Inter-Library Loans for material not held in Cambridge
While we endeavour to have a broad coverage of all the subjects taught and researched within Cambridge across our libraries, there are times when you need to request an item from another library. There are two ways to do this, depending on what it is that you need.
Printed and microform material
A wide variety of printed and microform material can be obtained from the British Library and other Libraries within the UK and overseas, including:
- Books (and chapters from books)
- Theses and/or dissertations
- Journal articles (and loan of whole issues)
- Conference papers
- Selected microforms
To request anything not held within one of the many libraries across Cambridge, please complete a request form via the University Library's Inter-Library Loan service. Please note that this service is open to current members of the University only.
Digital material
Our dedicated Request a Digital Copy Service enables current staff and students to place requests via iDiscover for articles and book chapters not held within the University's and receive them in an electronic format.
To request anything via this route, it must not already exist within Cambridge otherwise iDiscover will not show you the necessary box to request it. For a step-by-step instructions in a variety of formats, check out the dedicated Request a Digital Copy guide.
Inter-Library Loan requests from other institutions
We work closely with our colleagues in the University Library's Inter-Library Loan (ILL) service to provide material to other institutions upon request. Further information about how to make such a request can be found on the relevant ILL pages for UK and Republic of Ireland libraries, and overseas international libraries. We do not accept requests directly.
While we try to fulfil most requests that we receive, we may refuse to loan material for various reasons including: it is in high demand on one of our teaching reading lists; it is fragile or in a state of disrepair; it is expensive and/or rare.