The UMKC Libraries just processed our 500,000th Interlibrary Loan request!
This means that since the fall of 2006, the amazing team in the Interlibrary Loan department has managed half a million online requests from UMKC library users as well as from libraries requesting materials from UMKC library collections.
What was the 500,000th request, you may want to know? It was a request from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for an article from International Journal of Management!
While that doesn’t sound terribly exciting for those of us who aren’t researchers of management, the ILL department works every day to supply items to UMKC users no matter your major or area of study, whether you’re a first year undergraduate or a PhD candidate, a student or a clinical researcher.
ILL is an absolutely critical service for learners, teachers, and researchers at UMKC and across the globe. ILL allows libraries small and large, in the state of Missouri and on the other side of the world, to pool our resources so that every library user, everywhere, has access to more information than their home library could possibly provide. Whether you’re a student at Harvard or Metropolitan Community College, or a resident of a small, rural town in Missouri, chances are your local library participates in interlibrary loan and can provide you with access to whatever you need!
Facts about UMKC interlibrary loan
How much does it cost?
Interlibrary loan is free to UMKC students, faculty, and staff!
How many interlibrary loan requests are processed in a year?
In a typical, pre-Covid year, the UMKC team processed more than 50,000 requests per year.
How long does interlibrary loan take?
For items that qualify for email delivery, typically 70% of these requests are filled in 24 hours, 80% are filled in 48 hours, and 95% are filled within 72 hours. For items that must be mailed to us from other libraries, it is rare for items to be available in less than 1 week. Typically 50% are available within 10 days, 60% within 14 days, and 90% are available within 21 days.
