Interlibrary loan
We are a Service the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt (ULB) and offer specialised literature that many libraries do not have in their holdings.
Overview
Procedure
You can obtain books or copies of articles from us via interlibrary loan. This is a service that is organised between libraries. In Germany, 1581 public and academic libraries participate in interlibrary loan.
To order a work via interlibrary loan, you must first contact a library in your area. Your local library will forward the order to the ULB. As a rule, the ordered media will be available to you after about 1,5 to 2 weeks.
However, you can also order individual articles from books or journals in our collection. These are usually scanned by us and sent to your library. They will then provide you with a printout (no scan can be forwarded for copyright reasons). This service only takes a few days on average.
Costs
Some libraries offer this service to their users free of charge. However, many charge a flat fee per order which, depending on the library, can vary between 1,50 and 6,00 EUR.
Exceptions
Interlibrary loan is not possible for the following media:
- E-Books
- Audio and video materials (possible in exceptional cases, please ask us)
- Loose-leaf collection (copies of individual articles possible)
- Older literature and literature worthy of protection
- Recent journal volumes
- Large-format newspaper volumes
- Oversized works
Alternatives
Digitisation request
For titles for which the copyright has expired, a Digitisation request can be made available. This is a particularly good alternative for "older literature worthy of protection" that cannot be borrowed.
Digital holdings
Our open access repository MENAdoc offers access to over 15,000 documents. These works can be accessed online at any time and are searchable in full text.
With our FID licences, we provide access to electronic products subject to licence such as databases, e-books and e-journals throughout Germany.
Forschungsapparat in der Fernleihe
A new service of the FID Middle East
A central focus of the work of the FID Middle East-, North African- and Islamic Studies is to procure and provide academically relevant literature from and about the Middle East. In order to make these valuable resources accessible to researchers throughout Germany, a research apparatus has been established in the form of a long-term interlibrary loan programme.
Further information can be found here.