Interlibrary Loan
What is an interlibrary loan?
What cannot be ordered?
How long does it take until I receive items ordered via interlibrary loan and how do I get information about the delivery?
How long is the loan period?
How long do I have time to collect items?
What does an interlibrary loan cost?
What is an interlibrary loan?
- As a registered user of our library you can order books or articles from journals from other libraries, if they are not available locally. This service is free of charge for books; when ordering articles there may be costs.
- Interlibrary loan orders can be placed via the library catalogue (click on button "Interlibrary Loan" beneath search result).
- Even literature that is not available within the Bavarian library network can be ordered via the catalogue. You don’t have to find out yourself at which library your required item is available.
What cannot be ordered?
An interlibrary loan cannot be placed for
- literature which is available locally; this also encompasses literature which forms part of the non-lending collection or is currently on loan.
- paperbacks, hobby or entertainment literature which is available from book traders as well as
- literature that is available at a price of up to € 15.
often excluded from the interlibrary loan are
- items which are particularly valuable, especially those published before 1800.
- items of unusual formats, loose-leaf editions and loose periodicals.
- items in a bad state of conservation
- course books and items that are used frequently locally.
- items that are not available in book form and require special protection during transport (e.g. records).
- items from reading rooms an reference collections.
How long does it take until I receive an interlibrary loan and how do I get information about the delivery?
Delivery of an interlibrary loan order usually amounts to 1 to 3 weeks for books, journal articles will be delivered much faster.
You will be notified by e-mail as soon as the book or the ordered copy has arrived. Ordered books can be collected within 10 work days from the day you got notified; if you do not collect them within this period they are returned.
From March 1, 2024, we will offer an interlibrary loan service for the electronic delivery of articles. You will receive copies of articles as pdf attachments to an e-mail for download.
How long is the loan term for interlibrary loans?
Usually, the loan term is 4 weeks and in most cases 1-2 renewals are possible. Conditions are set by the library owning the items on loan.
To process the interlibrary loan, we need the yellow data carrier enclosed with the media; please do not remove it!
How long do I have time to collect items?
You can collect ordered items within 10 working days. Please collect your interlibrary loan order in time.
What does an interlibrary loan cost?
For book orders (including non-book-material) interlibrary loan orders are free of charge.
From March 1, 2024, you will receive articles as electronic pdf copies for your reference. These are generally subject to a charge. In a test phase until December 31, 2024, the library will cover the costs for THWS members. We expressly reserve the right to pass on the fee of €5 at a later date. External customers will be charged the fee.