Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan Is Available Via OneSearch

• How to Request Full-Text Articles and other Digital Items using OneSearch

SUNY Empire Library

A list of Frequently Asked Questions and their answers is available further down this page.

• What is interlibrary loan?
• Am I eligible?
• What can I request?
• How to request an item

What is interlibrary loan?

Interlibrary loan is a service that allows members of one library to borrow journal articles, book chapters, and other digital materials from other libraries.

Eligibility to use interlibrary loan:

• Do you have a SUNY Empire login and password? Then YES!

Available through interlibrary loan:

• book chapters 
  • The library can only request 2 chapters of any book.  However, any book we can license as an ebook, the library will purchase.
• journal, magazine and newspaper articles
• New! theses and dissertations

Not available through interlibrary loan:

• any physical materials, such as print books, microfilm/microfiche, and films (DVDs, Blu-Ray, etc).
• textbooks
• entire books. 
  • If you'd like to have the library purchase an ebook, send a book purchase request.
• rare or archival materials.  Please reach out to us at librarian@sunyempire.edu if you need help with archival research.

Request an item:

1. Requesting ILL happens via the library's OneSearch tool.
2. After you log into OneSearch, you can search for the item you're looking for.  If you see the item and it's not available immediately from the library, you will see an option to "Get it for me from other libraries".  Clicking on this option will give you the option to request and then you'll receive an email when we have obtained the item for you.
3. If you don't find the article or item you're looking for in OneSearch, you can use the following to expand your search:
   • You'll see a message the top of OneSearch, "Didn't find what you were looking for? Click here to expand your search"  Clicking will search other libraries and hopefully you will find the item there.
   • If you don't find the item by expanding your search, you will see a message "Still Didn't Find what you need? Click here to send a request".  This will provide you with an open ended ILL request form that you can fill in and submit.

What is interlibrary loan?

Interlibrary Loan is a service that allows all SUNY Empire students, staff and faculty to request digital materials such as articles and chapters.

How can I ensure that my request is processed as quickly as possible?

First confirm that the materials you are requesting are not already available to you through our Library's own collections. Give as much information as possible about the materials you are requesting, including:

• Book chapters:
  • author's full name
  • full title
  • publication date
  • edition, if applicable
• Articles:
  • author's full name
  • full title of journal
  • full title of article
  • publication date
  • volume and issue
  • page numbers 
• Dissertations or theses:
  • author's full name
  • full title of dissertation
  • institution (university or college)
  • publication date

Use of OneSearch to find the the citation is the easiest way to get all this information and you'll need to submit the ILL request via OneSearch.

Is there a charge or fee for interlibrary loan?

There are no charges for using Interlibrary Loan.

Can I request books via ILL?

Unfortunately, we cannot borrow print books as we have no physical library.   You can still request one chapter from a book, which will be delivered electronically.  And, you can also request that the library purchase an ebook for you.  We generally will purchase any ebooks available for us to license.  However, not all books are available as an ebook that libraries can license.

You can also go to any SUNY or CUNY library and use your SUNY Empire photo ID to borrow books. Please call ahead to inquire about parking options and visitor policies.

How do I register to use ILL/for an ILL account?

ILL features are available via Onesearch. Your Empire log in will be your account.  Sign into OneSearch for all requesting options and to see what items have been delivered to you.

How will I be notified?

You will receive notifications of cancellations or updates to your request via email. You can also check the status of your ILL requests or see previous requests in the My Library Card feature in the upper right side of OneSearch.

Why was my request was cancelled?

Requests may be cancelled for a number of reasons  The cancellation message will contain details about why we canceled  the request.  We typically try to purchase content and exhaust all possibilities for obtaining the requested item before cancelling.

How will I receive my materials?

Journal articles and some book chapters will be made available to you to read and download through OneSearch.  You will get a link in the notification email where you can download the item.

How do I get my materials when they arrive?

1. Log in to OneSearch and you navigate to the Library Card feature.  You will see your ILL requests in "My Requests" 
2. From  My Requests, look for the download links next to your requests or look at the status if we're still trying to get the article for you.. 

My materials haven't arrived. What do I do?

Has it been less than 48 hours? If so, then don't worry because they may have been hard to find, so they are still being processed.

You can fill out the Ask a Librarian Form about missing items.

Whom do I contact if I have problems with, or questions about, ILL?

Please fill out the Ask a Librarian Form.