If you need a journal article or book, dissertation/thesis, microfilm/microfiche, musical score, or other loanable material that the University of Houston Libraries (UH) do not own, the Libraries' Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service will attempt to get it for you. The UH Libraries include the M. D. Anderson, Architecture & Art, Music, Optometry, and Pharmacy libraries.
All authorized patrons must have an account on ILLiad, an online interlibrary loan management system. (Connect to ILLiad to set up your account)
The Law Library and the other UH campus libraries (UH Clear Lake, UH Downtown, and UH Victoria) offer their own interlibrary loan service. Patrons affiliated with these institutions are asked to use the services at their institutions. The Houston Public Library provides this service for the general public.
Anything not owned by, or otherwise unavailable (Lost, Missing, At Bindery) from the UH Libraries may be borrowed if it is owned by another library that will agree to lend it. This includes DVD- and VHS-format materials. Audio CD requests are handled on a case-by-case basis.
An item owned by the UH Libraries that has been checked out by another patron and recalled by you but not returned in a timely manner from the previous patron. You will receive notification from the Access Services Dept. informing you that you may borrow the item through ILL.
The following types of material often are not available through ILL (though we will attempt to obtain the material for you):
Entire volumes or issues of journals and newspapers. Exception: some libraries will lend them in microformat (e.g., microfiche and microfilm).
Rare materials or original manuscripts.
Reference works.
Genealogy books.
Recently published books or recent best sellers.
Computer software.
Titles that are prescribed as course textbooks at UH will not be requested through ILL.
U.S. Dissertations
We will first attempt to borrow a copy of the dissertation. If a copy is not available for loan, we will purchase a PDF or paper copy of the dissertation for your use if one is available at a reasonable cost. We do not buy dissertations for holders of the Expanded Associates Card.
NOTE: Master's theses are often not available for loan or purchase.
British Dissertations
Requests for copies of British doctoral dissertations may be sent to the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) of which we are a member. CRL will try to purchase a copy for its own collection and then loan it to member libraries. This process will take CRL at least three months or longer. Requests for British dissertations must also be accompanied by a completed Thesis Declaration Form signed by the person wishing to consult the item. If you are requesting a Cambridge University dissertation, you must complete the Cambridge University Library form. We will send you an e-mail stating the above information. If you are willing to wait, please come to the Service Desk (1st Floor, Gold Wing in the Access Services Room) to fill out and sign the appropriate Thesis Declaration Form.
Other Foreign Dissertations
If a loan is not readily available, requests for dissertations from other foreign countries will be submitted to the Center for Research Libraries.
If you are willing to wait at least three months, CRL will try to purchase a copy for its own collection and then loan the item to us. No thesis declaration form is necessary for countries other than Great Britain.
Most journal article and book chapter requests are filled within 3-5 days, with many arriving within 48 hours. Requests for whole items (books, DVDs, etc.) may take longer, but are usually filled within 7-10 days.
Some requests take longer to be filled, depending on the availability of the material and other factors. If you need an item by a specific deadline, please indicate the date after which material cannot be used. If we are unable to fill your request by the need-by date, your request will be cancelled.
Please provide as much information as possible to help us locate and obtain your materials as quickly as possible.
For books, this often means the author, title, edition (if a particular one is needed), place of publication, publisher, date of publication, and series (if there is one).
For articles, this includes the full title of the periodical, volume number, issue number or issue date, year, author and title of the article, and page number.
Before logging on to ILLiad, please read How To Interpret Data That Appear on Bibliographic Citations? to ensure that the data is transferred to the appropriate field on the ILL request form.
For books:
For copies:
Other items (DVDs, Bound Journals, Special/Rare Items):
In order to receive ILL articles via web delivery, your computer must be able to open and print Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software, available for download from http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/.
To receive ILL articles via Web Delivery, the option must be enabled in your ILLiad user profile:
1. Go to: http://illiad.lib.uh.edu/illiad/logon.html (or use the quick link from the UH Libraries' home page) and log into ILLiad with your username and password.
2. Select Change User Information from the Main Menu, Review Personal Information section.
3. Respond ‘Yes' to the question Would you like Web Delivery of articles (when possible)?
4. Click the Submit Information button to save your changes.
You will receive email notification each time a new article is posted to the web.
To retrieve your articles:
1. Log into ILLiad.
2. From the Main Menu, scroll down and select View Articles Delivered to Web. You will be presented with a list of your available articles.
3. Click on the "View XXXXXX" link (XXXXXX being the transaction number) to open the file.
Articles will be available for fifteen (15) days after notification and don't worry if you accidentally delete a file - we'll keep them for an extra five (5) days just-in-case!
Note: Dial-up Internet users should save PDF files to their hard drives before attempting to open them (RIGHT-click on the link, then select "Save Target As"(IE) or "Save Link Target As"(NS/FF). There are known issues with dial-up users being unable to view large PDF files in a web browser window.
**PLEASE NOTE** The ILL department does not re-scan materials received in paper format. Even if you have selected Web Delivery, if an item is delivered to us in paper format, it will be delivered to you in paper format. In addition, some items cannot be delivered in an electronic format due to licensing restrictions; these items will also be delivered in paper format.
To request renewal of an item you have borrowed through Interlibrary Loan, please logon to ILLiad.
From the Review Requests section of the main menu, select "View/Renew Checked Out Items." Select the item you wish to renew, then the renewal request button from the Detailed Information screen.
You will be given an automatic, one (1)-week renewal. No further renewals will be available. If you will need to use an item past the renewal due date, please let us know. You will need to submit another request for the item so that we can borrow it from another library for you.
There is no charge to the patron for obtaining loans or photocopies of materials. However, you are responsible for any fines and/or replacement costs levied by the lending library.
NOTE: DVDs, Library-Use-Only and other special items may be subject to fines. Inquire at the Service Desk when picking these materials up.
There are two ways of placing interlibrary loan requests.
Note: You must have an ILLiad account before you can submit a request through an OpenURL database link.
When submitting requests through an OpenURL link, please be sure that all of the request information has transferred properly from the database to the request form.
ILLiad, our automated ILL requesting system, will send you an email notification when the material is ready for you to pick up or to retreive from the web. That is why it is necessary for you to ensure that messages from ill@lib.uh.edu are not blocked by your email application.
UH System Libraries: If you hold a current University of Houston ID card, you may borrow books directly from the UH Downtown and UH Clear Lake libraries with your card.
Stop by the Service Desk (First Floor, Gold Wing) and ask to speak to an Interlibrary Loan staff member, call (713) 743-9720, or send an e-mail message to ILL@LIB.UH.EDU.
