Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary loan is the process by which a library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library

The Library guarantees the return of borrowed books and/or payment for book loans and copies of periodical articles to lending libraries. This service  is available to any Ramapo student, faculty or staff member with a valid identification card and who has no "blocks" on his/her Library privileges.

ILL service is provided at no cost the patron. The Library absorbs all costs.

ILL Request Forms - Please fill out the request form for a: Book or Article

  • Students, faculty and staff may also obtain request forms for ILL service from the Reference Desk on the 3rd floor of Potter Library. Reference librarians will verify that Potter Library does not have the requested material before forwarding the request to the ILL office.

  • The ILL office cannot order books or periodical articles that are owned by the Potter Library unless Library staff determine they are missing or damaged beyond use. Especially in the case of 100 and 200 level courses the reference librarians will attempt to identify alternate materials available in Potter Library. The Library has targeted advanced undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty as the highest priority for ILL service.

  • Incomplete or inaccurate information will cause a request to be delayed or possibly unfilled.  It is helpful to include the source of the citation to assure the accuracy of the bibliographic information.

Processing ILL Requests

ILL staff will attempt to identify potential lenders and place requests via the OCLC, an international bibliographic network. Rrequests are sent to as many as five libraries in a specified sequence, and each library has five working days to respond to the request before the request is passed to the next library. Therefore, it can take up to 15 working days (excluding holidays and weekends), plus additonal time for mailing, for a request to be considered by all five potential lenders. 

  • If the request is not filled, ILL will resubmit the request to five new libraries if that is possible.
  • Requestors will be notified as soon as their materials arrive at Potter Library.

  • Because the service is free to Ramapo students and faculty, ILL staff will always prefer a lender who will not charge to fill the request. Ramapo College belongs to the Highlands Regional Library Cooperative and the New Jersey Academic Library Network within the state and Libraries Very Interested in Sharing in OCLC. If necessary, ILL staff will send the request to libraries that charge.

  • Because ILL staffing is a finite resource, there may be times during the semester when the volume of requests prevents everything from being processed quickly. At such times, ILL staff may ask students or faculty who are submitting multiple requests to prioritize those requests. Patrons should have no more than eight (8) requests active at one time.

  • ILL staff will attempt to give priority to requests that involve time sensitive research, such as faculty grant proposals or submissions to publishers. In addition requests from graduate students and undergraduates in senior seminar classes will also be given priority to the extent possible.

    Student and/or Faculty Borrower's Responsibilities

  • ILL loans are not made to the individual student or faculty member, they are made from one library to another. Students and faculty who borrow books through ILL must return these items to the ILL office by the due date and undamaged. Returning materials extremely late ordamaged jeopardizes the Library's ability to borrow materials from other libraries in the future.

  • In some cases there may be restrictions placed on the use of the loaned material, e.g., a borrower may be required to use the material in the library. Such restrictions must be honored.

Document Delivery

Document delivery services are a commercial alternative to ILL. Most document delivery vendors charge a fee that covers labor, delivery, and any copyright charges, which must be paid to fill a request for research material. In general document delivery suppliers do not provide books, but specialize in copies of periodical literature and technical reports, which are not returned. Potter Library has deposit accounts with several document delivery suppliers, which provide reliable and fast delivery.

BLDSC (British Library Document Supply Centre)
CISTI (Canadian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information)
UMI (University Microfilms)

Charges for document delivery service vary widely. The vendor, the type of document requested, the urgency of the request ("rush" is substantially more expensive), the type of delivery (fax, ARIEL, FedEx, USPS), and the copyright royalty associated with a request all help determine the final cost.

Generally, the cost to use any of these services will be at least $15.00 per request. Potter Library offers these services to faculty and graduate students after ILL staff have determined that time constraints, ILL lending library charges, or lack of availability via ILL makes document delivery a preferred choice. Students and faculty are not charged for this service - the Library absorbs all costs.

 If you have any questions concerning Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery policies and procedures, please contact the ILL Staff at 201-684-7579.

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