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Document Services

Interlibrary Borrowing (ILB) via ILLiad

Interlibrary Borrowing (ILB) is a free service that helps current MIT faculty, students, and staff access materials not available at the MIT Libraries.

Use ILLiad to make ILB requests and check on, renew, and retrieve requested electronic documents (MIT only)

Access ILLiad

Is ILB/ILLiad the best way to get non-MIT materials I need?

  • Be sure to Search Our Collections to confirm the item is not available at MIT.
  • ILLiad/ILB and Borrow Direct (BD partner libraries, like Harvard, Yale, etc.) are the options for requesting physical materials.
  • ILLiad/ILB is the only option for requesting articles and book chapters. Fill out the form, or if you are already in an article database such as Web of Science, look for the “Get this – MIT” button or link – if no full text is available, it will present an ILLiad option and then insert the basic citation information automatically into the form (please add any additional information you have about the item).
  • You can also Suggest a purchase to request e-version or print versions be added to the MIT collections.

Getting help and hints for fast service

  • If you are filling out the ILLiad form manually, be as complete and careful as possible so there aren’t unnecessary delays.
  • Contact Ask Us! if you need reference help to fill out a citation, or to find out if we own an item.
  • Contact the ILB staff if you have questions about an ILLiad request, or about our service: ilb-lib@mit.edu, 617.253.5684.
  • See the ILLiad FAQ for more detailed information.

Interlibrary Borrowing (ILB) service policies

  • All requests must be submitted through ILLiad in order to comply with U.S. Copyright regulations. ILB cannot accept requests via email, telephone or fax.
  • ILB service is provided at no cost to current members of the MIT community.

Please note, due to budgetary constraints some theses and dissertations cannot be filled via ILB/ILLiad:

Theses and dissertations cannot be borrowed through ILB/ILLiad if they are available through MIT’s subscription to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses or if they can be purchased directly. If you can’t find a thesis through ProQuest or a service to purchase it yourself, then submit a request via ILLiad and we’ll try to borrow it for you. If we can’t borrow it, but can identify where it may be purchased, your ILLiad request will be canceled and we’ll notify you of how to purchase the thesis yourself.

See the Dissertations/Theses Research Guide for more info about finding and getting theses from non-MIT institutions.