Inside Access: ILL Purchase Express

by Carolyn Muse, Interlibrary Loan

A service offered by Interlibrary Loan for 14 years that few are aware is our ILL Purchase Express. Following established criteria based on the Libraries’ collection development policies, Interlibrary Loan may purchase a book instead of requesting it through ILL.

ILL Purchase Express is used in the instance when a current book title is not found to be available from another library. Through a cooperative arrangement with the Libraries’ Firm Orders staff, Interlibrary Loan staff will place an order for a book to fulfill an interlibrary loan request. Once the book arrives, it is added to the Libraries’ collection and the book is placed on hold for the patron.

In 2015 and 2016, 299 books were ordered and sent to patrons via this service. Forty-four percent of those were for Commonwealth Campus patrons and 40% percent of those were for University Park patrons (including 8% for the Branch Libraries and 7% for Faculty/Staff Office Delivery patrons). Of those 299 books, Interlibrary Loan placed orders for 221 patrons. Forty-eight percent were for faculty, 23% were for graduate students and 17% were for staff.

The criteria for ILL Purchase Express is located on the Interlibrary Loan Staff site under Borrowing Links: ILL Purchase Express.

You can also find ILL Purchase Express on the Interlibrary Loan Borrowing Privileges site.