ILL FAQs for UHM Patrons

Any material such as a book or journal article not held in the UH Manoa Libraries may be requested.

Many libraries do not lend reference books, journals (unless on microfilm), media (audiovisual, digital format, etc.), genealogical materials, archival papers, or manuscripts, but there are sometimes exceptions.

Many libraries also do not lend dissertations or theses. However, electronic copies of many dissertations from 1997 to the present may be downloaded for free from Dissertations and Theses (formerly Digital Dissertations).

You will receive email notification when your loan is available. The email will specify where to pick up the material. The location will depend upon the nature of the material. You will be asked to present and leave your UH ID card while using “Library-Use Only” loans.

• Copies are usually made available electronically online
• Circulating loans will be available for pick up at the Hamilton Library Circulation Counter.
• “Library-Use Only” loans are often rare or fragile materials that require special handling. They will be placed in the Hawaiian/Pacific Collection Reading Room on the 5th Floor.
• Microformats will be placed at the Microform Service Window on the 1st floor of the library and are “Library-Use Only”.

Check here for Microform Service Window Hours

You will receive email notification about your ILL loan’s availability at the Circulation Counter. The loan will be held for you for 10 days, after which, the item may be returned to the lender if not picked up.

ILL books are given the due date that the lending library’s policy allows. The due date will be stamped on the ILL book band and also available for review from your OneSearch My Account.

Renewals are available at the discretion of the lending library.
To request renewals, please contact the ILL staff by email at libill@hawaii.edu or by phone 808-956-8568.  NOTE: The OneSearch online renewal function does NOT work for ILL loans.

Delivery time depends on the availability of the material, the nature of the material, and the delivery method used by the supplying library. Materials not widely owned by other libraries require more time to process. Air mail or other premium delivery service is always requested for loans, but is not always possible. For photocopies, most libraries now use electronic methods to deliver to us. For all requests, BE SURE TO INDICATE ON THE REQUEST FORM the “Not Wanted After Date”.

• Photocopies (journal articles or book chapters, for example): 1-3 days if delivered by electronic method from the supplier to us. 1-2 weeks (average) if delivered by postal mail from the supplier to us.
• Loans received by air mail from the U.S. mainland: 1-2 weeks (average); via parcel post or library rate: 4-6 weeks.
• Materials from foreign libraries usually take longer.

You will be notified by email when your requested items arrive.

Loans and photocopy requests are provided at no charge to UH Manoa affiliated borrowers.
Requesters funded by potential grants: please help the library by budgeting ILL needs into your grant proposal.

Fees and fines are assessed at the following rates, per item:

• Overdues: $.25 per day
• Recalls: $.50 per day
• Fines are assessed every day including weekends and holidays
• An item is considered lost when the fine reaches $10
• Effective August 20, 2018: Lost charges include a $100 deposit fee as a minimum payment towards the lending library’s replacement cost invoice, a $10 NON-refundable UHM processing fee, accumulated overdue fines, plus any processing fees imposed by the lending library.
  • Once the lending library’s invoice amount is known, the deposit will be applied against the invoice.
  • If there is a balance due, the patron will be notified and a hold is placed on his/her library account for the balance.
  • If there is a surplus, the patron will be notified and a refund check will be issued.

We appreciate your returning ILL loans in a timely manner. This allows us to keep a good borrowing relationship with the lending libraries. Overdue and lost books may result in the inability to borrow books from the lender in the future. Having our borrowing privileges suspended by other libraries affects everyone who uses ILL, including your fellow students, faculty, and staff. Mahalo for your consideration.

PDF documents can be viewed using a current web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer with the Adobe Acrobat Reader® plug-in. Get Adobe Acrobat Reader®

Your Electronic Documents remain on the web for thirty days from the date you are notified of their availability.

Email us at libill@hawaii.edu and we will attempt to retrieve it for you.

Yes. Your login for ILL provides you with electronic delivery services.