Frequently Asked Questions about Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan is a service provided to obtain materials which are needed for research but are not available in the University Library.

Currently enrolled CSUN students, currently employed CSUN faculty and staff and Emeritus faculty are entitled to Interlibrary Loan services.

Please do not request materials for others as you will be held responsible for the item.

Courtesy card holders, such as Alumni and Friends of the Library, should obtain Interlibrary Loan Services at their local public library.

There is no charge for borrowing materials or getting article/book chapters within the CSUN Interlibrary Loan "network," which includes the other 22 campuses in the CSU system, a host of reciprocal libraries and our document suppliers. Materials may be requested from any library in the U.S. and many abroad. The University Library subsidizes most fees that the lending library may charge. However, because of budgetary constraints, limits are set on the subsidies. Faculty are allotted $500.00 per year, doctoral students $400, graduate students $250.00, and CSUN staff and undergraduate students $100.00. We always attempt to fill a request from within our free network first, but it is difficult to predict when we may need to search beyond our network resources.

Items which normally circulate, such as books and theses, and some materials reproduced in microform, such as newspapers, can be borrowed. Articles of non-circulating materials, primarily periodical articles, can be requested in accordance with the copyright law. Items owned by the University Library that have been checked out by another user, declared missing, or overdue in the catalog can also be requested.

The following materials may normally not be borrowed: books owned by the University Library, reference books, genealogical items, books recently published or in high demand; entire periodical issues or volumes; newspapers unless available on microform; non-book materials such as audiovisual recordings; materials for reserve or group use; and rare or valuable materials such as manuscripts.

Use the Interlibrary Loan request form.

Accurate and complete bibliographic information must be supplied, along with the "source" (usually an index, major bibliography or a searched database), where this information was verified.

The time required to receive an Interlibrary Loan item could be between 2-3 weeks. The time depends on the availability of the item, the location of the potential lending libraries, the speed of the delivery, the accuracy of the information supplied in the requests and the volume of requests being processed by Interlibrary Loan. Make sure all ILL request information submitted is complete and correct to ensure inaccuracy does not delay turnaround time. Requests with problems such as abbreviations, missing/inaccurate information, or a "not needed after" date of less than 3 weeks are resolved only as time permits.

Interlibrary Loan will notify you via email. The information you provide in your patron profile on the ILL System will determine where you are notified when the material arrives. Interlibrary Loan materials may be picked up on campus using the Library's Locker Pickup Service which is available 6:00am–10:00pm, seven days a week. Your Interlibrary Loan item(s) will be held in the locker for 6 days. You may request more time to pick up your Interlibrary Loan item(s) from the library lockers before the 6 days are up by contacting the Guest Services desk at librenew@csun.edu or (818) 677-2274. If your loan is not picked up in 6 days Interlibrary Loan will return the item(s) back to the lending institution and you will need to submit a new request.

Lending libraries determine any conditions regarding the use of their materials, including the loan period which varies from 14 – 21 days for all patrons (including faculty). The lending library also determines if their material is renewable. Please renew your material before it is overdue to avoid overdue notices and/or fines from the lending library. To request a renewal, return to your Interlibrary Loan account, locate the title or transaction number of the item you wish to renew from the "Checked Out Items" section and click on the transaction number. The request will open. Click the "Renew Request" option in red located at the top of the screen. You can keep the item until you receive an email from Interlibrary Loan regarding your renewal status. Please allow time for the lending library to respond to the renewal request.

Yes. Web browsers cache information that allow a subsequent user of the workstation to access pages you've viewed by using the browser's Back button. This could include your personal information page. If you are concerned about the security of your interlibrary loan requests or personal information, you can take the following steps:

1. Access the system only from your personal computer or an otherwise secure workstation.
2. Access the system from a public workstation in the Interlibrary Loan office in the library. This computer is supervised by the library staff.
3. When using a public access workstation exit from the Web browser before you leave the workstation. This prevents the Back button from accessing the pages you were using.

Email the Interlibrary Loan office, or by phone: (818) 677-2294. The Librarians at the Reference Desk can assist you in the bibliographic searching, but they cannot be expected to know all the intricate details of the Interlibrary Loan policy and procedure. Discussing a non-routine request with the Interlibrary Loan Staff, particularly theses, dissertations, music, conference proceedings, government documents, technical reports, etc. may save you a great deal of time, energy and frustration. There may also be alternative means of getting your materials, especially articles; many of these are accessible online.

You may return items inside the Library during Library open hours at the Guest Services desk on the 1^st floor or you may return the loans to one of the Library book drop bins* at any time. More information, including what types of items should not be returned to the book drops can be found in our Returning Library Materials/Book Drops page.

*Please note: Items returned to book drops are not cleared from your account until the items are inspected by University Library staff which can take up to a week to process.