United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

FAQ: DOCLINE -- Base Fees and Surcharges

Question: What is the difference between the base fee and a surcharge?

Answer:

The "Base Fee" is the standard charge for an interlibrary loan request. Library fees are specified in the institution record in Institutions / Update LIBID / Services & Fees. DOCLINE provides three types of base fees for copy requests:

Library Group - These are the established fees for DOCLINE library groups. Library groups to which you belong will automatically display with their established fees and any comments. Questions about these fees or comments can be directed to your Regional Medical Library. You may contact your Regional Medical Library at 1-800-338-7657 in the United States or 1-800-668-1222 in Canada. Within DOCLINE, select Contact Us from the top menu and click "Contact Your RML" from the Contact DOCLINE page. You can also click "Contact Your RML" from the DOCLINE system page which is located at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/docline
Reciprocal Partner - This is the fee you have agreed to charge for copy requests from libraries with which you have made private agreements. For example, you may have established an agreement with another hospital library in your area to provide articles to each other for a set fee. Comments are encouraged to describe the partnership requirements. For example, "Prior written agreement must exist to qualify for this service rate." If you do not have "Reciprocal Partner" agreements in addition to library group membership, leave this field blank.
Other ILL - This is the fee that you charge for copy requests from libraries with which you have no established ILL agreement.

A "Surcharge" is an extra fee added to the "Base Fee" for a special service or condition. For example, libraries may charge an extra fee to provide a color copy of an article, rush service, or if taxes apply. More than one "Surcharge" can be added. These additional fees should be listed in the Copy Surcharges and Loan Surcharges area of your institution record.

See a screenshot of the ILL Copy Services and Fees section of a sample institution record.

Related Questions:: How can I establish defaults for my borrow requests?; What will happen to changes I make to my record?; Why is my record in all CAPS and what can I do about it?

Return to the list of DOCLINE FAQs | Return to the list of NLM FAQs
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/doc_base_fee_surcharge.html

Last reviewed: 17 September 2008
Last updated: 17 September 2008
First published: 29 April 2003
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