Interlibrary Loan

Books on Shelves in Olin

Interlibrary Loan (ILL or ILLiad) allows Washington University students, faculty, and staff to obtain materials that are not held by the University Libraries.

Please check the Washington University Libraries Catalog before requesting materials.

If you are with the School of Law or the School of Medicine, please submit your Interlibrary Loan requests through the Law Library or the Bernard Becker Medical Library.

Do you have questions about Interlibrary Loan or is a Washington University Libraries owned item you are looking for already checked out? Contact our staff to learn more about ILLiad or how to Request Chapter Scans.

Hours & Contact Details

Hours
8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Monday through Friday

Contact
Phone: (314) 935-5442
Email: ill@wumail.wustl.edu

Books on Shelves in Olin

Requesting Materials Through ILL & Campus Delivery

Use Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) to obtain PDFs of journal articles, book chapters, and other research materials you need. PDFs will be posted in your ILLiad account often within 24-48 hours. You will be notified by e-mail when the PDF is ready to be downloaded.

There are two ways to request articles and book chapters:

  • Search the library’s electronic databases and click on them to see options for obtaining the article. If full text is unavailable through Washington University Libraries, select ILLiad to request the article. The article citation will be imported once you log on with your WUSTL key and password.
  • Log on to ILLiad with your WUSTL key and password. Select “Article” or “Book Chapter” from the New Requests dropdown in the menu and fill in as much citation information as available; add any comments you wish to share with library staff in the Notes field. Click Submit Request.

    PDFs are created by scanning books and journals within the Libraries when available. If the University Libraries do not own the needed article or chapter, ILL staff rely on partner libraries across the world to supply PDFs from their collections.

Your ILLiad account retains a rolling five-year transaction history, but PDFs are deleted after 60 days. Please store citations and documents elsewhere if needed for longer.

The Law and Medical School libraries process Interlibrary Loan materials separately. If you are with one of those Schools, please see Law Library ILL or Becker Medical Library ILL.

Interlibrary Loan
Use Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) to obtain books and other research materials, including CDs, DVDs, microfilm, conference proceedings, theses, and dissertations owned by libraries worldwide. Materials usually arrive within 1-2 weeks. You may pick up ILL materials at John M. Olin Library, Gaylord Music Library, the Brown School Library, or the Kranzberg Art and Architecture Library.

Faculty and staff are also eligible to have ILL materials delivered to their primary mail stop code in Workday by choosing Campus Delivery as the pickup location.

Your ILLiad account retains a rolling five-year transaction history of materials you have borrowed. Please store citations elsewhere if needed for longer.

The Law and Medical School libraries process Interlibrary Loan materials separately. If you are with one of those Schools, please see Law Library ILL or Becker Medical Library ILL.

MOBIUS

Use MOBIUS to borrow books from other academic libraries in Missouri. Most books are available for pickup at the WU library of your choice, usually within 5-7 days. Materials remain on hold for 7 days and are sent back to the owning library if not picked up within that time.

The WashU library selected as a pickup location will notify you when the item arrives. Faculty and staff are also eligible to have MOBIUS materials delivered to their primary mail stop code in Workday by choosing Campus Delivery as the pickup location. You can use My Catalog to check on the status of your MOBIUS requests.

Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) can also be used to obtain a wide variety of materials beyond books and PDFs of journal articles. The University Libraries are often able to borrow CDs, DVDs, microfilm, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, primary sources, and rare materials from research organizations worldwide. Some items may take longer to locate, but ILL staff are always willing to investigate and discuss options. Please submit an ILL request via ILLiad, email Interlibrary Loan staff, or reach out to your subject librarian for further assistance.

Faculty and staff may also have ILL materials delivered to their primary mail stop code in Workday by choosing Campus Delivery as the pickup location.

Your ILLiad account retains a rolling five-year transaction history of materials you have borrowed. Please store citations elsewhere if needed for longer.

The Law and Medical School libraries process Interlibrary Loan materials separately. If you are with one of those Schools, please see Law Library ILL or Becker Medical Library ILL.

University Libraries share research materials with libraries and research organizations worldwide.

Libraries may submit requests via OCLC to our symbol WTU. If you do not use OCLC resource sharing, email our lending staff (ill@wumail.wustl.edu) for assistance. Washington University’s law library (OCLC symbol WUL) and medical library (OCLC symbol WUM) are separate interlibrary loan operations.