Our General ILL Philosophy

Sawyer Library (SUF) is committed to reciprocal free lending. Our basic policy is "We don’t charge you, if you don’t charge us." Towards that end, we belong to LVIS, are Nelinet Co-Signers (NO$$), and also belong to Fenway Library Consortium and the Boston Region (BRLS) truck route.

Obviously, for free lending to be truly reciprocal, library holdings must be easily identifiable. Ours are, through OCLC’s WorldCat. (Serials holdings may be displayed through NEUL and NO$$ in WorldCat). In addition, a library may explore exactly where a material is held (in our six SUF affiliate libraries), and whether the material is currently available, by checking our online catalog (OPAC), which may be found at: http://library.law.suffolk.edu/search/

Suffolk Collections, and What We Do and Don’t Loan

When checking the OPAC, please be aware of the following: Locations that include the word "Law" are at the Suffolk University Law Library (WorldCat: SLL). This is a separate library, which maintains their own, autonomous ILL office. You may reach Law Library ILL staff at (617) 305-1614. Law’s fax is (617) 723-3164. Or check their Policies Directory profile in WorldCat.

SUF includes materials in 6 different libraries. We cannot loan materials located in Madrid, Dakar, Dean College, Cape Cod Community College, or new materials located in the NESAD Library. We also do not loan materials designated as Reserves, Reference, Rare, Archives, eBook, Periodical, or Microtext.

We will cheerfully loan any circulating material in Sawyer Library. And we will provide articles (which can be faxed or arieled at no additional cost) from any journal that we hold in periodical or microfilm/fiche format. Because of our license agreements with our vendors, we cannot provide articles that are held ONLY on one of our fulltext databases.

OCLC and IFM Preferred

We greatly prefer that ILL requests come to us through the Resource Sharing subsystem (WRS) of WorldCat. However, we are willing to accept ILL requests on ALA form, or fax equivalent, if a library needs this option.

We prefer NOT to invoice, so if we are loaning to a library we would charge (that is, a library that would charge us, or a corporate lender incapable of free reciprocal lending, with no holdings in WorldCat), we greatly prefer charging using the IFM system. We charge what you charge, or $15-$20 for a non-supplier using WorldCat, IFM, and standard delivery options.

Special Policy for Non-OCLC/IFM Corporate Borrowers

For Corporate Non-Suppliers (usually local law firms) requesting a "hand-carry" pick-up by messenger, rush fax, phone requests, or other special, labor-intensive services, previous abuses have forced us to institute a special policy:

Sawyer Library will gladly provide Document Delivery Services to local corporate libraries in accordance with the following guidelines:

Materials at our Madrid, Dakar, Dean, or Cape Cod campuses are not available for loan. And NESAD materials are only rarely available (no renewal, add 48 hours to preparation time).

A Fee of $20.00 (Payable, at the time of receipt of volume or copy, to Suffolk University) will be charged per item requested. This charge covers:

Retrieval of Material
Preparation for Mailing or Pick-up by Borrower’s Designate
Free Fax, Ariel, or 1st class shipment of non-returnables (articles)
Free 1st class/priority shipment of returnable (book)
Other shipment options (FedEx, etc.) will only be offered if Borrower provides their own account number.

Most Corporate Borrowers prefer to send a messenger to pick up their loan. We are happy to accommodate this preference. All materials awaiting pick-up will be at the Reference Desk of SAWYER Library, which is located on the second floor of our 73 Tremont Street Building.  If you provide the required contact phone number or email address, we will notify you as soon as the material is ready to go.

An ALA-Equivalent Request Form must be FAXED to 617-573-8756 for every requested item.

Although Sawyer Library Staff attempts quick turnaround (almost always the same day), because of limited staff, we may not be able to provide same-day service. We will let you know, if there is an expected delay.

All ALA-Equivalent forms MUST contain the name and phone number of the Librarian/Information Specialist responsible for loan and billing matters.

For returnables, our loan period is 28 days. If not needed by a Suffolk user, the book may be renewed for another 28 days. Only one renewal per loan. For renewal, the borrowing library must send a follow-up email (to illsawlib@suffolk.edu) or a fax request PRIOR to the book’s original due date.

Overdue items will jeopardize a Borrower’s privileges. And lost or damaged materials will be billed for their full value plus a $25.00 processing fee.

Returned materials may be dropped off at the REFERENCE DESK of Sawyer Library (73 Tremont) or they may be shipped to our mailing address: ILL/Sawyer Library/Suffolk University/8 Ashburton Place/Boston, MA 02108-2770.

Please do NOT return ILL returns to the Circulation Desk at Sawyer Library, and NEVER return Sawyer Library materials to the Suffolk LAW LIBRARY. Thank you!