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Resources for Students in Online and Off-Campus Programs: Interlibrary Loan

Want an Article or Chapter We Don't Have or Only Have in Print?

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and Document Delivery services are available to all BU students taking classes for credit. We will get you an online copy of an article or book chapter not available from the BU Libraries or that the libraries only have in physical (print) format. At this time, we do not loan print books by mail.

Make a Request

What Is ILL

Video Tutorial: What is Interlibrary Loan and How Do I Use It?

How Else Can I Get Resources?

  • If you sometimes visit campus, feel free to check books out and make a note to that effect on any ILL requests for print books. 
  • BU is a member of the Boston Library Consortium. If you live in New England, you may be close to one of our BLC LIbraries consortium partners and be able to borrow in-person from their collections by first getting a BLC card.
  • Don't overlook the resources at any local public or academic libraries near you. Most public libraries offer ILL services for free or at a nominal cost. College and university libraries are often open to the public, though you generally cannot check books out. You can use WorldCat Discovery's Search Location feature to determine if a book is available near you.