Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan Policy
Services to ECU patrons
Background
The Document Delivery Service enables ECU staff, higher degree and eligible external students to place requests for loans of books and copies of journal articles from other libraries and document supply services. The cost for this service is covered by ECU Library and is designed to support University learning, teaching and research. The Library reserves the right to refuse requests for material that do not meet this requirement.
Access to document delivery and interlibrary loans services
All ECU staff, higher degree and eligible external students have access to this service via the Virtual Document eXchange Zportal interface (VDX).
Receiving document delivery items (copies)
Copies supplied via document delivery (journal articles, book chapters) will be delivered online to the requester to be used in accordance with Copyright legislation.
Receiving interlibrary loan items (physical items)
All interlibrary loan items are to be collected at the Loans desk, unless the patron is an eligible external student. Interlibrary loan items not picked up by the patron or their representative within 7 days of notification are returned to the supplying library. Loaned materials are subject to the same rules and restrictions as other Library materials.
Addition to the collection
Copies of whole documents such as theses and reports purchased as a result of requests will be added to the Library collection and then loaned to the requester.
Supply of items in languages other than English
Translation copies are not provided purely for ease of use by the patron. Texts in languages other than English are provided only if the language is integral to the study topic, or if the foreign language item is not available in English. Translation costs associated with these items is the responsibility of the requester.
Citation requirements
The minimum requirement to place document delivery and interlibrary loan requests is a citation via the VDX interface that includes full title, author, volume, issue and publication date. Requests not meeting these minimum requirements will be returned to the requester for more details.
Requesting via interlibrary loan of items owned by ECU
Interlibrary loan requests for material already part of our Library collection cannot be made. The exceptions are if that material is in Reference, Reserve Collection, 3 day loan, 7 day loan or ebook only format.
Sending interlibrary loans items to overseas ECU patrons
Interlibrary loan items from other libraries are not sent to our offshore patrons. In all cases the library will supply tables of contents and a copy of a chapter or 10% of the requested item to the patron in compliance with Copyright requirements.
Blocks to Service
Patrons owing $20 or more for outstanding ECU Library fines will be blocked from ECU VDX. Failure to return an interlibrary loan item within 10 days of its due date will block patrons from accessing additional interlibrary loan, document delivery requests and borrowing ECU Library materials. All access to services can be restored by returning overdue items and payment of any fines imposed by the supplying library.Service Misuse
Use of this service for personal or commercial purposes is not allowed. Patrons who are consistently blocked or misuse this service may be permanently barred from access at the discretion of the University Librarian.
Services to other Libraries and Institutions
Australian Libraries
Document Delivery Services will be provided to other libraries in accordance
with the ECU supply and charging policies outlined in the Australian
ILRS Directory.
Requests can be submitted through the Libraries Australia Document Delivery service (LADD).
We regret that requests will generally not be accepted in other formats.
Overseas Libraries
Library items will be sent overseas to meet interlibrary loan requests of other libraries unless they are in high demand (i.e. 3 or 7 day loans) or published within the last two years.
Supply of ECU theses to other libraries
ECU theses are supplied to other Libraries via Document Delivery on receipt of a printed form. Supply is at a cost recovery rate in TIFF file on CD-ROM. We do not currently supply copies of Honours theses.
Reciprocal agreements
ECU Library will consider reciprocal agreements with other libraries if these are mutually beneficial. Requests for reciprocal agreements should be directed to the University Librarian in writing at docdel@ecu.edu.au.
Definitions
Interlibrary loan (ILL) is a service where a patron of one library can borrow items that are owned by another library. The service is initiated from the requester’s library. The item is sent to the requester’s library to be lent to the patron or used in the library (if that condition is stipulated by the supplying library).
Document delivery is a service where a patron of one library can be sent journal articles and other copies of items that are owned by another library. The service is initiated from the requesting patron’s library. The item is sent to the requesting library or electronically to the patron.
VDX – (Virtual Document eXchange) is a software product for interlibrary loan (ILL), document delivery, and ILL/document request management.
