Answer

Our interlibrary loan service is available to help you obtain material not held by us in our collections, including books, journal articles, conference papers, and theses. Only material which supports your academic study, teaching, research, or work may be requested. We can only accept requests for items that we do not have in our collections, either in print or online. We may not be able to get copies or loans of some items due to item availability or copyright restrictions.

Print books

Print books are obtained via the British Library where possible. This can take a minimum of 14 days. If the material is not available from the British Library, we will try other libraries for you. If we can obtain the material for you, a copy will be sent to either St. Peter's Library or Library@Murray for you to collect. All book loans must be collected in person as we are unable to post interlibrary loan items. Unfortunately, we cannot request e-books.

Articles and individual book chapters

Journal articles and individual book chapters will be obtained via the British Library’s On Demand service where possible and e-mailed to your University of Sunderland e-mail account. This usually takes between 2-10 days depending on availability.

Before you place a request

  • Confirm that the material is not available by searching Library Search, ensuring you are signed in to view complete results. Some materials may also be available freely online, such as review papers, open-access journals, and government publications.
  • If the material you need is a UK doctoral thesis, most are available to download free of charge from EThOS, the British Library’s electronic thesis service.
  • If the material you need is a print book or e-book, consider suggesting the title for purchase through our Suggest a Book scheme.

Placing a request

Most members of the University of Sunderland are eligible to use our interlibrary loan service. We will be in touch if you are not eligible for this service and we will provide alternative suggestions. Requests can be placed via Library Search.

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