Inter-Library Loans (ILL)
The library cannot keep all the books and journals you will need for projects and research. If you need an item, which we do not have in stock, we can usually get it for you from another library.
Each request initially costs £1.50. There are additional charges if a reader requires a photocopy to be posted or we need to obtain an item from overseas; readers would be consulted before an overseas search takes place.
If you require a multi volume work you will need to complete one request per volume.
Inter-Library Loan quotas:
- Undergraduates - 25 per year
- Postgraduates, staff, associate and NHS members - 50 per year
- External users should use the British Library’s Direct Service or approach their local public library.
Before asking for an Inter-Library Loan
- Check Library Search (Newcastle University’s catalogue) - as many older items are held in the Research Reserve
- Check/explore the main catalogue at the British Library. From the search results screen click Details. Make sure you have the full bibliographical details and include the DSC shelf-mark.
- For UK and international theses requests, please go to Finding and obtaining UK theses and dissertations
- If a photocopy is required for commercial purposes an additional copyright fee must be paid (UK Copyright Law 2003). Please ask at the Desk to see a member of the Inter-Library Loan staff who will inform you of the appropriate copyright fee.
NB: if we subsequently find that the item is in stock you will not be able to claim a refund.
How do I request an Inter-Library Loan?
Robinson Library users: - collect an Inter-Library Loan form from the information point on Level 2 opposite the Service Desk. Once completed you should hand the form to staff at the Service Desk with the payment, during Desk opening hours.
Walton Library users - you can collect an Inter-Library Loan form from the desk on production of your Smartcard and payment. Once completed you should hand the form back to staff at the Service Desk within the Walton Library.
Web Inter-Library Loan service
Before you are able to submit a request you need to credit your account, minimum payment is £6 or 4 ILL tokens (if provided by your school). Each request normally cost £1.50. There is no refund of credit added to an account. Credits will be arranged within three working days of receipt.
To credit your account
- Complete the credit form and send to the correct library with a cheque or ILL tokens * to the Robinson Library, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HQ.
- Ask for an ILL credit form at the Main Desk, complete and hand to Library staff with payment.
- Ask a SAP budget holder to complete a SAP internal purchasing requisition to include your name, Smartcard Number (e.g. U11111111) and credit requirements (e.g. 10 web requests), and send to Finance Officer, Robinson Library, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HQ.
- Phone the relevant library on weekdays between 9am-4.30pm. Payment will be accepted with a valid credit/debit card, see numbers below.
- Robinson Library users phone: 0191 208 7601.
- Walton Library users phone: 0191 208 7722.
* Some Newcastle University schools provide ILL tokens to their students and staff. The school can order a supply via a SAP order form which should be sent to the Finance Officer at the Robinson Library.
To check your credit status
Use your Smartcard number and library password to login via the Library Catalogue. Click on My Account at the top of the screen and then click on the link to credit information.
To request an ILL item via the web
Login to Library Search then follow the Inter-Library Loan link at the bottom of the Library Search homepage.
There are two templates to choose from when making requests:
- the default template is for books, book chapters, conferences, conference papers, non UK PhD thesis and reports.
- the other is for journal articles and loan of journal parts.
Please ensure that you select the appropriate template using the correct link.
However if your intended use is likely to be minimal i.e. less than four requests you can obtain a paper form from the Robinson Library Service Desk.
Secure electronic delivery – FileOpen
Inter-Library Loan requests made for articles and book chapters are supplied via SED (Secure Electronic Delivery).
Before submitting your first Inter-Library Loan request you must check that you can open and read an SED document. Your computer should have installed Adobe Reader 4 or above and the FileOpen plug-in
SED documents are sent via an email containing a link to a PDF of the article. For staff and students the link will be sent to your Newcastle University email account.
They can be:
- opened more than once but only on the computer it was first opened on
- accessed for up to 30 days
- printed only once
Any attempt to access the document on another computer will fail due to digital copyright restrictions.
All University cluster machine allow you to open SED documents.
If you are off campus it is recommended that you use Outlook Web Access rather than using RAS (Remote Application Service) for printing SEDs.
Opening an SED on your own PC
- Go to FileOpen and click on the link that says, Click to download a FileOpen test document – this will display the FileOpen delivery page.
- Your document should open automatically in a few seconds, but if it does not, click the link that is below that to download it manually.
- If Internet Explorer applies security settings you may need to select Download File from the options on the pop up bar at the top of the screen.
- Once you allow the download click on Open and the file should display on the screen saying you have successfully opened the test document.
- Please see additional instructions for MAC users.
Common problems
Unable to open the test document on a school or departmental PC?
The most likely cause is that the Fileopen Plug-in is not installed on your machine. You will need to contact your IT administrator who should be able to install this for you.
Unable to open the test document on your own home PC or laptop? Go to FileOpen and download the plugin to your machine. Once you have downloaded the plug- in you can try the test document as described above.
Once you know that you can successfully open and view an SED document then you may submit your Inter-Library Loan request.
If you have any queries regarding the service please contact us.
