ILL for W&M Law Students
Interlibrary Loan
If you're a W&M Law student, you can use Interlibrary Loan to borrow or get copies/scans from books, journals, and other items that you need for your law school studies or production of legal scholarship but are not available at the Law Library. (If you're ILLing materials for a cite check, see ILLs for W&M Law Journal Members Doing Cite Checks.)
How to place an ILL request
New ILL Request Form
A new ILL request form is now available. Please submit all new requests through this form to ensure timely and accurate processing.
To ensure that the ILL request process moves quickly and efficiently, it is important to follow these steps before submitting a request.
- Read the ILL Policies for Law Students: Please read through these policies below for guidance on submitting an ILL request for your own research.
- Check the library's online catalog: If the print of digital version of the material is available from any W&M library, do not submit an ILL request. Visit that library and check out the item, or ask the law library's circulation desk staff to have the item delivered to the law library for pick up.
- Check the World Cat database: Search for the materials using the World Cat database. If the database indicates that the materials are accessible at a W&M library, ask a reference librarian to help locate it. Otherwise, find the record for the print edition of the item (if possible) and make note of the OCLC accession number; you will need this for the ILL form.
What Happens Next?
Once you submit a request, the ILL staff begins locating the material from another library or institution. You will receive email notifications regarding the status of your request. Please allow up to two weeks for processing and shipping, as availability depends on the lending institution's response time. Scans and items from nearby libraries can take significantly less time.
Getting Your Materials
For physical loan materials, when your ILL arrives it is placed on the pick up shelves outside the ILL office (L111A) - located between the two special collections rooms. These items must be signed out using the form on the clipboard above the pick up shelf. The requester will be notified via email when their items arrive. Any ILLs that are not picked up by their due date will automatically be returned.
For PDF scan/copy materials, when your ILL arrives, it is sent via email to the requester.
ILL Policy for Law Students
This policy describes the processes and parameters for law students requesting and borrowing ILL materials for their own research.
Limitations
The law library will not process ILL requests for...
- materials that are available in any form at any W&M library, except Richard Bland College Library or the VIMS library. If the item is on loan, circulation desk staff will first make an attempt to recall the item.
- materials that are available online in any format.
- borrowing physical periodical materials such as newspapers and journals. Articles from these sources must be requested as a PDF Scan/Copy instead.
Fees
Every effort will be made to obtain ILL materials free of charge. However, when this is not possible, the student will be responsible for costs associated with borrowing ILLs. Prior to proceeding with a request which will result in charges, the ILL staff will send an email to the requester, advising them of the potential fee. If the student accepts the potential fee, the ILL staff will proceed with the request and send an invoice to the student.
Loan Periods
Loan periods for each ILL may vary, depending on the lending institutions' policies. All ILL materials are subject to recall at any time.
Renewals
Loan periods for some ILLs may be extended; however, some may not be renewable. The ILL staff will automatically try to renew all ILLs one time unless they are marked "No Renewal." After the first renewal, the requester will receive email reminders near the due date.
It is the student's responsibility to monitor due dates and request renewals. Requests for renewals should be made before the material is due. Whenever a renewal request has either been approved or denied, the requester will receive an email notification.
Overdue Materials
Not returning an ILL on time can negatively affect the library's ability to borrow from other institutions in the future. When an ILL is overdue, an email notification will be sent to the requester. If overdue materials are not returned after receiving a final overdue notice, the student will be issued an invoice for the fees associated with the overdue or missing ILL.
Retention of Scanned ILL Materials
The ILL staff stores PDF scans of every copy/scan requested through interlibrary loan for a period of time in case it needs to be re-downloaded, after which they are deleted.
Use of Rare Books & Special Collections
The law library's rare books and special collections are kept in secured areas. Most rare book and special collection titles are also available in .pdf on Hein Online or Google Books. To avoid unnecessary damage to these materials, the law library does not make these books available to students if they are available as facsimile reprints or in fixed format online. If you need to use a rare book or special collections material, first see a reference librarian to confirm that the materials are not available in other formats.
Contact Information
Please direct inquiries to our Resource Sharing & Outreach Librarian, Carisa Valle, at [[lawill]].