Interlibrary loan

Interlibrary loan (abbreviated ILL, sometimes called document delivery, document supply, inter-lending, inter-library services, inter-loan, or resource sharing) is a service that enables patrons of one library to borrow materials that are held by another library.

Methods

After receiving a request, the borrowing library identifies potential lending libraries with the desired item. The lending library delivers the item physically or electronically, and the borrowing library receives the item and delivers it to their patron, and if necessary, arranges for its return. Sometimes, fees accompany interlibrary loan services.

Libraries can define what materials from their holdings are eligible for interlibrary loan. Many journal or database licenses specify whether a library can or cannot supply journal articles via ILL, with libraries negotiating for ILL eligibility.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed ISO standards 10160 and 10161 to standardize terminology and define a set of communication protocols between interlibrary loan systems.

History

Informal borrowing and lending between libraries has examples in Western Europe as early as the 8th century CE.

In the 16th century, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc unsuccessfully attempted to establish an interlibrary loan system between the Royal Library at the Louvre Palace in Paris and the Vatican Library in Rome.

In 1876, Massachusetts librarian Samuel Swett Green published a proposal for an interlibrary loan system modeled on European examples, writing, "It would add greatly to the usefulness of our reference libraries if an agreement should be made to lend books to each other for short periods of time."In 1886, Joseph C. Rowell, librarian at the University of California, Berkeley, sought permission to begin an interlibrary loan program. In 1894, Rowell initiated U.C. Berkeley's first program of interlibrary lending with the California State Library.