Interlibrary Loans (ILL) - How to Place an ILL

As an Inver Hills student, you are able to request books, articles, and more from other libraries in the Minnesota State consortium and beyond.  This process is called Interlibrary Loan (ILL).  This is a free service for IHCC students, faculty, and staff.

Items can be requested through OneSearch, directly from one of the article databases, or by completing a blank ILL form with the item information.  You will prompted to login with your Star ID and password to start the request.

Scroll down to learn more about how to request books, articles, and other materials through Interlibrary Loan.

"Great Library" by Thomas Guignard is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0

If you want a book that is not available in the Inver Hills Library, you may be able to find and request the book from another library in the Minnesota State consortium. 

To find out if a book is available through another library in our consortium, enter keywords into the search box then select All MnPALS Libraries as the scope of your search.

Next, select the book title to view the full record. You may also click Check for available services. 

To request a book from another library, you will need to be signed into OneSearch with your Star ID (if you are not already). You can sign in where it says Please sign in to check if there are any request options or by clicking Sign In in the top right corner of the screen.

                               

Once you are signed in to OneSearch, you will see an option for placing an interlibrary loan. If you click on Interlibrary Loan, you will be taken to a page where you can review information about the book and submit the interlibrary loan request. Scroll to the end of the form and select Send Request. 

If another library is able to supply the book, you will receive an email when the book has arrived at the IHCC Library, where you can pick up your book at the circulation desk. This process usually takes 3-5 days.

If you have any questions about the status of your interlibrary loan, Ask a Librarian. You can also sign in to your Library Account in the top right corner of OneSearch to view the status of any requests.

While searching in the article databases, you may encounter an article that isn't immediately available in Full Text. This means the Inver Hills Library does not have access to that particular journal volume where the article appears. If you would like to view the article, you can request a copy be emailed to you via interlibrary loan. 

If you are in an EBSCO database (e.g.: Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, etc.), click the "Where Can I Get This?" link. This link will be in the upper left side of your screen, where you would otherwise find a link to the PDF or HTML-formatted article. 



In other databases, you may see a "Where can I find this?" or "Find a Copy" link instead. For example, in ProQuest databases (e.g.: ProQuest Psychology, ProQuest Criminal Justice, etc.), you will find the link on the right side of the screen. 

In any of these databases, you can click the "Where Can I Get This?" or "Where Can I Find This?" or "Find a Copy" link, to either see if the article is available in any other library databases or to submit an an interlibrary loan request.

If the article is available in another library database, you will see a link to the database where you can view the article. If you have any questions about how to access an article, please Ask a Librarian. 

Most of the time, the article is not available elsewhere and you will see a yellow bar that says Please sign in to check if there are any request options. 


Click on the Sign In link on the yellow bar. You will then be prompted to log in. Select the Star ID option, then sign in with your Star ID and Password.

                                                                                     

Once you are signed in, an Interlibrary Loan link will appear where the yellow Sign In bar was. 
                  


This will take you to an interlibrary loan request page. Information needed to request the article, such as the article title and author(s), should be auto-filled in the appropriate fields. Check to make sure this information is correct.

In addition, (1) check that the email listed is your preferred email, and (2) check the Copyright notice checkbox. Then click the Send Request button at the bottom of the form. You will see a "Your request was successfully placed" confirmation message.
                                              


If another institution is able to lend a copy of the article, you will receive an email with a link to the article. This process may take up to 3 days, but is often much sooner.  The emailed link will expire 7 days after you receive the email.

If you have any questions about the status of your interlibrary loan, Ask a Librarian. You can also sign in to your Library Account in the top right corner of OneSearch to view the status of any requests.

If you find materials on the internet that you would like to request via interlibrary loan, or if you are not directed to an auto-filled form as shown above, you can complete a blank ILL form with the item information.

A link to the blank ILL form can be found below or by clicking ILL Request from the options at the top of the OneSearch screen. 

Blank ILL Form: Request a Book or Journal Article

Login with your StarID and password when prompted. Choose Book or Article at the top of the form and fill in as much information as possible.  If you are requesting an article, check to make sure the email address listed is correct as this is where a link to the article will be sent.

After your item request is submitted, you can check the status of your ILL request by logging into the Sign In link in the top right corner of OneSearch. 

Articles will be sent directly to your email and may take up to 3 business days to arrive (but often arrive much sooner).  Physical items are shipped to the library and can take up to 1 week to arrive.  When your ILL material arrives, you will be notified by email; and you may pick up your item from the library Circulation Desk. 

The loan period and renewal decisions for physical ILL items are determined by the lending library of the item, not the IHCC Library. To request a renewal for an ILL item, you may use your My Library Account (click Sign In in the top right corner of OneSearch), stop in the library, or call 651-450-3625. 

You are responsible for the on-time return and condition of ILL materials and will be billed for lost, damaged or overdue items.  ILL items should be returned to the Circulation Desk or the library dropbox outside the southeast entrance of the Library Building.  Abuse of Interlibrary Loan policies will result in the blocking of your Interlibrary Loan account.

For questions or assistance placing an ILL request, please contact the library.

MnLINK is a statewide system that serves as a discovery and interlibrary loan interface for library users across Minnesota. With MnLINK, patrons have easy access to the catalogs of most libraries in Minnesota including public libraries, university libraries, college libraries, and special libraries (i.e. Minnesota Historical Society). 

To request an item via MnLINK you must have a library barcode number.  This barcode number can be found on the back of your Inver Hills Student ID card. You do not need to enter a PIN/Password.  You can leave that field blank.

If you have trouble using your barcode number to request an item via MnLINK, please contact the Library.

If you do not have a Student ID card, you can get one made in the Enrollment Center on the second floor of the College Center building.