Use ILL to request articles or books we don't have:
To view your ILLiad account, please log in to the ILLiad online Interlibrary Loan system:
Community borrowers—members of the local community that are NOT students, staff, or faculty at SUNY Potsdam—can use ILL as a last resort when materials cannot be obtained from a public library ILL program. Visit our Community ILL page for more information.
Frequently asked questions about ILL. Updated regularly.
When a patron of the SUNY Potsdam College Libraries needs library materials not available locally at the College Libraries, they can request the material through ILLiad, the college’s Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and Document Delivery Service.
As defined by the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States:
"Interlibrary loan is the process by which a library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library. The purpose of interlibrary loan as defined by this code is to obtain, upon request of a library user, material not available in the user's local library."
The College Libraries comply with the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States and Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States Explanatory Supplement 2008 in compiling our processes and policies.
Occasionally, requested materials are obtained from providers that are not libraries, such as commercial vendors or free online resources. These are referred to by libraries as Document Delivery transactions. However, it is common practice to refer to ILL and Document Delivery services as one under the Interlibrary Loan banner.
SUNY Potsdam ILL service is provided by the College Libraries’ Interlibrary Loan Department. The ILL Department office is located in Crumb Memorial Library, Room 101.
ILL Department Contact Information:
Phone: (315) 267-2489
Email: ill@potsdam.edu
Address:
Interlibrary Loan
SUNY Potsdam Crumb Library
44 Pierrepont Ave.
Potsdam, NY 13676
ILL services are open to all current SUNY Potsdam students, faculty, faculty emeriti and staff. Only requests submitted via the ILLiad Interlibrary Loan service will be considered and filled by library staff. ILLiad is an acronym for InterLibrary Loan Internet Accessible Database. On their first login, patrons are asked to provide basic contact information: name, email address, and borrowing status, and students, faculty, and staff are asked their academic department.
In specific cases, librarians will support community borrowers with research needs. Speak to Crumb Library Reference Desk staff for details or request materials from the Community ILL form.
ILL obtains books, audiobooks, videos, and other items typically loaned out by public and academic libraries. Book chapters and articles from journals, newspapers, and magazines are digitized and sent directly to the patron via email.
ILL staff will attempt to supply ILLiad-requested materials when:
When requested materials are available for immediate use at the College Libraries, the patron will be directed to the proper resource.
Requests for the following materials will not be filled:
While ILL may be used to request textbooks, doing so is NOT recommended.
Requested journal, magazine or newspaper articles are scanned by the supplying library or institution and delivered electronically, as are scans of requested book chapters. These are collectively referred to as copy requests. Patrons receive an email with a link to a PDF copy. Copies are also available from the patron’s ILLiad account. Document PDFs are available for downloading for 30 days after delivery.
Physical items, including books, DVDs, and other formats, are shipped from a supplying library and are made available to patrons at the Crumb Memorial Library Circulation Desk. Requests for physical items are called loan requests. Patrons who show their Campus IDs or library borrower cards may check out loaned materials whenever the Crumb Library is open.
Loans are checked out at the Crumb Library Circulation Desk. A valid borrowing card or campus ID is required in order to pick up ILL items. Some materials—such as microfilm, DVDs, LPs, rare books, and archival materials—may be limited to in-house use only. These items cannot be removed from the Crumb Library building. (Arrangements can be made for viewing at the Crane Library on special occasions—contact the ILL office for details.)
Loans are returned to the Circulation Desk staff or one of Crumb Library’s “Book Drops.”
The SUNY Potsdam College Libraries does not charge for ILL service.
However, supplying libraries or institutions occasionally charge additional fees, fees that may or may not be subsidized by the College Libraries.
Faculty and Staff: The College Libraries subsidize all loan and copy requests in support of academic pursuits.
Students: The College Libraries subsidize all copy requests. Loan requests may be subsidized on a case-by-case basis.
Public Borrowers: The College Libraries will not subsidize loans or copies for community borrowers.
