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Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
ILL is a service that allows borrowing of materials from other libraries. This gives you access to materials that the Montgomery Library does not own, such as articles from our databases that do not contain the full text.
How do I place my request? It's 1 - 2 - 3!
1. Print the ILL request form from this link
2. Fill it out as completely as you can
3. Turn in the form to the Library main desk, or Tim Hooper. Because we require a signature for our records, we do not allow ILL requests by phone or by e-mail. However, you can fax it in to 270-789-5363.
Tim's staff will give you a call when your request comes in, so be sure to provide contact information!
Who is allowed to place an ILL request?
- Only current Faculty, Staff and Students
What about Alumni or Community Borrowers?
- You'll need to borrow from the Taylor County Public Library. Don't worry! They handle ILL all the time, including borrowing from us! We can help you out with getting proper citation information, but the request must go through Taylor County Public.
When will I get my requests?
- The official answer is "allow 2 weeks", but requests can come in earlier or later. To a great extent, it depends on the workload of the lending library.
Is it free?
- Often it will be free, but there sometimes can be charges. Here's how we determine charges:
- We pass on all charges from the lending library. If the lending library is in-state or an Appalachian College Association member , usually we have reciprocal borrowing -- we don't charge them, and they don't charge us. If the library is out of our region, we may have to pay a fee just for borrowing. Occasionally the lending library will bill us for their postage in sending the item to us.
- Each semester, we give you a certain number of requests free of any Montgomery Library charges, even though we pay for quite a lot. We pay for postage to return items to the lending library, fees to use the automated ILL network, and fees for search time. Once you exceed your free requests, we usually have to start charging you for our postage at least. Here is the number of free requests by patron type:
Faculty/Staff: Ten books and ten journal articles per semester
Graduate Students: Eight books and twelve journal articles per semester.
Undergraduate students: Five books and six journal articles per semester
What problems could come up?
- Copyright rules on single journal titles: Copyright guidelines are structured to encourage subscription or purchase of titles that are used repeatedly. Most institutions will only fill three articles from the same journal title. So if you are very dependent on one specialized journal, or want to see a whole "special issue", you can run out of allowable requests very quickly. You may need to investigate the purchase of back journal issues, or subscription. Tim Hooper or Sandra Riggs can help you with investigating options.
- Recent publications dates: Many libraries don't lend items that are less than one-year old; although, we always ask anyway!
- Dissertations: Most libraries don't lend dissertations. While we can try, most dissertations are usually purchased through UMI Dissertation Publishing. They typically cost about $40 and come shrink-wrapped, delivered to you directly.
Who should I contact if I have further questions?
- Tim Hooper is in charge of Interlibrary Loan, as well as, several other Library areas.