FAQ

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a service provided to actively enrolled students, researchers, and employees at the University of Florida. It’s used to order materials that are not available from the UF Libraries – PDF copies of articles or book chapters, or loans which include physical items such as books, microfilm, media, etc. Distance patrons can request materials that are available at the UF Libraries; please see the Distance Patron FAQ.

ILLiad is the electronic system used to request an item through Interlibrary Loan. ILLiad is an acronym for InterLibrary Loan internet accessible database.

Both ILLiad and UBorrow are Interlibrary Loan services that provide access to items that are not owned or available at one of the UF Libraries. The biggest differences between the two services are scope and item type. UBorrow provides access to only books within the borders of Florida; ILLiad provides access to books, articles, microfilm, journals, DVDs, CDs, etc. within Florida AND worldwide.

Items can be requested through ILLiad by logging into your ILLiad account and submitting a New Request form. See the How-to Guide for ILLiad for more details and other ways to request using ILLiad.
Items can be requested through UBorrow by logging into Primo (the UF Library Catalog), searching for the book, and placing the request. For step by step instructions, visit How to Submit a UBorrow Request.

Any faculty member, emeritus faculty, staff and students who are currently employed or enrolled at UF, including IFAS & REC centers are eligible for ILL services. Visit the Check-Out Guidelines and Privileges page for more information.

If you are affiliated with the UF Law School (law faculty or law student), please create your ILLiad account through the UF School of Law Interlibrary Loan portal.

Yes. We will ship UF owned items and the items we borrow for you from other institutions to your desired address at no cost to you! The library will pay the shipping costs. We will also attach a pre-paid UPS returning label for your convenience. Make sure to change your status in ILLiad to “Distance” and include a current shipping address.

We will not ship to PO Boxes, addresses on campus, or patrons living in Gainesville, FL.

If you have more questions about our Interlibrary Loan services or distance services, please visit our Distance FAQ or email us at illoan@uflib.ufl.edu.

Please follow these steps to submit your requests:

1. Create an ILLiad account. This account is separate from your UF Library account. This account will allow you to:
• Request materials held by the UF Libraries.
• Request items that the UF Libraries do not own.
2. Fill in status. Please choose Distance as your status, AND include a shipping address (no P.O. Boxes).
3. Log into your ILLiad account. On the left hand navigation bar, under New Request > select Loan. Fill out the form, and submit your request.

The Interlibrary Loan service is FREE for UF patrons. Although this service is free for patrons, the department is given a specified amount of funding each year to provide this service, which covers shipping and replacement costs when items are lost or damaged. On rare occasions, excessive costs (particularly copyright fees) will cause us to cancel a request.

Articles: 3-5 business days
Once the article arrives, you will receive an email confirming it’s available to view/read/download as a PDF via your ILLiad account. The system will automatically remove the article from your account after 30 days.

Loans (books, microfilm, media, etc.): 1-4 weeks
Books and other loaned materials take significantly longer to ship than articles, depending on the distance from the lending library. When the book arrives, you’ll be notified by e-mail. On-campus patrons can pick up the book at the Library West circulation desk. For distance patrons, we ship to you directly via UPS.

At this time, we cannot “borrow” electronic books via Interlibrary Loan. Such books are usually purchased by libraries with licenses that restrict their use to patrons of the owning library.

It varies depending on the lending library’s requirements. Each library sets their own loan periods, but typically ILL loan periods are 4-6 weeks. The due date is printed on the band attached to your item; the due date can also be found by logging into your ILLiad account and clicking on the heading labeled “Checked Out Items”.

1. Log in to your ILLiad account.
2. In the Main Menu (left side of the ILLiad screen), under the “View” section click on “Checked out Items.”
3. Click on the Transaction Number you want to renew.
4. On the next screen, click on “Renew Request” in red above the Transaction Information and you will be given a new due date.

Unless the lending library has specified “No renewals,” items can usually be renewed for an additional 1-2 weeks. Renewals are granted at the discretion of the lending library and MUST be renewed BEFORE the due date printed on the band.

ILL materials can be returned in the following ways:

• Return items at the Library West or HSCL circulation desk in person
• Ship the item back to the library by UPS, FedEx, or Priority Mail. Please enclose the paperwork (that is attached to the book) with your ILL items.

