Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery

You can order items and literature which are not in the University Library’s holdings from other libraries via interlibrary loan. In order to place an interlibrary loan request, you will need a valid library card of the University Library.

Legal basis are the terms and conditions of the „Interlibrary Loan Regulations in the Federal Republic of Germany (LVO)"

You can place interlibrary loan requests yourself via the catalog.
To do so, please use the tab „Interlibrary Loan“ which will be displayed next to „Library Holdings“ after submitting the search or search directly in the search area „Interlibrary search“.

Interlibrary loan requests for books are usually completed within 1 to 2 weeks. They may take longer if the requested item is on loan at several libraries. In case of requests for articles, shorter delivery times of 1 to 5 days can often be achieved.

If you are not able to find the requested item when searching via the interlibrary loan portal or you have difficulties submitting the search, please use an empty request form. To do so, you click the button „No correct hits? “ and enter the bibliographic information as complete as possible to enable quick processing of your interlibrary loan request.

Please note that one interlibrary loan request is required per desired item.

There will be a fee of €1.50 per interlibrary loan request which will be automatically booked to your user account.
This fee includes the costs for obtaining and returning a book or the delivery of article copies.

Interlibrary loan fees are no completion but processing fees and have to be paid always, regardless of whether the interlibrary loan request could be completed successfully. 

Following items are generally excluded from interlibrary loan requests and delivery:

• Books and journals that are in the University Library’s holdings
• Items that are available at bookstores at a low price (approx. €15 at the moment)
• Complete journal volumes of recent date (article copies are possible)
• Complete loose-leaf collections, patent specifications, DIN standards, TV recordings
• Master’s, bachelor’s, and other theses (except doctoral theses)
• Items of exceptional size or weight
• Items that haven’t been published yet and items which are still in the process of acquisition at libraries
• E-books (partial copies are possible)
• Copies from newspapers and popular magazines (according to Act on Copyright and Related Rights (UrhG))
• Copies for commercial use (according to Act on Copyright and Related Rights (UrhG))

Please take note:

Items that are marked as borrowable in library catalogs may nevertheless not be available via interlibrary loan (e.g. valuable literature, bad condition of books, literature that is used frequently on site …). The owning library will decide about delivery and loan modalities.

Special requests (e.g. „only borrowable item“, „renewal of loan period should be possible“ …) cannot be considered due to the automated ordering process.

Each successful interlibrary loan request will automatically be assigned an interlibrary loan request number (starting with FB93…). It will be displayed at the end of the ordering process and also be mentioned in the letter accompanying the delivery. Please quote the number always in case of further inquiries. 
Open (not yet completed) interlibrary loan requests are shown in your user account.

As soon as the interlibrary loan item has arrived at the University Library, you will be notified (via email or mail) and may collect the requested item at the circulation desk at the chosen pick-up location.

The loan period is set by the lending library, it is usually 1 month. During this time the items will be reserved for collection.

Loan modalities (e.g. only on-site use, prohibition of copying, shortened loan period) are set by the lending library. They have to be complied with by us.

The data carrier coming with the item has to remain with the item until return, in case of loss a fee of €2.50 will be charged  (Library fee regulation).

Article copies are intended to remain with the user and do not have to be returned.

Loan period renewals for interlibrary loan items can be requested in the catalog via „My account“. If the request is not approved by the lending library, we will notify you by email or mail. 

Please note that loan period renewals for interlibrary loan items are only possible under reserve.

Items borrowed via interlibrary loan may be returned at both locations of the University Library, City Center and Vaihingen, regardless of the chosen pick-up location.

You will receive information on interlibrary loan requests which could not be completed by notification in your user account.

Literature not listed in Germany can be requested from foreign libraries.
Costs for requests from abroad can vary and have to borne in full by the user. If you wish to place a request from abroad, please turn directly to the interlibrary loan department of the University of Stuttgart Library.