Interlibrary loan (ILL) allows readers to borrow content from another library. This article explores the changing landscape of ILL in a digital age.
Libraries face limitations in the content they can acquire and store, so they may not always have exactly what a user needs. To supplement their collections, they often rely on interlibrary loans (ILL). In the past, this meant waiting for a single physical book or journal to arrive by truck, and the item couldn’t be circulated by the lending library while it was on loan to another library. Today, as more content becomes digital, ILL has evolved. Libraries can now share digital materials instantly with multiple recipients without affecting access at the original library. In theory, an entire year’s worth of subscription journal issues could be sent to another organization in moments.
While technology has enabled large-scale digital sharing, copyright policies and licensing agreements have not changed significantly. These agreements—and the economics of content acquisition—still restrict how libraries can share digital materials. Without such limits, a single subscription could serve hundreds of institutions, driving up costs dramatically for subscribers.
ACS Publications offers ILL to academic libraries. To help us continue to offer this service, we have set reasonable limits that follow the traditional historical use case, when print items were loaned. Today’s standard licensing agreements with ACS do allow occasional sharing between academic institutions. In the agreement, the limits on ILL are defined by the Latin phrase “de minimis”—a legal term that roughly means an insignificant amount. In practice, this means that libraries cannot use ILL as a wholesale replacement for subscription services—including active front-file journal subscriptions, post-cancellation access, and other types of content provided by ACS Publications.
ILL is intended to help bridge minor and occasional gaps in an institution’s holdings, while frequent borrowing, mass transfers of content, and other types of systematic use are against the terms of the agreement. This includes sharing content with commercial entities such as start-ups and spin-offs, which has never been permitted as part of ACS Publications’ licensing agreements; attempts to use ILL in these ways may be grounds for suspension or termination of services to the participating organizations. For small businesses and start-ups, including those housed in academic incubators, we offer low- and no-cost options that provide unfettered access to the latest scientific content from ACS Publications journals. We even work with venture capital firms to ensure the companies they invest in are properly equipped with ACS Publications content.
This loan service makes ILL ideal for serving non-subscribing libraries with single requests for a specific article. When a requestor has frequent or batch needs, fees need to be paid via the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), or the requester should consider a subscription themselves.
If you are unsure about whether you should consider your own subscription to ACS Publications, visit the Solutions Center or connect with us to discuss your unique needs.