The British Library has suffered a cyber-attack and while it has re-opened its doors to visitors, it is currently unable to process inter-library loans. British Library is just one of many libraries who supply books to Durham University, so the ILL team are working hard to source material from elsewhere, with only a handful of new requests stuck in the system. Our automatic renewals process is being put to good use, extending loans while British Library's systems are down.
We should be able to source most books from other suppliers in the UK, but there could be substantial delays in obtaining international material which is normally supplied via British Library. Currently we do not know when normal services will resume at the British Library. The ILL team will be happy to answer any queries regarding individual requests. Contact the ILL team at interlibrary.loans@durham.ac.uk .
You can get in touch through our live chat service or by email, and search our FAQs for answers to your questions.
The Inter-Library Loans (ILL) service gives staff and students of Durham University access to material not currently held by the Library. Use the links to the ILL request form whenever you find them in Discover, or ConneXions and the form will be automatically populated with the book or article details. A blank ILL request form is also available at the top of each page in Discover, or you can use this link to the Inter-Library Loan form to make a request.
Use the form to tell us what you want: a book, thesis, book chapter, journal article (or whole journal issue) and we will email you when the item is available.
Articles will be delivered to your Durham University email address, or to an alternate address if you supply one on the form.
Whole books borrowed from another library via ILL will need to be collected from the Bill Bryson Library (and some will be confined to the library). Postal Loans will not be possible. If you need a delivery option which is not available, then contact us to discuss alternative solutions.
Check our catalogue to confirm that the book or journal is not available in our library.
Check the internet. A quick internet search can find review papers, open access journals, government publications and old books, which are out of copyright.
If you want a thesis many are available for immediate download. Check EThOS for UK theses and ProQuest Digital Dissertations for international theses.
General Data Protection: Most inter-library loans are processed without supplying your personal information to parties outside of Durham, however your email address may be shared with The British Library to enable them to deliver scanned articles directly to you. No personal data is shared for the purposes of supplying loans. Here is a link to British Library's Privacy Policy statement.
Inter-Library Loans
Durham University Library
Stockton Road
DURHAM
DH1 3LY
United Kingdom
Email: interlibrary.loans@durham.ac.uk