HOW DO I ACCESS THE ARTICLE I REQUESTED?
When your request is filled, you will receive an email that your article is available to view in your ILL account. You can quickly access the article via the link in the email. You can also access your account via the Foley website. On the Foley homepage, find the ILL/Interlibrary Loan blue tile in order to access your account. From there, you can either submit a request or view your electronically filled requests. Once the article is available, you will be able to open the PDF via the link in your account.
WHY DOES IT SAY THAT MY ARTICLE IS EXPIRED?
Due to licensing restrictions, articles requested through ILL are only available for 5 views or 30 days, whichever comes first. Therefore, it is important to download the article to your personal computer so that you can have access to it indefinitely. If you forget to do this before one of the above criteria is met, the link will expire, and you will no longer have access to the PDF.
If this does not explain the issue you are experiencing, please contact us at ill@gonzaga.edu or 509-313-3824.
WHAT INFORMATION IS REQUIRED TO SUBMIT A REQUEST?
The more information, the better! Some of our requests are automated if your citation is complete. However, if there are important details missing, Foley ILL staff will need to verify and complete your citation before we send it to potential lenders. This will slow down the process significantly. Here are some tips for what to include:
BOOKS - Please provide the ISBN whenever possible, especially if you are looking for a specific edition. This is a unique number associated with the book that you are requesting. Including the ISBN will ensure that we are requesting the exact version that you are looking for.
ARTICLES - Sometimes it is more difficult to get a complete citation this way. If you are unable to fill out every field, it is very helpful to include information on where you found the citation information. You can simply add in the database name or URL in the request notes before you submit it. This will help us verify that we are requesting the exact article that you need.
WHY IS MY LOAN PERIOD SO SHORT?
Loan periods are set by the lending library for ILL items, not by Foley. We do our best to request from libraries that allow renewals and have long loan periods, but we ultimately do not have control over these policies. You can request renewals through your ILL account, but if it is denied and you are still needing this material, please contact us and we can submit a duplicate request to other libraries when possible.
WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG TO FILL MY REQUEST?
There are a lot of factors that can impact this. We do our best to process requests as quickly as we can, but much of the process depends on the processing time of the libraries that are lending us the material(s) you requested. Additionally, shipping time can greatly vary depending on the location of the library. We always send your requests to nearby libraries first when possible.
WHAT IS THE NEEDED BEFORE DATE AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
This date tells us the latest date you would benefit from receiving the item that you requested. If your need by date is sooner than it can be filled, the request will expire and come back to us before it is filled. Because of this, we ask that your need by date be at least 7 days from the request date.
I SUBMITTED A REQUEST LONG BEFORE WHEN I NEED IT, CAN YOU HOLD THE ITEM UNTIL A LATER DATE?
We can keep any items if the lending library permits us to. Timing is of the essence with ILL and requesting too early can create obstacles for you. If the due date is before you can pick up or finish using the item, we will have to return it. Please keep this in mind and try not to request too far ahead. However, most items are available through multiple libraries and you can always request another copy.
CAN I HAVE MY ILL REQUESTS DELIVERED TO MY CAMPUS MAILBOX OR MY HOME?
Faculty and staff can choose "Delivery" when submitting a request if they would like us to send their items to their office. However, keep in mind that this will delay receiving your requests as the items always come to Foley first for processing. We then send them out to mail services who will deliver the item to your office mailbox.
Distance-grad students (must live 35 miles or more from campus) can also have their items mailed to their home. These are sent via USPS after we have received and processed them here at Foley.
WHY ARE SOME OF MY REQUESTS NOT FILLED SUCCESSFULLY/CANCELLED?
There are many factors that can impact this. Most materials that we are unable to fill fit into one of the following categories:
Recently published book/article--For books, many libraries won't loan these new books until they have circulated with their patrons. For articles, many journals require an additional fee for access to the most recently published articles and libraries do not always pay for this additional access.
Old/rare item--many libraries do not loan materials that are in a fragile condition and/or kept in their special collections or archives.
Only owned internationally--We do borrow items from international libraries occasionally, but this can be tricky with copyright law and additional shipping fees. Many times, they deny our requests because they do not have the license to send articles electronically.
WHAT IS AN EMBARGO AND WHY IS MY ARTICLE CANCLED?
When a journal has an embargo, it means that the publisher does not allow full-text access to the most recent content through an electronic library database subscription. Embargo periods vary, but are typically 6 months or a year. Publishers do this to try to encourage people to subscribe directly to their publications, and to try to sell more print copies prior to making the full text available online. This means the ILL must pay individually for this article or that it may not even be available for purchase.
WHERE DO I MAIL MY RETURNS TO IF I CAN'T RETURN THEM IN PERSON?
Foley Library - ILL
Gonzaga University
502 E Boone Ave
Spokane, WA 99258-0095
***When using USPS, they provide a discounted “media rate” Ask for media rate when paying for postage and you will save money on shipping costs.
