The ILL services are offered to the following categories of patrons:
* Excluding outside HK or visiting students
If you are a final year degree student, your request must be certified by your lecturer and you SHOULD NOT submit your Interlibrary Loan requests through ILLiad, the Interlibrary Loan System. You need to download an ILL Photocopy Request Form (pdf), fill out the necessary details and get your lecturer to sign on it before submitting your request to the Circulation Counter.
Library materials that are unavailable (not owned, on loan, lost or missing) in our Library, including books, dissertations, journal articles, and others, may be requested.
| City University Patron Groups | Photocopies of Articles from UGC Libraries & RapidILL Libraries | Book Loans from UGC Libraries | Photocopies of Articles / Book Loans from Overseas Sources | Maximum Number of Requests per Academic Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic & Equivalent Administrative Staff | Yes | Yes | Yes | 150* |
| Research Staff | Yes | Yes | Yes | 150* |
| Postgraduate Students | Yes | Yes | Yes | 150* |
| Executive Officers | Yes | Yes | Yes | 70 |
| Final Year Degree Students | Yes | No | No | 10 |
* However, should the quota be exceeded, the Library may still consider entertaining the requests depending on needs and situation.
The following items are NOT obtainable via Interlibrary Loan arrangements:
Should you know the whereabouts of an item, it would be helpful to let us know.
Normally, Interlibrary Loan arrangements with RapidILL libraries and libraries in Hong Kong are free of charge.
Fees may be charged on items obtained from other sources.
Costs for articles obtained from overseas will normally be absorbed by the Library, unless otherwise specified by the requesters to have the costs debited against departments' own accounts or individual research accounts.
The estimated costs and time of getting materials from overseas suppliers are as follows:
| standard service (about 7-12 working days)* | about HK$110 + copyright fee per article | |
| quick service (about 2-4 working days)* | about HK$210 + copyright fee per article | |
| urgent service (about 1-2 working days)* | about HK$310 + copyright fee per article |
*Some materials may take longer for a variety of reasons.
| from a few days to 2 months | free to US$50.00 |
Charges for overseas loans, including fees levied by the lending institutions, airmail, and insurance, will normally be absorbed by the Library unless otherwise specified by the requesters to have the costs debited against departments' own accounts or individual research accounts.
The estimated costs and time of getting materials from overseas suppliers are as follows:
| about 9-14 working days* | HK$188.00 + air parcel postage of about HK$200.00 |
*Some materials may take longer for a variety of reasons.
| from 2 weeks to 2 months | free to US$50.00 + air parcel postage of about HK$200.00 |
** If the cost for obtaining an item from overseas is over HK$500, requesters can recommend the Library to purchase the specific item by filling a purchase request form via CityU LibraryFind. If desired, users may order materials personally by themselves from overseas document suppliers.
Academic and research staff as well as postgraduate students can submit their requests electronically via ILLiad, our online Interlibrary Loan System. From the ILLiad Main Menu, select the appropriate Request Type.
Final year degree students, however, need to submit printed request forms because we need the written endorsement from their supervisors. (See Important Notes to Final Year Degree Students).
Patrons using overseas Interlibrary Loan Services are also required to submit printed Interlibrary Loan forms (Book Form and Photocopy Form).
These forms can also be obtained at the Circulation Counter.
You may login to ILLiad and click on the button "View/Modify Outstanding Requests" to edit, cancel or track the progress of your requests.
Delivery time of the requested materials depends on the lending libraries' ability to supply the materials, as well as the methods of delivery.
For the majority of items immediately obtainable from other UGC libraries, the average time to receive materials is 4-6 working days for loans and 2-3 working days for photocopies. Some materials may take longer for a variety of reasons. Items that are not held locally may take longer to obtain.
You will be notified by email. However, you can choose different delivery options for your requested materials.
If the requested articles are delivered to us by the supplying library in electronic format (get Adobe Reader), we will provide the articles to you in electronic format. We will send you an email message notifying that the electronic articles are available. You may login to ILLiad and click on "View/Download Electronically Received Articles" to view the articles.
If the requested articles are delivered to us in hardcopy format, you may choose to have the printed copies sent to your department, or if you prefer, you may come to the Library to collect them yourself upon our email notification. Please note that you will need to specify which delivery option you prefer on the New User Registration page when you first login to ILLiad. Should you want to change the delivery option in the future, you may call up your personal information to amend it by clicking the Change User Information button on the ILLiad main menu.