In other words: SUNY Potsdam ILL will borrow materials from institutions that lend for free. If no free-lending institution has the material, ILL will request the material from libraries that lend for a fee in situations where loan requests are subsidized.
Scanned copies of book chapters and articles are delivered electronically to patrons—there are no “due dates” for these items.
Loans have “due dates” specified by the supplying library. Loan periods may vary from a few days to several months and are indicated on paperwork included with the loan. Loans must be returned to Crumb Library or renewed before the “due date.”
Any ILL loan not returned to Crumb Library by its “due date” is considered overdue.
A “courtesy notice” is sent three days before an item is due, giving the patron an opportunity to renew the item.
Overdue notices are sent, starting at noon of the item “due date.” A patron with loans overdue 21 days or more will be blocked from using ILL services.
SUNY Potsdam students with outstanding materials and/or replacement charges will have a hold filed against their records with the Office of Student Accounts. A $5.00 overdue fee is placed at 21 days, and replacement charges will be placed once the lost material is invoiced by the supplying library.
Library users are responsible for any charges and replacement costs assessed by the lending library in addition to any fees imposed by the College Libraries.
Users are financially responsible for Interlibrary Loan material from the time it is picked up at the Circulation Desk in Crumb Library until the time it is returned to the Circulation Desk. If materials are lost or damaged, the patron will be charged replacement and processing fees as determined by the supplying library.
Patrons may request a renewal for an ILL loan before the material’s “due date.” Renewals are granted at the discretion of the supplying library. A denied renewal is due on its original due date.
The supplying library may recall a renewed item at any time. If they decide to recall the item, the patron will be notified of the modified due date.
Renewals may be requested from a patron’s ILLiad account online, in person at the Circulation Desk or by contacting the ILL office.
Multiple renewals may be requested. However, patrons can only request the first renewal online; further renewal requests beyond the first request must be made by contacting ILL staff.
A patron is responsible for borrowed ILL loans from the moment an item is checked out to the patron at the Crumb Library Circulation Desk until the item is checked back in from the patron at the same location. If a loan is turned in via the library’s after-hours “Book Drop,” it will not be marked returned until library staff is available to process the item. Likewise, if a loan is returned to the Crane Library, it cannot be marked returned until library staff is available to deliver the loan to the Crumb Library and process the item.
If ILL material is lost or damaged, the patron is charged replacement and processing fees determined by the supplying library. An item is declared “lost” if not returned within a reasonable period of time, no less than 21 days after the item’s “due date.”
A patron will receive an emailed notice at least seven days before a replacement charge is placed. Once replacement/processing fees are charged to the patron, they cannot be waived for any reason, including the eventual return of the overdue item.
Patrons with ILL materials 21 days or more overdue will have their access to the ILLiad ILL service suspended.
The SUNY Potsdam College Libraries reserves the right to permanently suspend ILL borrowing rights under certain conditions:
A patron has three or more consecutive and excessively late returns in a single semester, or any excessively late returns over two consecutive academic semesters. Excessively late is defined as “three weeks or more after the item’s ‘due date.’”
or:
A patron has demonstrated a clear lack of good faith in returning ILL materials by their “due dates” (e.g., telling a librarian that they have no intention of returning their loan).
If a patron believes they have been unfairly charged or unfairly suspended, they may formally appeal the decision. For more, see the Appeals Process page.
Copyright law places limitations on how materials obtained through Interlibrary Loan may used, as described in our Copyright Guidelines. Submission of an official ILL request indicates the requester's recognition of an agreement to comply with copyright laws and guidelines governing duplication of materials from ILL.
Due to copyright restrictions, articles and book chapters obtained through ILL may not be put on Reserve.
Faculty may place ILL loans on reserve only after permission to do so is obtained from the supplying library. Faculty who wish to place ILL-borrowed loan requests must add a note to the request: "Request permission to place on library reserves for xx weeks," specifying the length of time the material is needed.
For this reason, requests for these materials are often unsuccessful.
For more information on SUNY Potsdam Interlibrary Loan, see the ILLiad FAQs.
