General Guidelines

If you need for your studies books, journal articles, etc. which are not in the Library's stock, we provide an inter-library loan service to help. However we cannot guarantee that it will be possible to borrow everything you need - sometimes you may have to travel to consult the item.

The inter-library loans service is expensive in staff time and in postal costs etc., and we rely on you to monitor your requests. You should not apply for material unrelated to your academic needs. You should also take care to check that what you need is definitely not in our stock before you apply.

Who Can Use This Service?

Inter-library loans can be used by all registered borrowers. However, charges and a quota system apply and undergraduates require authorization.

Charges

All borrower categories are given an allocation of requests for which they are charged as below. Any additional requests above this quota are charged at a higher rate, £¤10.00 for a document delivered from within China. Please see the Inter-library loans staff if you use your full allocation and wish to make further requests. Payment should be made on collection of all items from Circulation Desk.

Quotas

The following quotas have been given to individuals for the academic semester 
* Academic staff - 20 @ free of charge 
* Undergraduates, final year* - 10 @ £¤5 charge 
* Second and Third year* - 5 @ £¤5 charge 
* Year One students are not eligible for ILL
Only with authorization from tutor

Arrangements for undergraduates

All students require authorization from academic staff before they can make Inter-library loan requests. Special forms are available for this purpose from the Circulation Desk or LRC website. Please return completed forms with staff signatures to the Circulation Desk.
 
Extra Cost Services

Documents from Hong Kong are more expensive. You will pay 20% of the cost for the delivery of the document when you have used up your quota.

Readers' commitment to pay for inter-library loans

Making an inter-library loan request entails an undertaking to pay for it. Once the library has successfully obtained an item, payment must be made. If necessary, the charge will be put onto readers' records, inhibiting them from using other library facilities.

Making an Inter-Library Loan Request

* Staff send their request to the ILL mailbox;
* Students should download ILL Request Form and ILL Services Authorization Form from the LRC website or get ILL Authorization Form from the Circulation Desk, seek approval from their tutor, and submit a fully completed application to the Circulation Desk. At the same time, students need send your Request Form to ILL mailbox.

After your inter-library Loan Arrives

If your request is supplied as a loan, it will be issued to you at the Lending Desk, for a length of time. It is very important that you should keep the receipt slip supplied with the item. The receipt slip tells us the reference number, the return date, and other details. Please contact the Interlibrary Loans staff if you want to request a renewal. Contact numbers are listed at the foot of this page.

Restricted material

Occasionally an item is lent to us for use in the library only. This is often the case with theses, where you may have the only copy available in China or elsewhere. If this condition is imposed by the library that owns the item, you and we must observe it. Under no circumstances may it be removed from the library.

Returning loans

Inter-library loans should be returned to the Circulation Desk on or before the due date stamped inside on the receipt slip.  Fines are charged for items which are returned late at the rate of 5 Yuan per day.  If the loan is restricted to the library, please make it clear when you hand it back whether or not you have finished using it.

Further Help

Please do not hesitate to contact inter-library loans staff if you need further information.