Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Frequently Asked Questions

UH Manoa students (including distance education students), faculty, staff, and affiliates are eligible to use this service.

Any material such as a book or journal article not held in the UH Manoa Libraries may be requested. While libraries or other suppliers owning the material govern lending policies and restrictions, UH Manoa ILL normally provides two week loans, with one renewal.

Many libraries do not lend reference books, journals (unless on microfilm), media (audiovisual, digital format, etc.), genealogical materials, archival papers, or manuscripts, but there are sometimes exceptions. Many libraries also do not lend dissertations or theses. However, electronic copies of many dissertations from 1997 to the present may be downloaded for free from Dissertations and Theses (formerly Digital Dissertations). Unbound paper copies of pre-1997 dissertations may be purchased through Interlibrary Loan from Dissertations Express for $28.50, our negotiated rate. If there is a problem obtaining the material you have requested, the ILL staff will contact you.

The length of the loan period specified by the due date (located on the book band or by logging into ILL) is determined solely by the lending library. We provide the maximum time allowed by the lending library, and always at least two weeks. Renewals are also at the discretion of the lending library. You may renew materials online by logging into ILL).

Although we do not limit the number of requests, there may be restrictions based on U.S. copyright law. For example, there are restrictions on multiple requests for the same journal article published within the last five years and requests for more than one article from a single journal issue in any given year. According to copyright law, the library must pay royalties due to the publisher for each article in excess of that, and if those royalties are too expensive, a request have to be cancelled.

(1) Confirm that the material is NOT available at the UH Manoa Libraries (Hamilton and Sinclair) before submitting a request. Search Hawaii Voyager to confirm holdings.
(2) Log into ILL (Make Requests).

• If the item is held at another UH System library, request it using the Hawaii Voyager Request feature and the IntraSystem Loan form (for instructions, see IntraSystem Loan Guidelines).
• If you are a UH Manoa student, faculty, or staff NOT residing on the island of Oahu and are currently enrolled in or teaching UH Manoa courses, you may request materials held at UH Manoa Library by using the Hawaii Voyager Request feature and the IntraSystem Loan form (for instructions, see IntraSystem Loan Guidelines). Be sure to select an appropriate pick up location where you live or include your mailing address.
• For dissertations and theses, request a loan and specify in the "Comments" section whether you want to "Purchase" or "Borrow" the dissertation (see What may be requested?).

Delivery time depends on the availability of the material, the nature of the material, and the delivery method used by the supplying library. Materials that are not widely owned by other libraries require more time to process. Air mail or other premium delivery service is always requested for loans, but is not always possible. For photocopies, most libraries now use electronic methods to deliver to us. For all requests, BE SURE TO INDICATE ON THE REQUEST FORM the "Not Wanted After Date".

• Loans and photocopy requests are provided at no charge to UH Manoa affiliated borrowers.
  Requesters funded by potential grants: please help the library by budgeting ILL needs into your grant proposal.
• Dissertations purchased from Dissertations Express are $28.50 each.
• See fee schedule for individuals and organizations that are not affiliated with UH.

Although there are no specific fines for overdue ILL materials, not returning them often results in the inability of ILL to borrow from the lender again in the future. Having our borrowing privileges suspended by other libraries affects everyone who uses ILL, your fellow faculty, students, and staff. Failure to return ILL materials in a timely manner may also result in lost book charges to us. In some cases we will pass these charges on to you if your ILL borrowing record indicates a pattern of abuse. If you lose an ILL book, notify the ILL Office promptly so that an agreement may be reached with the lending library.

