Inter-Library Loans

UK & Republic Of Ireland libraries | International libraries

Standard Inter-Library Loan Service

This is an internal inter-library loans service which we offer to Betty & Gordon Moore Library registered users wishing to access material not held within Cambridge University. This service can also be used if availability is limited to either membership of a specific college or department or where building works would prevent access to library resources in Cambridge.

A wide variety of printed and microform material can be obtained from the British Library and other libraries within the UK, including:

• Books (and chapters from books)
• Theses
• Journal articles (and loan of whole issues)
• Conference papers
• Selected microforms

Our standard charges are based on a one to five day turnaround and are as follows:

This service is FREE for current University students and staff.

Resident and non-resident MA's/BA's: All request types and loan renewals: £5.00

Other registered readers:

• Photocopies: £12.00
• Loans: £12.00
• Secure Electronic Delivery (SED): £12.00
• Loan renewals: £5.00

In the event that we are unable to acquire the material, a full refund will be issued. 

Inter-Library Loan requests can be submitted by the following method:

The charges for the normal service are a flat rate regardless of whether the request is for a photocopied article, the loan of an item or a SED (Secure Electronic Delivery).

Please note: An explanation of the term Secure Electronic Delivery (SED) can be found in our Library FAQs.

UK Theses

The British Library has a separate Electronic Thesis Online Service (EThOS) which you can register to use. There are 250,000+ UK theses that are currently available to download for free, so it is highly recommended that you check here for availability. If the thesis is listed but requires a fee to obtain, EThOS will digitise on demand. Users should be aware that this can take a considerable period of time and all costs are met by the end user. If the thesis you require is not listed on EThOS, you can apply via our Inter-library Loan service for a hard copy loan of the item at the standard ILL rate.

Standards

The University of Cambridge now has free access to the British Standards Online (BSOL) resource.

Access is available via the Cambridge LibGuides Database here: http://libguides.cam.ac.uk/az.php?a=b&q=BSOL

If the standard that you require does not have a British Standard equivalent, you can apply for a loan via our Inter-library Loan service at the standard ILL rate.

Other UK Libraries

Our library will accept direct e-mail requests for inter-library loans from libraries and institutions within the UK, which are outside of the University of Cambridge. We handle all requests sent to CA/U-2 (which includes the Betty & Gordon Moore Library and the Materials Science & Metallurgy Collection). Please contact us using the e-mail: moore-ills@lib.cam.ac.uk

Please note: Certain parts of our collection are subject to restrictions. 

Restrictions that apply:

• Our library does not lend journal material and all book loans are made on the strict understanding that they are not for home loan.
• We do not lend books published pre-1900.
• We do not lend theses or reference material. 
• We reserve the right to refuse requests for books currently on Cambridge University reading lists
• We reserve the right to refuse access to books and journals received via the Legal Deposit Act at any time.
• Access to online materials is restricted to one photocopied article or chapter per item.

Payment for direct requests is by British Library Billing Account or pre-paid inter-library request form only. If using the billing account, requests can be phoned, posted, emailed or sent by web form if your browser supports forms. Please remember to supply your BL customer code and a request number when submitting the request.

Charges

Our service charges, based on a 2- 5 day turnaround, are as follows (please indicate which type you require on the request):

• Copy of an article or chapter by scan or post: £11.70
• Loan: £18.85

Please note: The maximum total loan length for external libraries is 168 days.

International Libraries

For all libraries outside of the UK, including those based in Republic of Ireland, that can quote a BL Billing Account (see above) we will accept direct scan/photocopy requests. We do not loan to international libraries

International libraries who cannot quote a British Library account number will need to apply, in the first instance, to the British Library Document Supply Centre stating that Cambridge (CA/U-2) holds the item in the 'Additional Details' field. BLDSC will then process and forward the request to us.

For more information please visit their website: http://www.bl.uk/services/document/dsc.html

Our service charges, based on a 2- 5 day turnaround, are as follows:

If you do wish to make a direct request using IFLA vouchers, please contact us using the e-mail: moore-ills@lib.cam.ac.uk for further advice.