PURPOSE / SCOPE:
Provide guidelines for interlibrary loan service from other libraries and facilities.
DEFINITIONS:
- Interlibrary loan – The process by which resources not owned or available through the library are requested and/or borrowed from other libraries.
POLICY:
The ICOM Library provides an interlibrary loan service from other libraries and facilities to obtain resources that are not available through the library’s current subscriptions or that are outside of the scope, space, and expense of the physical collection. Interlibrary loan requests should be used to meet the needs of ICOM’s teaching, learning, and research goals.
Eligibility
The interlibrary loan service is available to all ICOM employees and currently enrolled students. Although the library is primarily focused on medicine and medical instruction, all requests will be considered. Patrons with any requests that are more general in nature will be directed to their local public library for service.
Borrowing
The ICOM Library will fill requests for items which are available in electronic format only. This includes articles from journals, limited chapters from books, and electronic versions of items such as dissertations. The ICOM Library will not fill requests for any printed items, such as books or journals. A patron may suggest the library purchase a book for the collection instead of borrowing it per the ICOM Library Collection Development policy. Suggestions for new book purchases will be considered depending on a number of factors which can also found in the collection development policy. Patrons will be directed to their public libraries for borrowing books and for obtaining materials outside of the scope of the ICOM library. Requests for most online articles will be filled within 2-3 business days, though it may take longer depending on the nature of the requested item (the item is only owned by few libraries, the age of the item, etc.).
Cost
Normal interlibrary loan usage is free to ICOM employees and currently enrolled students. The library will track all article requests based on the requestor, the journal, the specific article requested and the age of the article. Excessive borrowing which results in copyright fees may result in users being charged. However, the library staff will advise patrons of these potential charge before filling these types of requests.
Copyright
All interlibrary loan services are subject to US Copyright Law. The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of reproductions of copyrighted materials. Libraries and archives are authorized to provide a photocopy of materials under conditions specified in the law. To abide by Copyright Law, 50 pages or 10% of a work, whichever is less, may be copied and obtained via Interlibrary Loan.
The Library staff strongly encourages all users to go through the ICOM library for all article or chapter requests and not pay for articles out of their own pocket. Library staff can typically procure these requests with 2-3 days for free.
The Library reserves the right to decline certain requests based on the interpretation of the Copyright Law. Absence of a copyright notice does not necessarily indicate that material is not copyrighted. The law no longer requires such a notice.
Lending
The ICOM Library will lend electronic materials to other libraries that are a part of OCLC, DOCLINE, or other established consortia. We will lend, without charge, to libraries we have reciprocal agreements with, or those libraries which do not charge us to borrow items from them.
The ICOM Library does not lend out items in our physical collection to other institutions.
POLICY OWNER:
Director of Library Services
APPROVAL:
Effective: 8/11/21
Last Reviewed: 5/22/23
Review Requirement: 5 Years