Interlibrary loans

Printed books, whole journals and conference proceedings will be loaned to you for a period set by the lending library (this cannot be exceeded). We will let you know when the print item has arrived.

Loans can also be supplied as a photocopy (which you may keep) or emailed as a PDF. Please check the email for any instructions or restriction. Some items may be reference-only which must stay in the Library building.

No, we pay the basic charge for each item you request.  However, if you require a copy for commercial purposes we will pay the standard cost and your department is expected to cover the additional copyright fee charged by the British Library.  You will need to provide a cost code.

If the item is supplied in hard copy, such as a book, whole journal issue or whole conference proceedings, then the loan period is decided by the lending library. It must be returned to us within the time limit or you will risk being invoiced for the cost from the lending library. For British Library items the minimum charge is £140 per item.

It may be possible to renew items but there will be a charge to you or your department to do this. Please contact us if you wish to extend your loan period and we will ask the lending library on your behalf.

It is not possible to give a firm guide on how long a request will take to arrive and therefore please place your print requests as early as possible. If you have any questions please contact the Library.

Bear in mind also that a request can take longer if the item is already on loan to another user, or if the item is hard to find.

We can usually post print interlibrary loan items (books, whole conference proceedings or whole journal issues) to you if you are based in the UK or ROI.

We will email you when your interlibrary loan arrives, and ask you to confirm your address if you want us to post it to you. We will use the Royal Mail's Special Delivery service. You will need to sign for the parcel when it arrives, so somebody must be available at the receiving address. You might prefer to use your work address. Please use the same service to return them to us, as you will be insured for any loss or damage. Items are your responsibility until they are safely returned to us.

We are unable to send interlibrary loan books overseas.

Some libraries will only supply books to us for reference use only and so they cannot leave the Library building.

It is against copyright law to copy more than one article per issue of a journal, or more than one conference paper per volume of a conference. If you need more than one item from the same publication, please request the whole book, journal or conference proceedings, and we will borrow the item for you from another library instead.

A Copyright Declaration Form is automatically generated at the bottom of all interlibrary loan requests. You must complete the form to comply with UK copyright law.
By ticking the box “Is your request for private study?” you agree to abide by the conditions of the 'The Copyright And Related Rights Regulations 2003'. You are confirming that your request is for a non-commercial purpose or for private study, and that you will not supply a copy to any other person.

If your request is for commercial purposes, tick “Yes” in the section titled “Do you need copyright clearance?” For more information about this, read our FAQ below: "What should I do if my interlibrary loan request is for commercial purposes?”

You will need to tick the “Do you need copyright clearance?” section at the bottom of the interlibrary loan request form.
A member of our Document Supply Service team will then request the item under the British Library's Copyright Cleared service. This is a more expensive service - the library will cover the cost of a standard interlibrary loan, but any cost above this will need to be met by your department.

Once you have completed the electronic request form, we will contact you to let you know how much the request will cost (the cost will differ according to the publication). If you wish to go ahead with the request you will need to supply the cost code that is to be debited. We will not charge for clearance under £3.00.

If we are unable to find a loanable copy of the item you require, we will let you know. We will also consider whether we are able to purchase a copy for the library collection. Please note that items such as case studies, AV materials, computer software, archival materials, auction items and individual website subscriptions will need to be funded by the requester or the requester’s department.

In general, eBooks cannot be loaned due to license restrictions. If this is the case, we will contact both you and your course or research Librarian, as they may be able to help you find alternatives or consider whether we are able to purchase a copy for the library collection.
It may be possible to request a single chapter of an eBook. (Due to copyright, we cannot request more than one chapter.) If this would meet your needs, please place a request for the chapter providing the necessary details.