Our ILL system provides you with up-to-date information on the status of your requests. What you see in your Pending Requests listing (login to the system) are the statuses assigned by our ILL management software. Here are the most commonly seen statuses and what they mean:

• Awaiting ALA Processing
  Your request cannot be sent for fulfillment via ILL's customary channels or electronically. ILL staff will send a special request, called an ALA Request (American Library Association) to a potential lender.
• Awaiting ISL Borrowing Processing
  Your request for an IntraSystem Loan (ISL) has been received by ISL. It is now ready to be requested from another UH campus library by ISL staff.
• Awaiting Customer Contact
  Your requested loan has arrived and has been processed by the ILL staff, but you have not yet been informed that the item has arrived.
• Awaiting Denied Renewal Processing
  The lender has said "no" to our request for a renewal. ILL staff is awaiting return or recall of the item from you so that ILL can return it to the lender.
• Awaiting Post Receipt Processing
  Your requested loan has arrived, but has not yet been processed (checked out, book band generated, etc.) by the ILL staff.
• Awaiting Recalled Processing
  The lender has notified ILL that a book checked out to you has been recalled. The ILL system is currently awaiting recall from you by the ILL staff and return processing.
• Awaiting Request Processing
  Your request has been received by ILL. It is now ready to be requested from potential lenders by ILL staff.
• Awaiting User Verification
  Your request for IntraSystem Loan (ISL) has been downloaded from Voyager and must be matched to your username.
• Awaiting Unfilled/Conditional Processing
  A potential lender or lenders have notified ILL that they cannot fill your request (Unfilled) or they are requesting that we provide additional information, promise to pay, or promise to conditions (Conditional). It is currently awaiting a decision by the ILL staff as to how next to proceed.
• Cancelled By Customer
  You have cancelled this request and no longer require the item.
• Cancelled By ILL Staff
  Your request has been cancelled by the ILL staff and you have been notified of the cancellation.
• Checked Out to Customer
  Your loan has arrived, has been processed by the ILL staff, and has been checked out to you.
• Checking Shelves
  A search of Hawaii Voyager and/or UH Manoa Library's Electronic Resources has resulted in the possibility that a requested item is available at UH Manoa Libraries. ILL staff will determine if the requested item is indeed available by checking the shelves.
• Customer Notified via E-Mail
  You have been notified that your loan is available for pick up.
• Delivered to Web
  Your requested photocopy has been posted to the web for viewing/printing.
• In Print Queue
  Your requested item has arrived and has been partially processed by the ILL staff. It is currently awaiting the printing of its book band.
• Incorrect Item Received and Returned
  Your requested item was received from the lender, but it does not match the item that was requested. It has been returned to the lender and the originally requested item will be re-requested.
• Received Partial/Incorrect Item
  Your requested item was received, but it does not match the item that was requested or is incomplete. The ILL staff will determine the quickest means to correct this.
• Request Sent
  Your request has been sent to potential lenders for fulfillment.

From time to time we purge older records. Our policy is to keep requests online for several years to comply with record keeping requirements of U.S. copyright law.

When ILL requests for photocopies (journal articles or book chapters, for example) are received from a supplier, ILL staff "posts" them electronically in PDF format to the web.

Most but not all. There are various reasons why documents sometimes can not be supplied electronically. You will be notified by email when your document(s) have been posted in PDF format or are ready for pick up at the Hamilton Library Business Office. Please check our hours or phone (808) 956-7103 for a recorded message providing Business Office hours.

There is no charge for viewing an electronic document. In the Library there is a $0.07 per page printing charge. A UH Manoa Library copy/print debit card is required to print from our computers. The card can be purchased whenever the building is open.

PDF documents can be viewed using a current web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer with the Adobe Acrobat Reader® plug-in. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader® installed on your computer,

 Get it here

Your Electronic Documents remain on the web for thirty days from the date you are notified of their availability.

Email us at libill@hawaii.edu and we will attempt to retrieve it for you.

Yes. Your login for ILL provides you with electronic delivery services.

The Active Server Pages technology that we use to provide live reporting for the web sends a Session ID to be stored on your machine. You can refuse this cookie and still be able to use the ILL web pages without any problems.

Your privacy and computer security is important to us. We minimize the potential for problems by timing out your connection frequently.

• Call the Interlibrary Loan Office at (808) 956-8568
• Send an email message to libill@hawaii.edu.
• Other libraries, please see http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/access/lendinfo.htm