Interlibrary Loan

Textbooks

• The Roosevelt University Library understands that the cost of textbooks is high. Although the Library does allow patrons to place ILL requests for certain required course reading material, we are unable to borrow required textbooks via Interlibrary Loan. 
  • Interlibrary loan should be used for supplementing your research and is not a substitute for buying required textbooks.
  • Attempts to borrow current editions of textbooks sometimes can take many weeks and are frequently unsuccessful.
  • Interlibrary loan dues dates are short and will not cover a full use semester. If you attempt to keep an ILL book for a whole semester, overdue fees could add up to be greater than the original cost of the book. 

Articles

• Interlibrary Loan
  • Use Interlibrary Loan to submit article requests, view received articles, and track current and past requests for articles. If an article is not available in one of the library's databases or collections, you can submit a request directly from the database.

Books, Scores, Media, etc.

• I-Share
  • The I-Share catalog compiles the holdings of a consortium of 70+ college libraries in the state of Illinois called CARLI, of which Roosevelt University is a member. The I-Share catalog is the best option for requesting books and other physical media because it allows you to keep the items you request for longer, and you can even visit local I-Share libraries and directly check out many types of material with your Roosevelt ID.
• Interlibrary Loan
  • If a book you are seeking is not available at Roosevelt catalog or in the I-Share catalog, you can search for it in the WorldCat catalog and request it with your Interlibrary Loan account. Books obtained through WorldCat typically have shorter due dates than those obtained through I-Share, and the fines associated with WorldCat are high and cannot be waived. However, WorldCat is a good option for obtaining rare or hard-to-find books.

Who may use Interlibrary Loan services?

• Affiliated users who may use this service are: currently enrolled Roosevelt University students, current employees of Roosevelt University, and retired faculty and staff of Roosevelt University. 
• Interlibrary Loan services are not available for alumni of Roosevelt University.
• Inactive graduate students who need to finish their research project should contact Interlibrary loan for further information.

How long does it take? 

On average, 12 to 14 business days. Some items arrive in a shorter time frame, but because of scarcity or popularity, some items can take much longer, so it is best to plan ahead when requesting interlibrary loan items. 

Items that maybe difficult to obtain or renew include:

• videos, DVDs, CDs, microforms
• reference, historical or genealogy materials
• items currently on reserve or required readings
• entire issues of a journal
• textbooks and dissertations 

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a service in which Roosevelt University Library will borrow materials for you from other libraries that are not owned in print or electronic format by Roosevelt University.

Before Submitting an Interlibrary Loan Request

Before submitting a request for a book or article through interlibrary loan, please check to be sure it is not available in the i-Share catalog or online. For articles, please be sure to check Google Scholar to determine if it freely available online. 

I-Share 

Google Scholar

Sometimes a lending library will recall material that has been loaned to us. This may happen if the item is needed by one of their students or faculty.

Roosevelt University must honor the recall of an ILL item.  This means that your borrowing period will be cut short and the item must be returned immediately. We will send you an email message telling you that the item has been recalled and ask that you return the item right away.

Please return the item as quickly as you can.  This helps us maintain a good relationship with the lending library so we can continue borrowing from them in the future.

If you still need that item you can ask that we try to obtain it from another library.