Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan
Purpose
The purpose of Interlibrary Loan is to provide patrons of Toccoa Falls College access to materials not currently owned by the college library. The Interlibrary Loan function allows Seby Jones Library to borrow items from other libraries and make them available to Toccoa Falls College patrons.
Eligibility
Interlibrary Loan services are available to administration, faculty, staff, students and community patrons of Toccoa Falls College.
Resources Available
Interlibrary Loan provides access to books and periodical articles from thousands of libraries throughout the United States. Loans are made from one library to another, not from a library to an individual patron. Each lending library dictates the types of materials it is willing to loan and the conditions under which such loans are available. The campus library attempts to borrow materials from libraries that do not charge borrowing fees. Libraries with lending fees are used only when there is no other way of getting the requested material.
Books and journal articles are the most commonly shared resources. Many institutions do not lend reference works. Most do not share dissertations, theses, archived materials, newly acquired items, audio visuals, genealogical records and high demand items.
Delivery Time
Interlibrary Loan books are sent to the library through the U.S. Post Office or through United Parcel Services and usually take 7 to 10 days to arrive. Journal articles may be faxed, e-mailed, or sent by hard copy through the U.S. mail and can take up to a week to arrive. Although the Interlibrary Loan department does everything it can do to secure materials as quickly as possible, the mode and speed of delivery depends completely on the lending library. Therefore, patron requests for items with a “need by” deadline of less than a week will not be accepted at the Interlibrary Loan Desk.
Complimentary Copies
The Seby Jones Library will endeavor to absorb as much of the cost for Interlibrary Loan services as possible. Due to the high cost of Interlibrary Loan it is necessary to place reasonable limits on the number of complimentary requests the library can fill for each patron.
Complimentary requests per year are as follows:
- Teaching faculty doing research for course work, completion of a degree, or publishing within their field of expertise may request as many Interlibrary Loans as needed to fulfill their academic responsibilities.
- Administrators, administrative faculty, and staff may request as many Interlibrary Loans as needed for degree completion or performance of campus responsibilities.
- Administrators, administrative faculty, and staff may request up to 10 Interlibrary Loans for personal use.
- Current TFC Students may request up to 10 Interlibrary Loans and 20 electronic journal requests, no more than 5 of which may be for non-academic purposes.
- Community patrons will not be extended complimentary Interlibrary Loan privileges.
Charges
Faculty, staff, students, and community patrons who have exceeded the limit of complimentary requests for the year will be charged as base fee of $10.00 per additional Interlibrary Loan request.
Every effort will be made to obtain materials from libraries with no lending fees. In rare cases where there is no way to obtain specific materials without lending or photocopying fees; the patrons will be responsible for the extra fees. Patrons will be consulted about the additional fees before any materials are ordered. Materials carrying a fee will not be processed until the monies have been collected.
Patrons are responsible for returning books in a timely manner and are liable for overdue fines imposed by a lending institution. In the event that a borrowed book is damaged or lost, the patron is liable for any replacement fees charged by the lending library. Patrons will not be responsible for paying for any materials lost in shipment between libraries. This will be the responsibility of the borrowing library.
Request Procedures
All requests for Interlibrary materials must be directed to the Interlibrary Loan department. A request form is available on the library’s home page and will be submitted electronically. The patron making the request must fill in as much information as possible about the item being requested.
Requests may also be submitted to the Interlibrary Loan department directly from any database through the database email function. Requests should be sent to ill@tfc.edu and must include the sender’s full name, email address, and contact information.
Materials need to be ordered in a timely manner. Requests are processed no later than 24 hours after their receipt at the Interlibrary Loan department. Patrons will be notified when the Interlibrary Loan arrives using the contact information supplied in the request. Books and print copies of articles will be available for pick up at the Library Circulation Desk. Articles received in electronic form will be emailed to the patron as long as an email address is provided in the contact information.
Journal articles are not returnable and become the property of the patron. Borrowed books will have an identification band displaying the name of the borrowing patron, a book identification number, and the date the book needs to be returned to Seby Jones Library Circulation Desk.
The Interlibrary Loan web page will post the status of an active Interlibrary Loan request. Pending status indicates the request has been sent, but, to date, no library has agreed to send the item. Shipped status means a lender has agreed to lend the item and has sent it. Received status means the item has arrived at the Seby Jones Library and Due Date is the day the item must be returned to the Seby Jones Library Circulation Desk.
Book renewals may be requested by emailing the Interlibrary Loan Desk at ill@tfc.edu. Since some lending libraries do not allow renewals the patron will be notified if the lending library will not allow a renewal. A renewal date will be posted at the Interlibrary Loan website.