Document delivery can help out when our databases do not have what you need, when an internet search turns up zilch, and when your local public library is unable to produce a copy via interlibrary loan.
Document delivery is where we pay a delivery service to send us a copy of something that we do not have. In addition to sending us a copy. a document delivery service can arrange for copyright clearance through the Copyright Clearance Center so that the item can be posted legally to a course shell.
Faculty members at Cummings do have access to document delivery, facilitated by the CORE library, and unfortunately, limited by a budgeted amount per faculty member. If you need something that we don't have and it can't be found any other legal and free way, please fill out the Document Delivery form to the right and we'll start the process of obtaining your document.
Interlibrary loan (sometimes abbreviated ILL) is a service whereby a user of one library can borrow books or receive photocopies of documents that are owned by another library.
At this time, CORE is unable to offer interlibrary loan services for items we do not have in our collection. We recommend that you obtain a library card from your local public library to see if they can help out when you need something that CORE does not have. State libraries can also be rich places for free resources. If you need help locating your state or public library, please contact the CORE Librarian.
Please be advised that interlibrary loan is best used when the loaning library has an individual copy of an item (a book, a magazine subscription, etc.) If the item desired is part of an electronic database's holdings, it typically cannot be shared between libraries.
Example: A search has turned up something in PubMed in a journal that none of the CORE databases has access to, but it can be found in databases we do not subscribe to. In order to get it via interlibrary loan, your public library will have to locate another library that has an actual subscription to the journal, not the database. That is because electronic databases license their content from journal publishers and grant us access to it with certain restrictions. Fulfilling interlibrary loan requests using items in databases is typically a violation of the user agreement for electronic resources.
Warning: Copyright Restrictions May Apply to Use of Items Obtained via Interlibrary Loan
Obtaining an item via ILL does not mean it is has copyright clearance to post to a course shell. If you obtain something via ILL or have something already in your stash, clearance must be obtained for you to post it to a course shell. The CORE Library will handle this for you. Simply use the form below and under Purpose for Use, specify that you have a copy already but just need copyright clearance.