Document Delivery

printer-friendlye-mail this page

Account Registration

To use this service, you must first establish an account in our online system. Your account allows you to receive articles online and track your request history, and it provides us with your contact information for billing.  Your account information is confidential and we will never share it with a third party.

Requesting a Document

Any of the following methods may be used to submit your document request:

• The request forms on Lewis Library’s website.  You must complete the free, one-time registration process before submitting a request.  Get started here or, if you already have an account, log in and select the appropriate request form.

• Once your account in the request system is established, you can initiate requests from many of our research databases.  Click the button labeled, “UNTHSC - Find Full Text”; if full text is not available, then click the link that reads, “Request a copy from Document Delivery/Interlibrary Loan.”  This will send the citation to the appropriate request form once you log in.

• Through PubMed.  Once your Lewis Library request account has been created, you can sign up for PubMed's Loansome Doc service.  Loansome Doc is especially helpful if you are a PubMed user who is not affiliated with the Health Science Center.

• In person at the Lewis Library Service Desk. 

• By fax to: 817-735-0281.  Please do not use a highlighter pen to mark citations; the fax copy will be illegible.

Delivery Methods

Patrons may pick up completed requests at the Lewis Library Service Desk during normal service hours or request any of the following methods of delivery:

• Online delivery of document(s) in .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format; any separate image files will be in either .pdf or .jpg format.

• Fax within the U.S.A.

• USPS standard mail service.

• FedEx express mail service using the patron’s pre-existing account number.

PLEASE NOTE:  Original books and media borrowed from other libraries must be picked up from, and returned to, the Lewis Library Service Desk.  For more information, see Receipt and Use of Borrowed Materials.

Fees

See the Fees for Services page to determine the base price and rush service fee for your patron group.  Any copyright permission fees or lender fees that are required to fulfill the order will be passed through at cost.  Patrons are given the opportunity to either approve these charges in advance or cancel the order.

Turnaround Time

Normal turnaround time is next business day.  Any of the following factors may result in an order taking longer:

• Large orders;

• Inaccurate, incomplete, or illegible citations;

• Interlibrary loan required;

• Copyright holder's permission required.

Requests are processed in the order they are received, except for extremely large orders and those given “rush” status by the requesting patron. 

Requests filled from Lewis Library collections are delivered as soon as they are ready; any items that are still awaiting fulfillment from other sources will be delivered as they are received.

PLEASE NOTE:  Turnaround time for an interlibrary loan request cannot be accurately predicted, since it is dependent on other libraries for response and processing.  Requests for copies are typically filled within two business days, and often sooner.  Books and media, however, can take up to two weeks to arrive.

Rush Processing

“Rush” processing is defined as same-day fulfillment of the order, except for any items that must be acquired from external sources.  In that case, rush processing is defined as same-day request of the item by Lewis Library staff.

Rush requests must be submitted no later 4:00 p.m. Central Time, and must clearly indicate “rush.”  Requests marked “ASAP,” for example, will be given standard processing.  Please specify your time deadline when submitting a rush request so the workload can be arranged accordingly.

Imaging

Only black and white photocopies are available.  Scanned documents normally will be in black and white also, at 200 dpi and saved in .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format.  Special images may be scanned in color upon request, but this requires additional processing and will be charged as a separate document.

Copyright Compliance

All requests are subject to the limits of U. S. copyright law.  If in the opinion of the Lewis Library staff a request would exceed the limits of Fair Use and library exemptions, the patron will be given the option to cancel the order or to pay copyright permission fees and proceed.  Permission fees are paid by Lewis Library and passed through to the patron at cost.