Penfield Library contains hundreds of thousands of books and ebooks and has digital access to even more articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers. Still, there are times when SUNY Oswego’s library doesn’t own or license the content a student or employee needs for their research, says Assistant Library Director Emily Mitchell.
“That’s where interlibrary loan comes in,” she explained.
Interlibrary loan (ILL) is a library service that allows the SUNY Oswego community to access materials held by other libraries. “If we do not own an item that a student, faculty or staff member is looking for, there is a possibility we can borrow it from another organization and lend it to our users,” Access Services Librarian Sarah O’Shea said.
Directions on the Penfield Library website walk users through creating an interlibrary loan account and requesting materials. Resource Sharing Associate Faith O’Brien recommended signing up for an account sooner rather than later, to ensure that requesting materials is quick and easy when you need the service.
The service is typically free to members of the SUNY Oswego community so that everyone can take advantage of this tool to support their research and learning. In unusual cases where the library would need to charge for a request, users are notified and given the choice to continue or not.
“Don’t ever pay money online to access books or articles,” Mitchell said. “The library can probably get what you need at no cost to you.”
Requested articles and book chapters are generally received digitally and made available to download. Physical materials like whole books are sent between libraries by courier service or through the mail.
“Many requests are filled automatically, but if something is rare, or the patron has put in limited information, we have to process those requests manually,” O’Brien said. “It will typically take a few days to a week or more for a request to be filled.”
Penfield Library also shares its own physical resources with other libraries around the country, and digital items with libraries around the world. O’Brien recently sent materials to fill a request from someone at a museum in Washington, D.C.
“We offer our materials to other organizations around the world and help them meet their users' needs,” O’Shea said. “Collaboration is key to all libraries and ILL is one way we collaborate to assist our users.”
-- Submitted by Penfield Library