Interlibrary Loan: Getting Articles/Books We Don't Have

Interlibrary Loan is a service the library provides where we obtain titles we don't own (or don't have access to) from other libraries that do own them (or have access to them).

Sometimes you may figure out that we don't have a title you need and you want to go directly to the Interlibrary Loan site to fill out a request form.  That's straight-forward enough.  Just go here and log in: Interlibrary Loan /ILLiad Log in.

But most often, you'll discover that you need Interlibrary Loan's services while using a database (whether it's via OneSearch or via Find It @ BALL STATE through PsycINFO or ERIC, etc), when you realize you're not able to get to the full-text of some item online.

Just follow the steps below, and you'll be all set!

OneSearch results include info on each item's availability in full text.  If you see "Full Text Online," just click there and you can read the article.

However, the note "Citation Online" indicates you'll need to request the title through Interlibrary Loan.  Click on that link to proceed.

On the resulting page, click on the "Full Text Options, including Interlibrary Loan" button.

Then look for the link at the bottom of the resulting page.

Just click the link at the bottom to log in and place your request.  (More details about that process below.)

You may also be led to place an Interlibrary Loan request when you click on the blue "Find It @ BALL STATE" button within a specialized article database. 

If Find It @ BALL STATE can't find the full-text of the article for you, it leads you to a page like this one:

Just click the link at the bottom to log in and place your request.  (More details about that process below.)

Once you've clicked on the "Request the item with Interlibrary Loan / ILLiad" link, you'll be prompted to log in with your Ball State username and password.

Now you're in the Interlibrary Loan system, called ILLiad, and most of your request should already be filled out for you with information from the database you were using.  You just need to choose the date you'd prefer to have the item by in the "Preferred by date" field.  (Bear in mind, as you choose your date, that fulfilling your request usually takes a few days at least.)

Then click "Submit Request," and you'll get an email when our Interlibrary Loan staff have gotten the article for you with instructions on how to access it.

And that's all it takes!  If you have questions about the process, you may find your answers on the Interlibrary Loan FAQ page.