Guides: Our services: Inter-Library Loans: What do I need to know about Electronic Delivery?

British Library service problems - Update 11th June 2024.

The British Library is recalling all books which have been on loan for more than 12 weeks. The ILL team will be contacting anyone with books which are need to be returned. If you need to post books back to the library you can use the Free Postal Returns service.

Current services from British Library include: a temporary catalogue, and loans from open stacks in the Lending Division (in Boston Spa, Yorkshire). Books held in the miles of compact shelving are currently unavailable but we may have access in August. There is currently no information about when British Library will be able to supply from e-resources.

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. We should be able to source most books from other suppliers in the UK, but we continue to experience problems obtaining international material which is normally supplied via British Library. We will keep you updated as we find out more. The ILL team will be happy to answer any queries regarding individual requests. Contact the ILL team at interlibrary.loans@durham.ac.uk .

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You can get in touch through our live chat service or by email, and search our FAQs for answers to your questions.

What do I need to know about Electronic Delivery?

When you request a copy of an article or chapter through Inter-Library Loans, it will be sent to you via email using one of the following methods:

As an email from RapidILL (noreply@rapid.exlibrisgroup.com). Click on the link in the email to download your article.
As an email from Inter-Library Loans (interlibrary.loans@durham.ac.uk) with a link to the article. Click on the link in the email to download your article. You may be asked to login using your CIS username and password. If the article has been sent using this method, then a link to the pdf will also be available from the My Requests section of your online library record.
As an email from British Library (noreply@bldss.bl.uk). Click on the link in the email to view the documents. British Library documents must be opened directly into Adobe Reader, otherwise they appear blank.

Points to note:

You have 30 days to download and save a copy of your article once you receive the email. If there is a limit to the number of downloads available, then it will be mentioned in the email.
If you receive an incomplete or wrong item, please contact the Inter-Library Loans team within 30 days of receiving the email.
Paper copies. If you would prefer to receive a paper copy of an article, then please contact us to let us know.

If you have any queries about electronic delivery, please contact the Inter-Library Loans team.