PURPOSE

Resource Sharing (commonly known as Interlibrary Loan) locates and provides access to material not available at the University Libraries. Resource Sharing policy conforms to national, regional, and state interlibrary loan codes, and to the policies of individual lending libraries.

Basic elements of Resource Sharing policy include the following:

• Resource Sharing services support the research, teaching and service efforts of members of the UT Knoxville community. UT Knoxville faculty, students, and staff with valid UT Knoxville ID cards are eligible to use Resource Sharing.
• Lending and borrowing are conducted between libraries, not between libraries and individuals.
• Users may usually borrow Resource Sharing materials for at least two weeks and must return them by the due date assigned by Resource Sharing staff. Renewal requests may be possible, but must be made in advance of the due date assigned by Resource Sharing staff.
• Materials generally not available through Resource Sharing include: manuscripts and archival materials, rare books and maps, and psychological or educational tests. Other materials that are often difficult for Resource Sharing to obtain include: newspapers (unless a microfilm copy is available), entire issues or volumes of periodicals, audiovisual materials, and genealogical materials.
• No Textbooks. Resource Sharing can not serve as a replacement for purchasing your course textbooks. Rather, use Resource Sharing for short term loans (average 2-4 weeks) or article/chapter copies. If you find acquiring any course text difficult, inform your instructor and request placement of course materials into our Reserve Collection.
• No Repeat Loans. Resource Sharing provides short-term loans (2-4 weeks average). Do not reorder the same item multiple times. If you need a book longer than a typical interlibrary loan and one renewal provides, consider recommending the item for library purchase.
• The lending library may impose restrictions on use, such as LIBRARY USE ONLY, NO PHOTOCOPYING, NON-RENEWABLE, or USER’S SIGNATURE REQUIRED. In some cases, they may also elect to give us a shorter loan period. We ask your cooperation to abide by these restrictions so we may continue to use these libraries’ collections on behalf of the UT community.
• The requester is financially responsible for any damage or loss of borrowed materials from the time they are picked up or delivered to the user to the time they are received by Resource Sharing staff.
• Failure to abide by Resource Sharing rules may result in the suspension of Resource Sharing and/or library privileges.

REQUESTS

• There are no per week or per month limits on the number of requests you may submit. Note that during peak times, you may be asked to prioritize requests or may have some requests temporarily routed to a holding queue as Resource Sharing staff manage the traffic. Staff will notify you if such services are required.
• Resource Sharing expects users to verify that a requested item is not available at UT. (Ten percent of all requests submitted to Resource Sharing are found to be held by UT Libraries.) Users are also responsible for providing a complete bibliographic citation for each item, including author, title, date of publication, pages needed, ISXN, etc. The source of the citation (URL/DOI, database searched and accession number, book reference and page, etc.) can also be very helpful. Other necessary information is the requester’s name, UT ID number, mail and delivery addresses, e-mail address, UT status, phone number, deadlines, and delivery and contact preferences.

Accurate and complete information helps Resource Sharing staff process your requests quickly and reliably.

TURNAROUND TIME

Resource Sharing users should identify sources needed well ahead of the due date of a paper or project.

Photocopies are primarily sent to us electronically and typically take 1-3 business days. Books are mailed or sent via courier. Depending on which supplier fills the order, an average of 1 to 3 weeks is normally required to make an item available to the requester. Turnaround time for both books and copies can be much longer for rare items or problematic requests.

Resource Sharing requests are processed in the order received. If average turnaround does not meet your needs for a specific request, give your “deadline” and tell Resource Sharing whether you can still use the item after the deadline. This priority service is available to faculty, graduate students, and staff.

CHARGES

Resource Sharing services are provided without charge to eligible UT users, unless the charges incurred to supply an item exceed $35. In such cases, the user will be notified, and may elect to pay the amount above $35.

DELIVERY, PICK-UP AND RETURN OF MATERIALS

The Circulation Desk, 2nd Floor, Hodges Library serves as the central pick-up and return point for materials ordered via Resource Sharing. Library Express delivers Resource Sharing material at no charge to the academic department mailrooms for faculty, staff, and graduate students. Resource Sharing will notify these users when materials are sent.

Materials borrowed through Resource Sharing should be returned to The Circulation Desk, 2nd Floor, Hodges Library.  Upon request, Library Express will pick-up and return materials for eligible users from academic offices.  Loans remain charged out to the patron until Resource Sharing has checked them back in. Returns are processed once daily. Items returned after 10am will be processed the following business day.