As the semester progresses and research intensifies, scholars will inevitably encounter an important resource to which they do not have access. It could be an out-of-print book, or an article behind a paywall – but something that would make your research deeper and better lies just out of reach.
There are a number of library tools that can be used to get a resource. For books, you can use IUCAT, Indiana University’s catalog, to request books be sent here from another campus – just click the red ‘Request Delivery’ button. For articles in a library database, click ‘Find It’ or ‘LibKey Instant PDF’ – or download the LibKey Nomad browser extension, which will help link to the full text of articles even when you are using non-library sites like Google Scholar, PubMed, or Wikipedia.
Sometimes, though, it just isn’t online for free. For that, there is interlibrary loan. At IU, the ILL system is called ILLiad. All students, faculty, and staff can use ILL. If it is your first time, click ‘create an account’ and make up a username and password (you can use your IU email for this, but do not have). Then, under ‘Create Request’ choose what you want to obtain – a book, article, or something else. Put in as much information as you have about the item, and click submit. Our library will contact other libraries that do own the desired items, and request that it be sent here for your use. Articles and other digitally-delivered materials will typically come in within a few business days; books may take over a week depending on how far away the lending library is. Detailed instructions can be found here.
Most academic materials can be obtained, including books, articles, some DVDs, and audiobooks. There are limits, though – interlibrary loan will typically not be able to obtain full periodicals, most CDs, some DVDs, rare or scarce materials, and reference materials. More information about restrictions and copyright can be found here.
A paywall is not the end, and most things not held by IU East can still be obtained for your research. If you need any assistance with creating an account, managing your requests, finding the status of your requests, or just help finding an article or book, please contact us at iueill@iu.edu. More about the ILL system can be found here.