Follow the Safe Packing and Shipping Guidelines to return the materials.

UBorrow books may be returned to the branch library circulation desk where you picked up the item or via any of the methods listed above.

No. Interlibrary Loan is NOT a substitute for buying your required textbooks. We reserve the right to cancel orders for textbooks. Please see the Course Reserves page to find out how you can get access to your textbooks without having to purchase them.

Yes, but the more information you provide, the more likely we are able to quickly find the item you seek. The most helpful information to include when placing a request is an ISSN/ISBN, and/or an OCLC number. You can use the WorldCat database to locate OCLC numbers for particular journal titles or books.

Please provide full journal titles and not the abbreviated title when possible, especially if it’s in a foreign language. It’s also helpful if you can tell us where you found the citation (from a bibliography, a database, etc.). If you have a complicated citation, collaborate with a subject specialist to help narrow your search.

Many resources (journals, books, and articles) are available to you through the UF Library catalog. You will need to be connected to the UF Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to access these resources off campus.

Unfortunately, no. All interlibrary loan items must be picked up at Library West or the Health Science Center Library. We do not currently have enough staff to provide a delivery service. If you are unable to pick up your item(s), you may use a proxy. Please see the Proxy Borrower Policy for more information.

Some vendors are providing temporary open access to E-resources that are usually restricted. For example, this includes items that often have a user limit will now be accessible to multiple users at the same time. Vendors are offering different options that can be viewed on the Expanded Access Libguide.

After you create your ILLiad account (separate from your UF Library account), you will be able to request materials owned by the UF Libraries AND materials owned by other libraries worldwide. Make sure to add your mailing address to your ILLiad account since this is the only way we will be able to ship materials to you!

In ILLiad, select “Change User Information” under “Tools.” For your status, choose “Distance” followed by “undergraduate, graduate, staff, or faculty”. When choosing a department, choose the one that most closely reflects your affiliation with the University (all of the IFAS extensions should be listed as “DISTANCE IFAS – location”).

As a distance patron, you can request both UF owned items (available in the catalog) and items not owned by UF.

The Interlibrary Loan service will ship your items directly to your home address via UPS. This must be a street address; UPS cannot deliver to a P.O. Box or campus address. Please note that we cannot ship within Gainesville, or on campus, and it is up to you to provide a valid address.

If you move, please update your ILLiad account!

We can supply you with scanned copies of articles and book chapters electronically, and can ship you books from the UF collections only. Due to the difficulty and risk of shipping to other countries, we cannot borrow an item from another library for you. If it’s a recently published book, and the UF Libraries don’t own it, we’ll try to buy a copy to lend to you.

As a distance patron, you can request both UF owned items and items not owned by UF. Books with a yellow band belong to the UF Libraries; items with a blue band are borrowed from other libraries. Please DO NOT remove these bands! They have important information (such as the due date), and help us process the books efficiently.

Place a request in ILLiad and we will borrow it from another library for you. Please do not place a hold request. The hold request feature is for patrons who are on campus and can pick up the book in person from one of the circulation desks.

If your item has a yellow band, renew it by logging in to My Library Card or by contacting any UF Libraries circulation desk. Items requested by another borrower and overdue items cannot be renewed via My Library Card.

If a book has a blue band, it has been loaned to you by another institution. These books must be renewed by logging into your ILLiad account. Under “View,” choose “Checked out Items,” and then click on the transaction number of the book you want to renew. You can usually renew the book ONCE, unless the blue band says “NO RENEWALS.”

It is your responsibility to monitor the due dates of all books you receive in both your UF Library and ILLiad accounts.

Distance patrons are provided a courtesy UPS Return Shipping Label with your shipment. This label is pre-weighted and covers only the item(s) in the accompanying package. There will be a reference number near the bottom of the label – this corresponds to the request’s transaction number. Use this label to mail the book back to us at least 3 days before the due date on the book band.

Distance patrons at one of the various IFAS or County Research Centers in Florida should return the item(s) using your departmental mail services that route to the University of Florida main campus.

PLEASE NOTE: Return your items at least three days before the due date on the book band. The date listed is the day it’s due back in our office.

