Will I have to pay for this?
No. We do not charge students, faculty, or staff for Interlibrary Loan services.
However, patrons will be responsible for the cost of any ILL items that were lost or damaged during the period said item was loaned to them. A lost or damaged book borrowed through MOBIUS, for example, may require a $25 fee, in addition to the actual cost to replace the book, which will vary depending on the book.
How long does Interlibrary Loan (ILL) take? Can I get same-day delivery?
No, same-day delivery almost never occurs for ILL, even for digital items like articles.
A digital item request, such as a scan for an article, typically takes 2-4 business days to arrive.
A physical item request, like a book, DVD, or CD, typically takes longer to arrive: 3-5 business days if using MOBIUS, versus 7-10 business days using the ILL Form.
How long can I keep an ILL book or article?
Any digital ILL items you receive are yours to keep for as long as you want.
Physical ILL items, such as books, usually have a loan period of 21 to 28 days.
Is there a limit on how many requests I can make?
No, there is no limit on the total amount of ILL requests you make in a semester.
For physical items checked out through MOBIUS, you may have up to 30 items checked out on your patron record. For digital items, there is no limit to how many you can have delivered.
However, if you make more than five ILL requests in 1 business day, we will respond to your first five requests in the order in which they came in, and then move on to other patrons' requests. When those are completed, we will return to your remaining requests and answer them in the order in which they were sent.
Is this legal?
Yes. ILL is a way of sharing library materials with patrons across the world in a way that is compliant with copyright laws. For more information, see the "Understanding Copyright" section of this page.
Is this open access?
No. "Open access," briefly, has to do with how a work is published and made available to the general public. Items you receive via ILL are for you and your use alone.
Why can't all the Library's materials be full text or streaming?
We would love for that to be possible. Sadly, it isn't.
There are a lot of reasons why, but the shortest, most simplified explanation is that such a thing would cost a tremendous amount of money and take up an equally tremendous amount of resources-- for publishers, for platforms, and for libraries. It simply isn't feasible for every single thing that has ever been published to be available via full text or streaming platform, for Smiley Memorial Library or humanity as a whole.
In the meantime, ILL is a way for us to get you what you need, by request.
660-248-6271
library@centralmethodist.edu
