Placing a Request
The Interlibrary Request Service (ILR) exists to
support your research activities by obtaining
material not held in the University Library
nor in the Brighton area.
Interlibrary Request Limits:
- Undergraduates - 20 requests for each academic year.
- Postgraduates - 100 requests for each academic year.
- Staff - 100 requests for each academic year
- Faculty - 100 requests for each academic year
Please contact the Research Liaison team if your research involves a Systematic Review as a new approach is being trialled. Researchers involved in a Systematic Review will no longer need to be concerned about using their individual allowance on Systematic Review requests.
Interlibrary Requests can be placed online via the Library Catalogue. To access the online form, click on PLACE REQUEST from the main menu and log in using your library borrower number. Click on the link to "Request a title from another library" and the Interlibrary Request form will be displayed. Please note there is a £2 handling charge on Interlibrary Requests apart from requests for articles from print journals (not available electronically) currently held in our offsite store during the Library Refurbishment.
Using the SED service for Electronic Delivery of journal articles
Please check that you can access the British Library's Test Document before requesting electronic delivery. From February 2009, Adobe Digital Editions is required to view and print out SED documents. Adobe Digital Editions can be downloaded from the British Library's SED webpage.
Requesting electronic delivery online via the Library Catalogue:
- Click on the Place Request menu tab and login using your Borrower Number
- Click on the link to "Request a title from another library"
- Enter the full details of your request and indicate "SED" in the "Notes to Library staff" field
- Click on the link to the Copyright Declaration form (below the online form) and print out a copy
- Click on Confirm to send the request details to the Library
- Complete the copyright declaration form and return to:
SED Service
Interlibrary Requests
University of Sussex Library
Brighton
BN1 9QL
A link to the digitised file will be sent to your Sussex email account. The link will only remain active for 14 days from the date the email is sent and the file can only be accessed once. Please make sure you can access the file and print out at the same time. SED files should not be stored or forwarded to others.
Please return the signed copyright declaration form promptly (this is still a legal requirment) and allow 3-5 days for delivery to your desktop.
If you experience problems accessing your electronic document, please refer to the Technical Information webpage or contact Interlibrary Request staff. See contact details given below.
EThOS: Electronic Theses Online Service
EThOS is a new service, launched in January 2009, providing access to the electronic full text of UK doctoral theses. If you are unable to obtain a digitised copy of the thesis you require through the EThOS service, please contact Interlibrary Requests as it may be possible to obtain a loan of the hard-copy direct from the University concerned. Further information about access to theses is available from the Theses and dissertations webpage.
Charges and Loan Periods
- Most Interlibrary Requests are supplied to us by the British Library Document Supply Centre within a week. We will notify you by email if there is likely to be a delay obtaining an item.
- A £2 handling charge will be levied on all requests, regardless of whether they are subsequently found to be in stock or available through the electronic resources subscribed to by the Library. This charge should be paid when collecting Interlibrary Requests from Lending Services. Alternatively, if you would like Interlibrary Request charges to be cross-charged to an expenditure code, £2 vouchers can be ordered from the Interlibrary Request office using the ILR voucher request form. If photocopies have been sent to your campus pigeonhole, home address, or electronically to your email account (SED), please make sure the handling charge is paid within 28 days. Failure to pay Interlibrary Request charges within 28 days will result in your borrower card being stopped and may prevent further requests being processed. It is not possible to cancel interlibrary requests at short notice and the £2 handling charge will apply if we are unable to cancel.
- Most loans are available for a 3 week loan period. An extension of the initial loan period may be possible for an additional 2 weeks. A charge of £3.00 will apply for any further renewals. All renewed Interlibrary Requests are subject to recall and one weeks notice will be sent to the borrower if the loan period is reduced by the lending library.
- Please return Interlibrary Loans promptly. Fines on overdue Interlibrary loans are 50p per day per item, to a maximum of £10.00 per item. An invoice warning notice will be sent out 7 days after an Interlibrary loan is overdue. Failure to return overdue items within 7 days of this notice will result in an invoice charge being raised for the British Library standard charge of £133.50, plus a non-refundable £17.50 processing charge.
Further information about Interlibrary Requests
- Using the Interlibrary Requests (ILR) service
- Contact the Interlibrary Requests office: Telephone 01273 678162 (internal 8162), Email: library.interlib@sussex.ac.uk, Post: Interlibrary Requests, The Library, University of Sussex, BRIGHTON, BN1 9QL.
Online Forms
Copyright Declaration - If you are requesting a copy of an article from a journal and you would like it delivered to your campus pigeonhole, home address or electronically (SED) to your Sussex email address, please request online via the Library Catalogue indicating mode of delivery in the "Notes to Library Staff" field. Also complete, sign and return the Copyright Declaration form to the Library for the attention of Interlibrary Requests staff.
ILR
Voucher Request Form - to cross-charge Interlibrary Request charges to an expenditure code.
