Interlibrary Loan

Borrowing from Other Libraries

U.S. Department of the Interior headquarters employees in the Washington, DC metropolitan area may request books, journal articles, conference proceedings, dissertations, reports and other materials not available in our collection through our Interlibrary Loan Service.

Requests may be made by fax to (202) 208-6773, or by mail. Use the printable request form, a PDF file that requires Adobe Acrobat.

Library staff contact other libraries to request items they have made available for loan. Items are lent to the Department of the Interior Library, which in turn loans them to the employees. Lending libraries set varying terms for loans.

Most requests can be filled within two to four weeks, although some require special attention and may take longer.

Journal articles, conference papers, and some other short reports are photocopied by the lending library and need not be returned.

Request for renewals of books borrowed from other libraries must be made at least one week before the due date. However, renewal is not guaranteed, as it is not always permitted by the lending library. Adequate notice must be provided to the Interlibrary Loan Service. We cannot request renewals for items that are overdue.
 

Lending to Field Employees

Employees of the U.S. Department of the Interior located outside the Washington metropolitan area may request items from our collections. Employees with access to a bureau or field office library must use their library's interlibrary loan services. Other employees may contact us directly.

If you have a citation to a book, article, or other title held in the library, the item may be requested in the following ways:

Send an e-mail

Use this form as a guide.

Contact a reference librarian by phone (202-208-5815) for further instructions.

Request a book via WebCat, our Catalog:

Use the Print/Capture button to send search results to an e-mail address. Select titles, then e-mail the results to yourself.

Contact a reference librarian by phone (202-208-5815) for further instructions.

Fax a request to (202) 208-6773.

Copy this form or use it as a guide. Include your name, bureau, office, address, mail stop, and telephone number.

Mail a request to U.S. Department of the Interior Library.

Items that are not lent include: first copies of departmental reports ("D" copies), items in the Law Library collection, volumes within the Serial Set, Department of the Interior Appropriations hearings, journal volumes, microfiche and microfilm, CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, audiovisual materials, books housed in the Rare Book Collection, and books housed in the Reference Collections.

The loan period for books is 30 days. Employees and other libraries may call (202) 208-5815 to renew their books. Books will be renewed if no one else has requested them. Failure to return or renew books within the allotted time may affect borrowing privileges.

Photocopies do not need to be returned. Return other borrowed materials to the library that processed your request. If you requested the items directly from us, return them to:

U.S. Department of the Interior Library
Interlibrary Loan
MS1151
1849 C St., NW
Washington, DC 20240

or return by messenger by the due date.
 

Lending to Libraries Outside the U.S. Department of the Interior

The library accepts requests from U.S. Federal libraries. However, we are a library of last resort for others. Many Interior publications are available via the Federal Depository Library Program or on the Internet. Contact the Interlibrary Loan Service for more information or to establish reciprocal agreements.

OCLC Symbol: UDI

We accept online requests via OCLC and American Library Association (ALA) forms via fax or mail. Requests will not be accepted via e-mail or telephone.

Our affiliations are OCLC, FEDLINK, and the Federal Libraries and Information Centers Group Access (GAC/UL).

Loans are made for 30 days including travel time. We do not lend overseas. We will make renewals provided adequate notice is given.

We do not lend first copies of departmental reports ("D" copies), items in the Law Library collection, the Serial Set, Department of the Interior Appropriations hearings, journal volumes, microforms, CD-ROMs, audiovisual materials, rare books, and reference materials.

We do not charge for book loans but encourage reciprocal agreements.

Photocopies of up to 30 pages are made.

We accept messenger pick-ups provided adequate notice is given.
 

Interlibrary Loan Contact Information

U.S. Department of the Interior Library
Interlibrary Loan
MS1151
1849 C St., NW
Washington, DC 20240
Telephone: 202-208-3309
Fax: 202-208-6773
email: library@ios.doi.gov

Copyright

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, USC) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions state that the photocopy or other reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or other reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use" that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.