Interlibrary Loan & Shipping Receiving Services
Interlibrary Loan & Shipping Receiving Services, through lending and borrowing, handles over 10,000 requests per year, primarily through the OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing program. Conditions of these services are determined by the Interlibrary Loan Code of the American Library Association and by individual lending library's policies.
Who may use the Smithsonian Libraries ILL services?
Any permanent Smithsonian Institution employee with a current SIL borrower’s card, or any non-permanent Smithsonian staff, with current SIL borrower’s card, and who will be at the Smithsonian for at least 90 days or more (exceptions may be considered) is eligible to request that materials be borrowed from other libraries through interlibrary loan. Employees must have no less than 30 days remaining before termination in order to request ILL materials.
If you are not affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, you may place requests for Smithsonian Libraries materials through your local public library or an academic library with which you are affiliated.
ILL info for other Libraries
SIL lends material to all OCLC and RLG member libraries, the Library of Congress and all Federal Libraries. SIL will lend to non-OCLC libraries which request materials on appropriate ALA or IFLA interlibrary loan forms. An IFM lending fee will be charged to all libraries who are currently charging SIL. Federal libraries, CIRLA members and free lenders will not be charged.
Materials are loaned for thirty days. One renewal of the loan period is permitted if request is made in advance of the due date.
Requests are accepted via:
• OCLC requests (use our symbol SMI twice on lending string)
• Electronic ALA/IFLA requests accepted: illreq@si.edu
• FAX ALA/IFLA forms: (202) 786-2443
Please verify citations in our catalog and box returned material.
We will not supply: reference books, rare books, non-paper items, periodicals, bulky or oversized materials or other non-circulating materials. Limited photocopying may be possible from these materials subject to U.S. Copyright Law.
OCLC Symbol: SMI
Ariel: offline
