Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery/GIL-Express: FAQ
Questions
What is Interlibrary Loan (ILL)?
Interlibrary Loan is an international agreement and service between all types of libraries, whereby a library can borrow an item or get a photocopy from a journal that it doesn't own. This is a library-to-library service. You tell us what you need and we make the request to owning libraries. They, in turn, trust us to return the item to them on time and in good condition.
Who is eligible for Georgia Southern's ILLiad services?
All faculty, faculty emeriti, staff, and currently enrolled Georgia Southern students are eligible for ILLiad services, as well as East Georgia College at Georgia Southern students.
Failure to return items in a timely manner may lose ILL borrowing privileges. All users are not necessarily eligible for all services.
What services does Interlibrary Loan provide?
The Georgia Southern ILL services will borrow a variety of materials from other libraries around the world, including but not limited to: books, dvds, microfilm, and special collections. Items that can be digitized will be available for you to download from your ILLiad account. Physical items will be held at the circulation desk.
The ILL department will process any request submitted it receives, even for materials within the University System of Georgia (USG). However, GIL Express may be a faster option if you know your request is available from another USG library.
If an item is not available to be borrowed, or is in short supply, the ILL department will place a purchase request for the item and hold it for you at the circulation desk when it becomes available.
Items on the hold shelf do time out. For items owned by the University Libraries, this is usually 10 days. Items borrowed from other institutions will be pulled within 3 days of their due date. Please contact us if you need an extension to pick up an item.
Is there a fee for using ILL services?
Placing an ILL request is always free. The library does pay to ship items to other institution, as well as copyright and borrowing fees. However, these costs are not passed on to our patrons.
You will be charged if you lose or damage a borrowed item. The owning library will determine how much is owed for the item and you will be billed for that amount.
Can I have my items delivered?
Delivery is only available to Faculty and Distance Learners at the Henderson Library (Statesboro campus).
Faculty at Henderson Library may choose to pick up their items from the circulation desk or have them delivered to their campus P.O. Box.
Distance Learners wishing to have materials shipped to their home addresses, must live outside Bulloch County and not be registered for any on-site classes on the Statesboro campus.
How do I place an ILL request?
ILL requests can be made directly from your ILLiad account by choosing an option under "New Request." Most titles available through the GIL-Find catalog or the Discovery search will also have a "Request via Interlibrary Loan (ILL)" link on the record. Selecting this with prompt you to log in to your ILLiad account and will auto-populate the request form for you.
Some things to note when placing a request:
- Each item must be entered as a separate request.
- The exception is multi-volume books. You may indicate multiple volumes of the same title within one book request.
- Review what can't be borrowed through ILL to avoid having your request cancelled.
- The more information you include, the easier it is to fill the request.
This video covers several ways to place an Interlibrary Loan request.
What can I request through ILL?
What can't I get through ILL?
Textbooks and other course materials are not obtained for students.
E-books cannot be borrowed from other libraries due to licensing and copyright, but you may request chapters.
Books held by other University System of Georgia (USG) libraries may have faster delivery times and longer loan periods if you go through GIL Express by placing a request on the GIL-Find catalog.
Assessment instruments, such as surveys, test, scales, questionnaires, etc. are not usually available from other libraries to be borrowed. Most often these items are not fully published with an article. The author may be the only owner of the tool.
Genealogy information is not usually formally published and may not be available for circulation. Occasionally, cited genealogy sources may be packets of information compiled by researchers or libraries and housed in special collections.
With the exception of textbooks and course materials, you may request any materials you like through ILL and we will do our best to obtain these for you, or find a way for you the access the information.
What is Electronic Delivery?
Many article, chapter, and dissertation requests can be sent to you online as a PDF. If you receive an email like this, Example Email, then you have a PDF waiting for you on your ILLiad account. To comply with copyright, we have to load these PDFs to your account with a due date. Please make sure to download and save your PDF to a secure location if you need persistent access to it.
To find your PDFs on your ILLiad account, select "Electronically Received Articles" under the "View" menu. This will pull up a list of all your currently available PDFs with their title and due date.
How long does it take for materials to get here?