If you are planning to be on campus for a semester or longer, we recommend that you change your status in ILLiad to reflect your updated status (undergraduate, graduate, faculty, etc.) and address so that items are not mailed to an unoccupied residence. In this case, you will be able to pick up your items from Library West or the Health Science Center Library.

If you are planning to visit campus for only a few days, there is no need to change your status in ILLiad, and your items will continue to be shipped to your address on file. You will not be able to pick up your items during your brief campus visit.

Both ILLiad and UBorrow are Interlibrary Loan services that provide access to items that are not owned or available at one of the UF Libraries. The biggest differences between the two services are scope and item type. UBorrow provides access to only books within the borders of Florida; ILLiad provides access to books, articles, microfilm, journals, DVDs, CDs, etc. within Florida AND worldwide.

Items can be requested through ILLiad by logging into your ILLiad account and submitting a New Request form. See the How-to Guide for ILLiad for more details and other ways to request using ILLiad.
Items can be requested through UBorrow by logging into Primo (the UF Library Catalog), searching for the book, and placing the request. For step by step instructions, visit How to Submit a UBorrow Request.

Eligible: Faculty, staff, and students who are currently employed or enrolled at UF and can pick up items on-campus.

Ineligible: Any distance staff or distance students cannot use UBorrow since items are required to be picked up on-campus. UBorrow items cannot be shipped at this time.

Books that are not on reserve or labeled as reference material can be borrowed, however each library determines what items can be borrowed and some are more lenient than others. If the item is currently available at UF, you will be blocked from ordering it from another library. Journal volumes, articles, and microfilm cannot be ordered using UBorrow. Use ILLiad to order these items. The check-out limit is 100 books per patron.

The Statewide Catalog shows the holdings of all college and university system libraries in the state of Florida. This includes 40 member institutions across the state. This extensive catalog contains approximately 16 million materials.

Check out the detailed instructions on How to Submit a UBorrow Request.

It usually takes an average of 5 business days for UBorrow books to arrive.

Unfortunately, no. Items requested via UBorrow must be picked up in person at one of the Libraries’ circulation desks. However, if you can’t visit campus, live outside of Gainesville, FL and wish to receive loans via mail, please submit your request using ILLiad.

Yes. Please see the Proxy Borrower Policy for more information.

The checkout period for a UBorrow item is 60 days. You can usually get a renewal for an additional 30 days (unless another patron has requested it). Log in to your UF Library account to renew UBorrow items. Items can be renewed ONLY ONCE. If the item is needed for longer, submit a new UBorrow request.

Pick-up: An email notification will be sent when your UBorrow item is ready to pick up. The email will also confirm the pickup location of your requested item.

Renew: All UBorrow materials are eligible to renew 7 days before the due date. Log into Primo, the Library Catalog and Discovery Service. Below My Library Card, locate the items that are eligible to renew, then click on “renew.” Prior to 7 days before the due date, you will see “Not Renewable” in your Library Card account, along with a message about when you can renew the item. Items can be renewed ONLY ONCE. If the item is needed for longer, submit a new UBorrow request.

Return: UBorrow books may be returned to the branch library circulation desk where you picked up the item or via any of the methods listed below.

1. Use the book drop at Library West or Health Science Center Library (HSCL) in Gainesville.
2. Return items at the Library West or HSCL circulation desk in person.
3. Ship the item back to the library by UPS, FedEx, or Priority Mail. Please enclose the paperwork (that is attached to the book) with your item(s).

Follow the Safe Packing and Shipping Guidelines to return the materials by mail.

You will be charged the replacement cost plus processing fees, the same as if you’d lost a book owned by the UF libraries. For more information, see the Item Replacement Policy.

If other libraries in Florida cannot provide the material, you’ll receive an email letting you know that the UBorrow book cannot be provided. You can either submit the request again at a later date, or you can place a new request using your ILLiad account. This option allows ILL staff to search for the item outside of Florida.

No. Since UBorrow items must be picked up from the UF circulation desk, distance patrons cannot use this service. Instead, use ILLiad to order the materials you need. See our Services for Distance Patrons page or our Distance FAQ for more information.