Interlibrary Loan

Login to Interlibrary Loan

Your interlibrary loan login is your Smith username and password.

What is Interlibrary Loan?

Interlibrary loan (ILL) provides access to books and other physical materials owned by libraries outside of the Five College Consortium, as well as journal articles or book chapters not available online at Smith College. (Books, DVDs, etc. available within the Five Colleges can be ordered using "Place Request" in Discover Advanced.)

• Interlibrary loan periods for physical items are set by the lending library and can range from 2 weeks to several months. Renewals at the discretion of the lender, but are usually possible.
• Articles or book chapters not available online at Smith College will be delivered electronically as PDFs. Due to copyright restrictions we generally cannot provide PDFs of entire books or journal issues.
• Article and chapter requests can also include scans from books or journals that Smith holds in print.

Who Can Borrow

• All currently-affiliated Smith College faculty, staff and students may use the Smith College interlibrary loan service.
• Affiliates of the other Five Colleges, alumnae and public borrowers are not eligible to use Smith College ILL, and should use the interlibrary loan service provided by their home institution or public library, as appropriate.

Turnaround Time

• Most requests are sent out to a potential supplier within 24-48 hours. If you submit a large number of requests on a single day, they may not all be sent out on the same day.
• Articles usually arrive within a few days.
• Physical loans can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks to arrive, depending on how quickly a supplier is found, how far they must travel and what shipping method is used by the supplier.

Cost

• Interlibrary loans are provided to you free of charge; the Libraries subsidize the cost.

Important Reminders

• The lending library determines the loan period, options for renewal and any restrictions on use. You must adhere to any conditions placed by the lender.
• All materials borrowed via interlibrary loan are subject to recall by the lender at any time.
• You are responsible for any loss or damage fees.
• Materials received through interlibrary loan may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. CODE). Please see Smith College Copyright Policies for more information.