There is no easy answer. We process most requests within 24 hours, though factors like staff being out sick or having a difficult citation can push this to a few days. In processing your request we send it out to a list of other libraries that own the item you are requesting. At this point we have to wait for a library to confirm they own it, locate it on their shelves, and process it for lending. Electronic items see the fastest turnaround times as all that is needed is for the lending library to scan the document and upload it to your account. Physical items can arrive anywhere between 4 days and a month, depending on the library of origin. (We do request from international locations like Canada, England, and Germany. Customs can slow your delivery.)
If it seems like your request is taking too long, the first thing you should do is check the status of your request via your ILLiad account. You can also contact the ILL staff for your campus and we will look into the request for you.
How long can I keep an item borrowed through ILL?
Loan periods for ILL books are set by the owning library (not Georgia Southern usually).
Usually you are allowed 2 - 4 weeks, but for microfilm or a video, the loan period may be 1 week or less.
Distance Learners from Henderson may only have an item for 1-2 weeks because of the shipping time to and from their house.
You may request renewals through your ILLiad account before the item is due. Contact the ILL office on your campus if assistance is needed. Renewal requests are not automatic, and can take a couple of days to receive a response.
All borrowed items should be returned to the Checkout Desk in home library. We are responsible for the material’s safe return to the owning library. Please return your borrowed items on time. Keeping material past its due date can jeopardize our ability to borrow materials from that library in the future.
Please return your items with all the paperwork that was attached when you received it.
How do I cancel a request?
Why did my request get cancelled?
We cancel requests for many reasons include not being able to find a library that owns your request, having too little information, or if it is a textbook or course material. In FY 19, the Statesboro and Savannah campuses combined only saw 8% of article requests and 21% of loan requests cancelled. The most common reasons were "Cancelled by customer" (21% of all cancellations), "Exhausted all resources" (13%), and "Textbook" (10%).
Why is my request taking so long?
There can be a number of factors that delay your request. Here are some of the most important to consider:
- Materials outside the US can take a long time to arrive.
- Inaccurate or incomplete citations usually require more time to search and my require communication with the patron to clarify.
- Not all materials can be borrowed.
- Georgia Southern ILL staff may be negotiating use for special collection items.
- You should receive an email every time and item you requested is available, but these can be lost or sent to spam mail. Look for emails from ill@georgiasouthern.edu or lane-ill@georgiasouthern.edu
- Always call, email, or visit us if you need an update or have a question. We're happy to look at your requests and let you know what information we have on it.
I forgot my password.
In the event that you forget your password, click on “forgot password?” at the bottom of the sign-on page and follow the directions. In a few minutes, the system will send you an e-mail with a link that will allow you to create a new password and access your account.
If for any reason this doesn’t work or you don’t receive an e-mail, call or e-mail ILL office and we can set a temporary password for you to use to get into your account.
What is the difference between an ILLiad account and my Library Account?
At this time, there is no relation between your ILLiad account and your Library account.
ILLiad Account: Manages and tracks all the ILL requests you have made through ILLiad including photocopies and loans. Here you can see books checked out to you and download electronically received articles.
Library Account: Manages and tracks all loans from Georgia Southern Libraries and GIL-Express. Here you can see your due dates and request renewals.
*ILL requests made for items owned by Georgia Southern or that are available through USG will remain on your ILLiad account, not your library account.
Why do I need a login to request items?
Your username and password allows us to give you secure access to information about your interlibrary loan requests. Your username is your Eagle ID 900 or 901 number. Your password can be anything you like. No one but you will know your password, not even the library staff. The password you set is stored in an encrypted file. You may change your password and edit your contact information as needed.
Many libraries use the ILLiad system, or similar programs, to connect with ILL departments around the US and the world. This software is specially designed for us to communicate quickly with other libraries and track dozens of requests simultaneously through OCLC. This software also allows us to purchase articles on your behalf and track and pay for copyright fees that allow us to continue our ILL services.
Your library account is only for Georgia Southern and USG materials.
Who do I contact if I have a question about my account or request?
Office Hours: Monday - Friday
8:00am - 5:00pm
Lane Library (Savannah) |
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 lane-ill@georgiasouthern.edu |
| Located on the first floor of Lane Library behind the circulation desk. |
Henderson Library (Statesboro) |
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| ill@georgiasouthern.edu |
| Located on the first floor of Lane Library behind the circulation desk. |
Contact the Circulation Desk or your reference librarian / liaison if the ILL offices are closed for additional assistance and support placing an ILL or GIl Express request.