ILL FAQs and Policies

What is Interlibrary Loan (ILL)?

The Consortium Library is part of an international library network that lends and borrows materials. Faculty, staff, and students of UAA and APU can use our ILL service to order books, articles, reports, and other items from libraries around the world.

Items located within the holdings of a Consortium Library partner may be ordered directly through the catalog and do not qualify for ILL.

You must have a UAA or APU ID card and have a Consortium Library Account in good standing in order to order and check out books through ILL.

What is Document Delivery?

Document Delivery is a service that provides electronically delivered copies of articles held in the library's print collection. You do not have to come to the library building to find and copy journal or newspaper items; instead, fill out a request as you would for an ILL.

Please be advised that that requests for items available in full text from online databases will be redirected back to you to retrieve for yourself. Broken links to content should be reported immediately to ayref@uaa.alaska.edu for fixing.

How do I order materials?

You can connect to ILL order forms from the library's website and many of our electronic databases.

How do I receive materials?

Articles are delivered electronically to your ILL account, where you retrieve them by choosing "Posted Articles." Click on 'View (PDF symbol)' or the transaction # and 'View PDF' to access the material.

Books and other materials can be picked up at the Library’s Circulation Desk or, if you are staff or faculty, sent to you via Intercampus Mail.

You will receive an email that will inform you when your material is ready to view or pick up.

How long does it take for material to arrive?

Photocopies (articles, book chapters) generally take two to seven days, depending largely on whether the lending library can send the documents electronically.
Books arrive within 10 to 28 days depending on the sending library’s mailing policy.
Unique items may take more time.

If you have questions about an ILL item that you have ordered but not yet received, please call the ILL staff at 786-1828.

How will I know when my items have arrived?

You will receive an email notice to your UAA or APU email account when articles have arrived and have been posted to your ILL account or when a loan is available for pickup at the UAA/APU Consortium Library Circulation Desk. Copies of these emails can be found under Notifications on your ILL account. You may also check your account for changes in item status under View Requests ALL. Items no longer showing in Outstanding Requests on your ILL home page have changed status and require your attention. It is your responsibility to monitor your ILL and email accounts. Spam blockers and "Over quota bounce backs" could prevent you from receiving email notifications.

Can I order textbooks through ILL?

Textbooks are not available through ILL, because they are very hard to obtain: they are often non-circulating, in use, or on reserve at lending libraries. Even if they are available, they only circulate for short time periods and are subject to recall. Patrons should not rely on interlibrary loans for their textbooks. Check out a student's guide for finding textbooks for more information.

I'm not from APU or UAA. How do I order ILL items?

Individuals and companies outside of the University community should use the Library's fee-based research services to order materials from other libraries.

May I renew ILL materials?

ILL materials may be renewable depending on the owning library policy.

You may call Interlibrary Loan at 786-1828 or email them at ayill@uaa.alaska.edu and ask for a renewal if the ILL band on the item does not specify "No Renewals." You may leave a message after hours with your name, telephone number, and the ILL# of the item. ILL staff will look up your request and attempt to renew items for an additional two weeks with the owning library. If you require longer, you must specify this in your request to the ILL staff.

You may not be contacted about the renewal request until the owning library has notified UAA. At that time, you should receive an email indicating successful renewal or immediate recall of the item.

The owning library has the right to grant or refuse renewal for any length of time. Renewed items may be recalled at any time by the owning library. Please return the ILL item immediately upon request.

What do I do if I lose or damage an ILL item?

The UAA/APU Consortium Library Interlibrary Loan Office charges patrons for lost or damaged items in the following manner:

Lost Items: $75 or up to the value of the book.
Damaged Items: Fees are assessed by the Owning Library.

If the damage is catastrophic and cannot be repaired, then we charge $75 or more for the replacement of the book. Due to the nature of book damage, fees are assessed on a case by case basis.

Under no circumstances will UAA accept replacements for damaged or lost items.

These fees must be paid in a timely manner.

Is there a charge for ILL?

ILL is usually free for UAA and APU students, staff, and faculty. The exceptions to this are Theses and Dissertations that are not available from a lending library. These can be purchased from an outside vendor for $43.00. We ask that the patron pay $20.00 toward the purchase price. They are then able to keep the item. Borrowing requests from lenders who exceed customary fees, are subject to additional charges upon patron permission before ordering. (i.e. Dissertations purchased through Proquest and items from foreign or specialty libraries.)

Creating Your ILL Account

Watch tutorial on creating your ILL account >>