Interlibrary Loan at Western Libraries

The Resource Sharing office supports the research needs of current WWU faculty, students, and staff. We regret that we cannot offer Resource Sharing service to alumni, inactive students, University retirees, Courtesy/Community Card holders, and others not affiliated directly with WWU. These users should seek Resource Sharing assistance from their local libraries.

The ILL department will attempt to borrow any item requested, but some materials can be hard to obtain, such as:

• Video and audio recordings (request audio visual materials through ILLiad using the Book Request Form)
• Reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, etc.)
• Standardized tests and testing manuals
• Requests for books that can be identified as "textbooks" will not be filled
• Books published in the last 6 months or before 1880
• Theses and dissertations (please see our Dissertation LibGuide for additional help and info)
• Conference papers that have not been published

• Western Libraries does not pass on the cost of providing interlibrary loan to its users. We want to keep providing this service for free, so please make requests thoughtfully.
• Late fees do accrue at a rate of $0.50 per day to a maximum of $15.00.
• After an item is 25 days overdue a $90.00 lost materials charge is added to your library circulation account.

• PDFs are often delivered through your ILLiad account in 1 or 2 working days.
• For photocopies, allow for a minimum of 5-10 working days, though they can arrive faster.
• For books and other loanables, allow for 10-15 working days. Most books are shipped "library rate" or media mail. Faster service is possible by using Summit for books or other loanable materials.

When possible, use the FindIt button which displays in most of our online databases and resources. If the item you are after is not available locally or electronically, a link to ILLiad will appear as an option in the FindIt window. By submitting your ILLiad requests in this way most of the required bibliographic data is passed into the ILLiad request form.

Undergraduates are allowed 6 active requests at any one time. An active request is any request not at one of these ILLiad statuses - Finished, Cancelled or Delivered to Web. Undergraduates at their limit can consult the Research-Writing Studio about other available resources. Faculty, graduate students, and Extended and Outreach Education students have no limit.

The current status of any ILLiad request can be viewed by logging into your ILLiad account. See our Explanation of ILLiad Statuses for detailed descriptions of what each status means.

All ILL users are notified by email when a PDF or a physical item is received. Most items can be checked out at Circulation Services in Haggard Hall. Academic department faculty, staff and graduate students can also choose to have items delivered directly to their department (see Document Delivery). Materials for off-campus Extended Education faculty and students will be mailed to the address on file in your ILLiad account.

Books, videos, etc. borrowed through ILLiad can be renewed once unless it has a "No Renewal" label below the due date on the item and within 5 days of the due date. To request a renewal, log in to your ILLiad account, click on the "View or Renew Checked Out Items" button and select the items you wish to renew. You will be given a new due date 21 days from the original date (pending confirmation from the lender). The ILL staff will only contact you if your request is denied or the due date granted by the lender is less than 21 days.
Once an item has become overdue it cannot be renewed.

You can find more complete information about document delivery here.

ILLiad uses your WWU Universal Login (Username and Password). If you've forgotten your password or it has expired, you can contact the ATUS Help Desk at x3333 or use the Universal Password change function at http://west.wwu.edu/atus/web/password.shtml.

The success of ILL sharing depends on Western Libraries’ ability to maintain amicable relationships with other institutions. As an ILLiad user you are responsible for the timely return of all borrowed materials. The due dates and use limitations assigned to these items are stipulated by the lending library and can range from a few days to several weeks. Books, microforms, videos, and other items returned in poor condition may result in a replacement fee which will be added to your library account.

Summit is a resource sharing program maintained by the Orbis Cascade Alliance; Western Libraries is one of 37 libraries in the Alliance that share library materials free of charge. It generally takes 3-5 business days for a Summit item to arrive at Western from the lending library. Books can be checked out for 6 weeks and media items can be checked out for 6 days. Summit items cannot be renewed. You can search the Summit catalog and make requests by using OneSearch.

Interlibrary Loan: (360) 650-3076 Monday - Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm. Email - ILLiad@wwu.edu
Research-Writing Studio: (360) 650-3219. Email – rws@wwu.edu