Interlibrary loan (“ILL”) is a service provided to assist with academic and scholarly research needs by providing access to materials otherwise unavailable in the library collection, whether not owned, currently borrowed by someone else, or temporarily missing.
When you make a request, please provide as much information about the item as possible. This includes: type of item (book, journal, article, etc.), title, author, publication date, edition, and ISBN. If you need a specific article from a journal, please provide the title of the article and the name of the journal in which it appears. The more complete the information, the quicker the processing.
Services are available to all Bowen School of Law faculty, students, and staff, as well as local attorneys with a current library card.
Not a Bowen student? Contact your university’s library for ILL support.
Member of the public? Contact your local public library for assistance.
Your ILL request should be submitted to Professor Jeff B. Woodmansee. Requests can be made by e-mail, by phone at 501-916-5470.
For books, please provide basic citation information (i.e., author, title, publication date, edition, ISBN number) for each book that you are requesting.
For articles, please provide relevant journal information (i.e., title of article, author, name of journal, issue or volume number, date of publication, page number)
Incomplete or inaccurate information can delay the processing of your request. If you need assistance, please consult with Professor Woodmansee before submitting your request.
Various types of library items and legal materials can be requested through ILL. However, because of the lending policies of many libraries, certain materials are very difficult or sometimes impossible to obtain:
Audiovisual materials
Books on permanent or course reserve at other libraries
Course casebooks
Dissertations and theses
Entire issues/volumes of journals
Materials that are owned by very few libraries or only international libraries
Multi-volume sets (including individual volumes and loose-leaf materials)
Newspapers and foreign serials
Rare books or historical documents
Recently published books/journal articles
All Bowen School of Law faculty, students, and staff may borrow ILL materials at no cost, provided the request is for academic purposes. The library pays any fees to the lending library on your behalf.
If you are attorney, any fees from the lending library will be charged to you. Though many libraries will loan materials for free, borrowing charges are sometimes incurred, generally ranging from $10-$20. A maximum rate that you are willing to pay can be established when making your request.
Once your request is processed, it generally takes 2-10 business days for your items to arrive, though sometimes longer for certain materials. You are strongly encouraged to submit ILL requests well in advance of research deadlines since some items can be difficult or impossible to obtain through ILL.
Once your requested item has arrived, you will be notified via email. Some articles can be emailed to you, but most items will be made available for you at the Circulation Desk. Borrowed materials are processed, checked out to you, and placed on a hold shelf until you come get them.
Professor Woodmansee will contact you if any issues arise during the transaction, and you may inquire about the status of a request that is in process at any time.
Generally, materials are loaned to you for a period of 2-4 weeks. Some items can have their due date extended. If you wish to keep your materials beyond their due date, please make your renewal request at least one week prior to the due date listed. You will be notified regarding whether the renewal request has been granted by the lender. Renewals cannot be granted for overdue materials.
It is important to return ILL materials on time and in the condition in which you received them. Failure to return items obtained through ILL in a timely and responsible manner may negatively impact our ability to obtain materials from the lending library in the future, and could result in replacement costs.
Items borrowed through ILL should be returned to the Circulation Desk. Please note that copies of materials, unless otherwise noted, are yours to keep and do not need to be returned.
The Copyright Law of the United States governs the making of photocopies or other reproduction or distribution of copyrighted materials. 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. (2009). The UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law Library abides by these rules and patrons must be willing to accept these guidelines when making requests for any copyrighted material.