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 Katalog plus.

If you cannot find what you are searching for under “Books & more” or “Articles & more”, select the “Interlibrary loan” tab for your interlibrary loan order.

You can narrow down the search results displayed by using the filters on the right. Click on the desired title. Under “Holdings Info”, you will find the button “Recall as Interlibrary Loan”.

Please log in with your user ID and password. You will now be redirected to the interlibrary loan portal. Here you can decide if you would like to order the whole book for a loan or an article as a copy.

After completing your request which is subject to a fee (Booking complete), you can exit the interlibrary loan portal. Open interlibrary loan orders are displayed in the user account.

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 have not found what you are looking for in the interlibrary loan portal, you can enter your order data in the . This will be offered to you at the end of a hit list. Please provide as much bibliographic Free Interlibrary Loan Form information as possible to ensure that your interlibrary loan request is processed quickly.

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.

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 via the button „My library account” on the homepage. 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.