Interlibrary Loans
The interlibrary loan (ILL) service at the University of Suffolk Library enables us to access additional materials not available in our existing collections. Requests are made to other institutions in the UK and internationally. The library will not request items held in its existing collections, or available free of charge online.
Front of House ILLs
- Upon delivery, ILLs are left on the labelled shelf in the back office for Team A to unpack and process.
- Once processed by Team A, ILLs will be stored on the labelled shelf in the back office awaiting collection by the patron.
- ILLs collected by patrons must be manually checked out at the helpdesk, with the due date on WMS manually adjusted to correspond with the date on the ILL slip.
- ILLs returned by patrons must be manually checked in at the helpdesk, with the Routing Receipt printed out.
- After placing the routing receipt slip in the book, helpdesk staff will store the ILL on the labelled shelf in the back office for Team A to return to the lending library.
Service Level Agreements
The library will:
- Review and action all new requests within 3 working days.
- Receive and make available for loan all borrowed items within 3 working days.
- Notify patrons within 3 working days if we are unable to fulfil requests.
Interlibrary loan requests may be submitted to several national and international institutions; as such, the library is not accountable for the duration of time taken to fulfil requests beyond the timeframes specified above.
For more information, please see the interlibrary loan policy below:
Who can make an ILL request?
All students/staff based at the University of Suffolk Ipswich campus are entitled to unlimited requests free of charge. University of Suffolk students will be liable to pay a renewal fee if they wish to extend the loan period of any print item.
External Public and Alumni members are entitled to unlimited requests, subject to the charges outlined in the interlibrary loan policy.
University of Suffolk Partner Students/Staff, and SCONUL Members are not entitled to make interlibrary loan requests and will be redirected to their home institution for further support.
Patrons are entitled to 10 active requests at any one time. There is no formalised limit on the overall number of requests library patrons can make. However, the interlibrary loan service operates under the expectation of reasonable usage, as defined in the interlibrary loan policy.
How are ILL requests made?
Requests can be submitted by completing the ILL Request Form, available here: https://uos.account.worldcat.org/account/ill-workform. Students should also be directed to the ILL Service requirements here.
Patrons may also elect to browse for titles not available in our collection via the “Libraries Worldwide” function on Discovery, and place requests by clicking the “Request Interlibrary Loan” button. The below video demonstrates how students can place ILL requests via Discovery. Requests should only be made on behalf of students as a final resort, they should first be directed to the ILL request page to place the request themselves.
External Alumni and members of the Public must liaise with the Library Helpdesk before attempting to place Interlibrary Loan requests.
Stock Suggestions
Patrons can also submit a purchase request or stock suggestion. Where possible, the library will purchase items as permanent additions to the collection. All Ipswich-based University of Suffolk students and staff are entitled to submit stock suggestions. Students at partner institutions should direct all stock suggestions to their home library.
While we will always endeavour to purchase stock suggestions, we may not be able to do so:
- If the resource is too costly
- If the resource is out of print, or difficult to obtain
- If the resource is likely to have low or limited usage
In these instances, patrons will be notified via email and advised to submit an interlibrary loan request.