Interlibrary Loan is a service provided by The Grace Doherty Library to the students, faculty, and staff of Centre College to obtain material that is not available in the library. With some exceptions, there is no charge for this service. All non-Centre College users, including those with library borrower cards, should contact their local public library to obtain Interlibrary Loan service.

Generally books, photocopies from journals (subject to copyright restrictions), some dissertations, and microfilm can be obtained through Interlibrary Loan.

The Interlibrary Loan Office is located in the office area on the main floor of the library and is open from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. At other times, contact a Reference librarian or the supervisor at the Circulation Desk. To contact the Interlibrary Loan Office, phone 238-5275 or send an email to carrie@centre.edu.

Please check the Library Online Catalog to verify library holdings before submitting an Interlibrary Loan request.

Interlibrary Loan Policies

• Centre College students, faculty, and staff may request up to 20 ILL transactions per term (unused requests will not carry over into the next term)
• Students, faculty, and staff will pay a fee of $5.00 per ILL transactions for requests beyond the 20 permitted in each term
• Students, faculty, and staff may have a total of five ILL books at any one time
• Students, faculty, and staff must return ILL books by the due date, as designated by the lending library. Overdue fines of $1.00 per day per item will be levied on all patrons. Fines must be paid before requesting additional ILL items
• ILL books may be renewed once at the discretion of the lending library
• Recalled ILL books must be returned immediately. Overdue fines also apply to recalled books
• ILL books cannot be placed on reserve
• The library will not honor any ILL request from a patron with overdue ILL books or unpaid ILL fines
• ILL books may not be removed from the United States

Submitting Interlibrary Loan Requests

To request an item through Interlibrary Loan, complete the paper or electronic request form as fully as possible. A separate form is needed for each item requested. Alternatively, use a printout from one of the journal indexes, or send an email to ill@centre.edu. The completed paper forms or printout may be given to the Interlibrary Loan staff, a Reference librarian, or the Circulation Desk supervisor. Paper request forms are available at the Interlibrary Loan Office, Circulation Desk, and Reference desk.

Time to Fill Requests

It is impossible to predict how long it will take to receive an interlibrary loan request. The time required to fill the request depends on several factors, including the accuracy and completeness of the request, the difficulty in locating the requested item, the willingness and efficiency of the lending library to supply the item, and, since most material is sent by mail, the U.S. Postal Service. Expect a wait of 1-2 weeks, and plan your research accordingly.

Notification

Photocopies will be sent through campus mail, and don't need to be returned. Books, microform, and other non-photocopy material can be picked up at the Circulation Desk. Users will be notified when a requested item has been received or if there are any problems in filling a request. Any item not picked up in a reasonable amount of time will be returned to the lending library.

Loan Period

The loan period for books, microform, and non-photocopy material is determined solely by the lending institution. In most cases, the loan period is four weeks. Renewals may be requested by contacting the Interlibrary Loan Office before the item is due. The lending library will then be asked for permission to renew the item. This permission is granted solely by the lending library and cannot be guaranteed. Institutions that loan materials, including Centre College, reserve the right to recall items at any time for their own users.

Returning Borrowed Material

Books, microforms, and other non-photocopied material may be returned to the Interlibrary Loan Office between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. At other times, materials may be returned to the Circulation Desk.

Interlibrary Loan Fines

Interlibrary loan is a service that is granted to Centre College faculty, staff, and students by the lending library. Abuse of that privilege by library users jeopardizes the lending institution's willingness to fill future requests. Non-photocopied material must be returned, or a renewal requested, on or before the item's due date. If not, a fine of $1.00 per day per item will be charged. Items that have been recalled by the lending library must also be promptly returned. If not, a fine of $1.00 per day per item will be charged. These fines are applicable to faculty, staff, and students. All fines must be paid before any additional interlibrary loans may be requested.

Items Not Available Through Interlibrary Loan

Some materials which may not be available through Interlibrary Loan include:

• Entire volumes or issues of periodicals; normally only specific articles may be requested
• Reference books
• Rare or fragile materials
• Newly published books
• Recordings, videos, and other audio-visual material
• Requests which may violate copyright limitations

Dissertations

Dissertations are frequently held only by the institution that awarded the degree. Some, but not all, libraries will loan dissertations, and often there are charges for these requests. There is no certainty that a request for a dissertation can be filled. The interlibrary loan staff can usually determine the lending policy of the institution at which the dissertation is held and the costs involved in obtaining it.

Copyright Restrictions

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Interlibrary Loan and Photocopies of Journal Articles

The copyright law does not provide a quantitative definition of how many photocopies from a journal can be received by a library for interlibrary loan. The National Commission on new Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) in 1978 issued guidelines to help libraries comply with copyright law. The Grace Doherty Library follows CONTU guidelines, as follows:

CONTU GUIDELINES FOR INTERLIBRARY LOAN

For any given journal or periodical title within a given year, the library is allowed, under CONTU guidelines, to obtain an institutional total of 5 photocopies of articles published within the past 5 years of the current year. The sixth time we are asked to get an article from a particular journal in this time frame, we must look at the following alternatives:

1. Decline to fill your request (sometimes necessary).
2. Ask you to wait for a new calendar year when the count of five will begin anew.

Questions about Interlibrary Loan?
Contact Carrie Frey at (859) 238-5275
carrie@centre.edu or ill@centre.edu