Interlibrary borrowing

In support of University work, Stanford Libraries will borrow materials from a worldwide network of libraries for Stanford faculty, students, staff and visiting scholars.

How to request an item from another library

1. Check Stanford Libraries collections first - it's likely we have it!

• SearchWorks Catalog indicates if the item or source of an article/chapter is available in our library stacks and/or is available online. 
• SearchWorks Articles+  for full-text access to 300 million articles and e-books across hundreds of licensed and open access databases. 
• Citation Linker is another easy way to check for online access to a known article citation or an e-book.
• Proquest Dissertation & Theses Global provides full-text dissertations and theses.
• HathiTrust Digital Library includes millions of digitized items from research libraries worldwide.

Feel free to ask us for help with searching. We also welcome your purchase requests (SUNetID required).

2. If it isn't available at Stanford, place a request

To receive PDFs of articles or book chapters

Requests are often filled within a couple of days, though delivery times may vary according to supplying library.

• Stanford faculty, students and staff (except School of Medicine):  Request PDF of article/book chapter (SUNetID required)
• School of Medicine and Medical Center researchers: Request PDF through DocXpress 

To borrow books, microfilm, DVDs or other media 

Requests are generally filled quickly, within 1-14 days depending on supplying library. Items from UC Berkeley are received within a day or two.

• Stanford faculty, students and staff (except School of Medicine): Request an item (SUNetID required)
• School of Medicine and Medical Center researchers: Request an item through DocXpress

Note: Requests will be completed using the best lending stream: BorrowDirect, UC Berkeley RLCP or other libraries. 

• Requests filled by UC Berkeley for Stanford faculty, graduate students and academic staff will be completed using Direct-from-Berkeley (RLCP) which has a significantly longer loan period. Items are checked out to the Stanford user's UC Berkeley account and sent via courier to Stanford.  Renew items using My Oskicat.
• BorrowDirect books are delivered to the Green library circulation desk within 4 days.  Items are checked out on your Stanford Libraries account for 8 weeks and are eligible for one 8-week renewal using My Account. If you need a BorrowDirect book longer, simply request another copy.
• Starting in Winter 2018 users will be able to access the BorrowDirect discovery platform from this page to search across the combined inventory (60 million items) of 13 Ivy Plus academic libraries, plus UC Berkeley, and place your requests for circulating books and media.  Learn more about BorrowDirect access to the 12 other IvyPlus libraries and circulating collections. 

Contact us

Stanford Libraries Interlibrary Services

Green Library East, Room 161, One Crothers Way, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
Email: stfborrowing@stanford.edu Phone: (650) 725-1278

For other libraries wanting to borrow from Stanford Libraries, please see Interlibrary Lending

Business, Law, Medical and SLAC researchers are served by a coordinate library: 

Stanford Business Library Services 
Robert Crown Law Library Interlibrary Loan 
Lane Medical Library DocXpress
SLAC Research Library Services