USGS National Wetlands Research Center: NWRC Interlibrary Loan Services

Interlibrary Loan Services

Requesting ILL Services

To initiate a loan, fill out our request form (available in the library) or use your own bibliographies or database printouts. The more information you provide, the quicker your request can be processed. Complete and accurate requests will prevent undue delays in processing. The request should be legible and include your name and branch. We will send questions to you by E-mail.

To order from periodicals, supply full citations and clearly mark which articles you need. Do not use abbreviations for any part of the journal title, including association names. For book requests, include the complete title, publication year, volume number, and the author(s). To request conference proceedings, include the conference title, date, and place held, as well as the unabbreviated name of the association or organization.

Bring your requests to the library or E-mail a message to nwrclibrary@usgs.gov for searching and processing.

Costs

We always try to find a free supplier before requesting from a supplier who charges. The library has established reciprocal agreements with many libraries; however, libraries are increasingly finding it necessary to charge for interlibrary loan. NWRC library policy is to pay for each ILL request. Patrons may be contacted regarding charges if the cost of a single item is excessive.

Requestor Responsibilities

Patrons who need to make extensive use of the borrowing service should formulate a plan to facilitate the process. Anticipate your needs and submit requests as early as possible. Space multiple requests so you will have time to use the materials when they arrive. When you need several items, submit requests in prioritized groups of five or fewer. There are no limits to the total number of items that an individual may request through ILL as long as requests adhere to U.S. copyright laws (see below). Lists of multiple requests will be processed in increments.

Keep a dated record of your requests. The person whose name is on the request form is responsible for borrowed items and all charges and fines.

Copyright Warning

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Section 108(g)(2) of the Copyright Law of the United States mandates the permissible number of copies that the NWRC library can order within the confines of "fair use." Copying beyond this limit requires a payment to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). This library pays for copies that exceed the limit by purchasing copies through a document supplier who pays the CCC. The permissible annual number is 5 articles from 1 journal title published during the last 5 years. If a patron orders several articles from an issue or from 1 title, it may be more economical to purchase the entire issue rather than each article. Fair use is also defined as no more than 10% of the pages of a book. The library monitors the number of articles ordered and, in general, purchases articles as needed from the library budget. Articles ordered on interlibrary loan are for the use of the requestor and may not be photocopied for distribution to others or returned to the library for use by another patron.

Return to the NWRC ILL Page.