Interlibrary Borrowing

Library Catalog

Interlibrary Loan

Borrow Direct

Olin Interlibrary Services

Olin Library’s Interlibrary Borrowing Unit processes Interlibrary Loan and Borrow Direct requests for Cornell faculty, staff and registered students.

Eligibility

Cornell faculty, staff, and registered students are eligible for interlibrary borrowing. Library card holders are not eligible.

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Borrowing books - Interlibrary Loan or Borrow Direct?

Borrow Direct is a rapid book request and delivery system. It enables Cornell faculty, staff and students to search the combined library catalogs of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale, a collection of over 40 million volumes, and directly request expedited delivery of circulating items. Borrow Direct can be used to borrow titles that are currently checked out at Cornell. Borrow Direct can only be used to borrow individual books, no serials or other formats. Most Borrow Direct books arrive within 2-4 working days. The loan period is 6 weeks. Borrow Direct material is not renewable.

Interlibrary Loan: If the title you need is not available from Borrow Direct and Cornell does not own it, you can submit an Interlibrary Loan request. Items borrowed on Interlibrary Loan are usually renewable. Dissertations, videos, DVD’s, microfilm, fiche, and other miscellaneous formats can be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Interlibrary Loan cannot be used to borrow material that is checked out, on reserve or non-circulating at Cornell. Most loans requested on Interlibrary Loan arrive within 1-2 weeks.

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Requests for copies of articles and book chapters

For copies of articles or book chapters from titles not held in the Cornell Library, please use Interlibrary Loan. Most articles are received electronically within 2 business days. There is no charge for articles received on Interlibrary Loan.

For copies of articles or book chapters from titles held in the Cornell Library you may submit a request for a Document Delivery. There may be a fee for some Document Delivery requests. Documents from the Library Annex and certain other types of requests are free from charge. Please check to see if your request is eligible for a fee waiver.

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Choosing an ILL Processing Unit

The first time you use Interlibrary Loan/Document delivery you will be asked to select a processing unit. There are five units: Olin Library, Mann Library, Law School Library, Vet School Library, and Geneva Experiment Station Library. When you register please select the library you use most often. This is particularly important for books because you will pick up and return your interlibrary loans at the circulation desk of this library.

For Borrow Direct, you will select your pick-up location from one of the five libraries above for each request submitted.

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Requesting for someone else – Proxy users

If you are a student requesting material on behalf of a staff or faculty member you must be designated as a proxy user for that person.
 
Only staff or faculty can authorize a proxy. If you are a staff or faculty member wishing to have someone else pick up your loans, please set them up as authorized proxies on your library account:

E-mail okupublic_services@cornell.edu and provide the following information:

• Your name and the staff/faculty ID number
• The student/assistant's name and student ID number
• An expiration date (if not provided, the default is one year.

The records will then be linked in Voyager, Cornell's online circulation system.

If you would like your proxy user to be able to submit Borrow Direct or Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery requests under your name, please contact the Olin Interlibrary Services department and we will arrange this for you.

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Dissertations

Loans: US and Canadian dissertations are often successfully borrowed. Foreign dissertations can sometimes be obtained in 2 weeks but they often take from 3 months to a year to borrow. Please indicate your deadline when requesting the loan of a foreign dissertation.

Purchase: Most US and Canadian dissertations can be purchased as unbound hard copy for $29.00. Prepayment is required. Indicate in the Notes Field if you would like to purchase a dissertation.

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Notification

You will be notified by e-mail when your material is available. Loans are picked up at the Olin Library circulation desk. Copies are usually available electronically, but if they are not your photocopy will be mailed to you.

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Returning Material

Material should be returned to the Olin Library circulation desk on or by the due date. If you need more time contact Interlibrary Loan for a renewal.

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Renewals

The easiest way to renew an item is by logging into Interlibrary Loan. Choose the "Review Requests" button at the top of the page. Select "View/Renew Checked Out Items". You can also email us at olin-ils@cornell.edu or call 255-9564.

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Overdues

Patrons are notified that an interlibrary loan item is overdue shortly after the item becomes due. If you receive an overdue email please turn the item or request a renewal. Over a period of 10 days, patrons are sent overdue notices by e-mail. After 10 days, your Interlibrary Loan account is blocked, which means you can no longer submit requests. In addition, it blocks the continuation of any current requests you have in the system.

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Lost or Damaged Material

If a borrowed item is damaged it should still be returned, no matter how severe the damage. Do not attempt to repair it yourself. The lending library will determine if the item needs to be repaired or replaced. If costs are incurred, you will bear responsibility for paying for them.

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Assistance from Reference Departments

If you would like assistance with citations prior to submitting requests or if a request has been cancelled due to a problematic citation, please stop by the reference desk, or visit their website for email and phone information.

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Contacts

If you have any questions about Interlibrary Services not answered on this page or if you have questions concerning pending requests, please contact the Interlibrary Services Department at olin-ils@cornell.edu or call (607) 255-9564.