The Interlibrary Loan Service

The Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service allows NOAA Employees and Contractors to obtain materials not available in the NOAA Central Library. All materials obtained through Interlibrary Loan must be used solely by the requestor for research purposes only. To obtain items for personal use, please use your local public library. The requesting patron is responsible for all copyrights associated with the material under Title 17, U.S. Code.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Interlibrary Loan
NOAA Central Library
1315 East-West Highway
SSMC3, 2nd Floor, E/OC4   
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282
(301) 713-2600 x113 Voice
(301) 713-4599 Fax
Interlibrary.Loan@noaa.gov

WHO MAY USE INTERLIBRARY LOAN?

Interlibrary Loan  is available to authorized NOAA Employees and Contractors simply by completing an ILL Request Form.  Contractors are those staff who have a current NOAA identification badge and who work under the direct guidance of a NOAA COTR. The requesting patron should be registered into the Central Library's system. Please contact the Reference Desk (301-713-2600 x124, Library.Reference@noaa.gov) to be registered as a library user and to obtain a User ID. Registered NOAA library users must be in goodstanding in order to maintain ILL privileges.  NOAA Employees and Contractors not located in Silver Spring, MD should contact the Reference Desk to borrow materials from the Central Library or should use their local NOAA Library.

The general public should use the Interlibrary Loan services at their local public, university, or corporate libraries to request circulating items held at the NOAA Central Library. Borrowing libraries should make ILL requests to the NOAA Central Library through OCLC (OCLC symbol: OLA) or on ALA ILL request forms which can be faxed, mailed or emailed.

PROCESSING A REQUEST

The ILL Desk usually processes a patron's request within one business day of submission. To expedite the ordering process, please provide citations that are accurate and complete. Please use the bibliographic databases available through the Central Library or consult the Reference Desk (301-713-2600 x124, Library.Reference@noaa.gov) for help. Requests for materials held at the Central Library are not processed by the ILL Desk.

LOAN PERIOD

The loan period of a borrowed item may range from two to four weeks and is determined by the lending library. It is important to return an ILL material when it is due or recalled to avoid fines and so that the Central Library can maintain borrowing privileges with that library. A renewal request can be made before the due date, but renewals are not always granted. An ILL material can be recalled by the lending library at any time.

The requesting patron will be held responsible for the ILL item throughout the duration of the loan. The patron is expected to treat the material properly and to respond promptly to any notifications sent by the Central Library regarding the loan. Tardiness in returning items, losing books and poor handling of materials will jeopardize the Central Library's ability to borrow from other libraries. A patron's ILL privileges may be limited, suspended or revoked for poor ILL borrowing practices.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

The length of time needed for a material to arrive depends on the type of material being requested, its availability, location of the supplying library and the delivery method used. Please, allow at least five working days for a photocopy and 7-10 working days for a book to arrive. Rush requests are possible for emergency cases only. Rush requests for books must be accompanied by the patron's office Federal Express account. When the material arrives, it is held at the Reference Desk and the patron is notified by email.

(Please Note: The ILL and Renewal Request forms are restricted to NOAA Employees or Contractors only.)