Interlibrary loans

The interlibrary loans service is available to UNSW staff and students to enable research, teaching and study at UNSW. You may request items that are not held by the UNSW Sydney Libraries and UNSW Academy Library Canberra. For more information see your Membership and borrowing rights.

For information on off-campus copy requests see Off-campus borrowers.

For copies and interlibrary loans to other libraries see Document delivery service.

Non-UNSW theses

Many non-UNSW theses are available to download via open access institutional repositories. For information on finding non-UNSW online theses see Theses.

  • Some print copies are available for loan and can be accessed via the interlibrary loan service.
  • Theses held in closed collections of other libraries and not available for download or loan cannot be accessed via the interlibrary loan service.
  • Conditions of access to a thesis are determined by the author and holding library, and are outside the control of UNSW Library.
  • Contact the owning library or institution directly to enquire about purchasing a thesis.

Requesting and collecting an interlibrary loan (ILL) item

1. Check that the item is not held in the UNSW Library collection.
2. Sign in directly to the ILL request form to submit a request:

  • You can request books, book chapters, journal articles, audio-visual materials, reports, conference papers, archival and other materials not held at UNSW Library.
  • Requests are free and usually take 5-10 working days to process.
  • Loans sourced from overseas libraries can take up to 4 weeks to arrive.
  • Urgent requests are not available.

3. You will be notified via your official UNSW email when a requested item is available:

  • Collect books from the location nominated in your request.
    • Main, Law and Paddington Library collection point is the Interlibrary Loans shelf in the High Use Collection room.
    • Canberra Academy Library collection point is the Service Desk.
    • Library Use Only items can only be collected from the Help Zone or Service Desk during staff hours and must be used in the Library.
    • Supervised Access Only items can only be collected from the Help Zone or Service Desk during staffed hours and must be used under supervision.
  • Digital copies will be sent to your official UNSW email.
    • You need to keep all records of the digital copies supplied via ILL.
    • Journal article and book chapter ILL details will not be retained in myLibrary.
  • You will receive a cancellation email to your official UNSW email if the item cannot be sourced.

To view your current and past book ILL details, sign in to myLibrary and under 'Loans' select 'Active loans' or 'Previous and historic loans'. Journal article and book chapter ILL details will not be retained in myLibrary. All email communications are sent to your official UNSW email and do not use personal email addresses.

Loan periods and renewing an ILL item

Due dates and renewal conditions are noted on the ILL book strap and can also be viewed in myLibrary under 'Loans'.

  • If an item is renewable, contact the Library via email or phone - ILL items cannot be renewed via myLibrary.
  • Interlibrary loans can be recalled at any time - you will be notified via email of the recall and due date change.
  • There is a $1.00 charge for every day the loan is overdue - for more information see Fines.

Returning an ILL item

Return your interlibrary loans by post or in person at any UNSW Sydney Library or the UNSW Academy Library (Canberra).

  • The ILL book strap must remain on the item.
  • Defacing, mutilating or damaging interlibrary loan items in any way will result in replacement cost fees being charged to the client - the cost is determined by the lending library.

Copyright

All interlibrary loan requests submitted by UNSW staff and students must be made in accordance with the Australian Copyright Act. Under the Act, libraries can supply a copy of an article or other work as long as the copy is only used for research or study and the amount copied is in accordance with the limits prescribed by the Act.

The limits are as follows:

  • 10% or one chapter of a book.
  • One article per periodical issue, or more if those articles are on the exact same subject.

The Library reserves the right to refuse an interlibrary loan request if it believes that fulfilling the request would breach the Australian copyright law. For more information see Copyright.

Contact us

Email: ill.one@unsw.edu.au
Phone: +61 2 9065 9443
Opening hours: from 10.00am to 4.00pm, Monday to Friday
Postal address: DCA Resource Sharing, UNSW Library, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, AUSTRALIA