Interlibrary Loan books have to be collected in person at the Circulation Counter of the Library. You will receive an email message for each requested book notifying that the books are available for pickup.
If necessary, you may delegate someone to collect your requested items with your authorization. However, you will need to provide us information (full name and University ID) of the person that you would like to authorize. If you login to ILLiad for the first time, provide us the authorization information on the New User Registration page. If you are a returned user, add the authorization information on the Change User Information page.
Photocopies are yours to keep.
Usually, books have a loan period from 2 weeks to 2 months, depending on the Interlibrary Loan policies of the individual lending libraries. Delay in picking up the requested items means shortening the available reading time of the books.
All loans are subject to recall. You may receive a recall notice when the lending library needs the book back before the due date. Please return the recalled item to the Circulation Counter of the Library by the new due date as specified on the recall notice.
Interlibrary Loan materials have to be returned to the Circulation Counter of the Library with the attached date due slips. Please do not return Interlibrary Loan materials directly to the lending institutions or put them into the Library's bookdrops.
Yes. Renewal is possible subject to the consent of the lending library and the renewed loan period of the book concerned is determined by the lending library as well. The new due date will be set according to the date you request the renewal.
Renewals are usually granted one time only - in advance of the due date. Overdue materials cannot be renewed.
You may submit your renewal requests via ILLiad within 3 days before the due date. From the ILLiad Main Menu, select "View/Renew Checked Out Items".
If the due dates fall on long public holidays, please place your renewal requests a few days in advance.
We will let you know the new due date as soon as the renewal is granted by the lending library. However, if the renewal is not granted, the ILL book will have to be returned to us on or before the original due date.
No fines are charged for overdue Interlibrary Loan items; however, records of late return of Interlibrary Loan books by individual patrons will be kept.
Please be reminded that late return of books to the lending libraries will affect the lending libraries' willingness to loan books to CityU patrons.
Interlibrary Loan books not claimed will be returned to the lending libraries by the due dates without further notifying the requesters.
Requests will be processed as soon as they are received.
Please avoid submitting your urgent requests on evenings, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays when the Interlibrary Loan offices of all institutions are usually closed.
If the desired items are required RIGHT AWAY, you may visit the UGC libraries that hold the requested items with your JULAC library card in person. Another alternative is to order the items directly from overseas suppliers yourself.
In view of the time taken and the expenses of this service, patrons are urged to use this service only when the required books are out of print. Patrons are advised to recommend these items for the Library to purchase instead.
If you still want to use the service, simply fill out an ILL Book Form and make sure that you:
** If the cost for obtaining an item from overseas is over HK$500, requesters can recommend the Library to purchase the specific item by filling a purchase request form via CityU LibraryFind. If desired, users may order materials personally by themselves from overseas document suppliers.
If you lose an Interlibrary Loan book, please contact us ASAP. You will be responsible for any charges imposed upon us by the lending institutions.
If the desired materials are not available in local libraries and you want to get the materials from overseas sources and pay by yourself, you may order the materials directly from document suppliers or book sellers.
Most overseas document suppliers will accept major credit cards. Prices, delivery methods, and policies are different for each supplier, so be sure to read their policies before ordering.
For articles:
Key document suppliers:
IngentaConnect
For dissertations:
ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses
British
Library Electronic Theses Online Service
Our Library provides ILL materials in accordance with the Hong Kong Copyright Ordinance.
Interlibrary Loan requests from individual libraries can be submitted through our ILLiad Lending System. However, to do so, the requesting library needs a set of username and password. To apply for the username and password, please contact us via email. We will consider each application case by case based on the nature of the requesting library.
UGC Libraries: Reciprocal arrangement
Non-UGC Libraries:
Books & Photocopies
Mailing Address:
Interlibrary Loan Services
Run Run Shaw Library
City University of Hong Kong
Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Odyssey Address: libill02.ad.cityu.edu.hk/ILL
OCLC code: cpv (non-supplier)
Rapid Code: CPV
To pick up Interlibrary Loan items, please approach the Circulation Counter of the Library during counter service hours.
Service hours: Monday – Friday (9:00 am – 12:00 pm, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm) (Except Public Holidays)
Telephone: (852) 3442-5738 or 3442-8326
Email: lbilloan@cityu.edu.hk
