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ILL Home | ILL Help | ILL FAQ | ILL Policies | Borrowing libraries
Go to the ILL Home page and click on the "Register for an Interlibrary Loan account" link. On the page that appears, read the Important Copyright Information section and click on "First Time Users Click Here" button. Complete the online registration form and click "Submit."
After completing the online registration form, the Interlibrary Loan system will send you a message confirming your registration.
Remember you must provide an email address so that we can notify you when materials are received and ready for pickup, when articles have been delivered, and when we need further information from you in order to process a request. Your brandeis.edu address is the best email to use.
Ther are two ways to place ILL requests for books, films and CDs: You can either log into your ILL account and fill out an ILL request form, or you can submit your ILL request from within a database using the 
button.
To fill out an ILL request form, log into your ILL account. In the screen that appears, under the "New Request" menu, click on the "Book/Film/CD/Microform Request" link. Fill out as much information as you know about the item you wish to borrow and click "Submit."
To submit an ILL request from within a database, find the citation for the item you want and click on the button. Follow the link to Interlibrary Loan and log into your ILL account. All of the information for the item you want to borrow will import directly into the request form. Click "Submit".
The best database to use to find books, films, and CDs is WorldCat. Before you submit an ILL request, note that WorldCat will tell you which books Brandeis owns--you will see BRANDEIS UNIV LIBR. in green next to the title.
There are two ways to request journal, magazine, and newspaper articles: You can either log into your ILL account and fill out a request form or you can submit your request from within a database using the button.
To fill out an ILL request form, log into your ILL account. In the screen that appears, under the "New Request" menu, click on the "Article Request" link. Fill out as much information about the article you need and click "Submit."
To request an article from within a database, use Brandeis Scholar or an individual database to searh for articles. Find the citiation for the article you want and click on the button. If you can access the article/journal electronically, you will see a link to the full text online. If Brandeis owns the article in print, you'll see a link to the LOUIS catalog where you can find the call number for the journal.
If there is no electronic access and Brandeis does not own the journal in print, follow the links to Interlibrary Loan, log into your ILL account, and click "Submit."
We (Brandeis Libraries) send the renewal request on to the lending library. Sometimes it takes a few days to receive a reply from the lender.
If the answer is no: You will receive an email saying that the renewal request has been denied.
If the answer is yes: You will receive an email with the new due date.
Note: You can only request a renewal once. Sometimes we receive books from libraries that will not allow renewals, so renewal requests are not possible for these.
Renewals are at the discretion of the lending library and sometimes the answer is no, even though a renewal request has been submitted.
Recalls: There are times when a lending library or institution will ask for an item they have loaned to you through Interlibrary Loan to be returned before its original due date. This is called a recall.
When an item you have borrowed is recalled, you will receive an email notifying you that the item has been recalled, and you should immediately return the item to the circulation desk at the Goldfarb Library.
Overdues: Failure to return recalled items promptly damages Brandeis ILL's relationship with lending libraries, putting future requests at risk. Please be aware of recalls and return recalled items as soon as possible.
The success of Interlibrary Loan depends on you, the borrower, to return borrowed materials by their due date. It is your responsibility to be aware of when an item you have borrowed is due back at the circulation desk at the Goldfarb Library.
How do I know when the book is due back?
Due date information can be found on the slip of paper that is attached to all items borrowed through Interlibrary Loan. You can also find out the due date by logging onto your Interlibrary Loan account. Keeping items beyond their due date damages the relationship between Brandeis ILL and lending libraries, and when items become 30 days overdue, your Interlibrary Loan privileges are taken away and your account blocked. Be aware of due dates!
Following are some suggestions for alternatives to Interlibrary Loan.
Remember, requests for books and microforms can take 2 to 4 weeks to arrive via Interlibrary Loan. Requests for articles usually go much faster, however, there are times when even articles will take some time to arrive.
You may want to consider these alternatives to ILL if you believe what you need is not owned by Brandeis but you are having trouble locating it elsewhere, if you need certain materials immediately or if you need them by a certain date that the ILL department will not be able to meet:
Apply for a Boston Library Consortium borrowing card (BLC Card), which allows you to use and borrow materials from a number of local colleges and universities that belong to the Consortium. Faculty and Graduate students may apply for a BLC Consortium Card at the Main Library Circulation Desk or the Science Library Information Desk. Undergraduates may apply at the research consultation offices.
BLC Libraries are: Boston College, Boston Public Library, Boston University, Brown, Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute, MIT, Northeastern, Massachusetts State Library, Tufts, UConn, University of Massachusetts, University of New Hampshire, Wellesley, and Williams College.
Access individual BLC library catalogs
