be legible, written in black or blue ink, and signed.

E-mail is the preferred means of communication with patrons. Inclusion of an e-mail address can expedite efforts to contact the requestor.

Before submitting an ILL request, check Orbis to determine if the requested material is available at Yale. For items published prior to 1977, check Orbis and the card catalog. For law related requests, you should also check the Law Library online catalog, Morris.

Service Conditions
Requests may be filled with a photocopy (journal article, essay from a larger volume, patents, etc.) or a loan of the original item (book, dissertation, microforms, etc.).

Materials which generally cannot be acquired through ILL include reference sources, standards, special collections, and reserve materials.

Complete journal issues or volumes may not be available for loan; photocopies of articles can be requested.

All ILL requests are subject to the applicable copyright laws.

The lending institution determines length of the loan period, due date, and any conditions on the use of the material, e.g., in-library use only, no photocopying, no renewals.

Borrowed materials are subject to recall by the lending institutions.

Yale patrons are expected to comply with all loan conditions and to return materials on or before the due date. A patron who fails to do so will be subject to fines and replacement fees.

Renewal of an interlibrary loan must be requested at least one week before the due date. Contact the Interlibrary Loan staff in the Yale University library that processed your loan request. Interlibrary loan material may NOT be renewed via the library's Web form. The patron will be notified of the new due date if the renewal is granted by the lending institution.

Turnaround Time
The average time required for obtaining material through Interlibrary Loan is 2 - 3 weeks, depending upon the time of year, the volume of requests, and the policies of the lending institution. Materials which are difficult to locate, or which are incompletely or inaccurately cited, may require more time. Patrons should note questions or problems in the appropriate place on the request form or discuss them with the ILL staff.

Notification and Delivery
Patrons will be notified by e-mail when photocopies or loans are available for pickup. If necessary, notices will be sent via campus mail or U.S. mail. Photocopies may be picked up at a designated Yale University Library as indicated by the patron on the request form. Some libraries offer the delivery of photocopies via fax or pdf on the web. Check with ILL staff at the library where you place your request to see if these delivery options are available. All loans must be picked up at the Circulation desk of the library to which you sent your request (i.e., SML, SSL, KSL).

Fees and Fines
Patrons will be charged fines for overdue interlibrary loans. Patrons will be charged replacement fees and fines for lost, unreturned, or damaged materials.