Guide for Journal Source Finders

1. Check with the reference librarians.

We might be able to unearth something for you.

2. Check with your article editor.

Your editor might decide to contact the author, or, if that fails, to coordinate an interlibrary loan (ILL) request.

About Interlibrary Loan

If an item is unavailable and the author cannot provide it, the Law Library can try to get it for you from another library. This process works best when you need only a few pages that can be scanned and sent as an email attachment. Please note: the law library will not request a hardcopy version of a work that is available in a reliable digital facsimile. Consult a reference librarian if you have questions.

In cases where you need an entire book, the library will attempt  to borrow it from another library.  This process can take several weeks, and is not always successful. Just like works that you check out of other campus libraries, the ILL item will be checked out for a limited period of time to you, and you will be personally responsible for it. The loan period is determined by the library that lends the book. Therefore, ILL items cannot be checked out to your journal's library account.

How to Submit an Interlibrary Loan Request

The lead editor for an article should coordinate any ILL requests to help avoid problems such as multiple requests for the same item and requests that do not specify all the pages needed.

Submit requests to x-asap@umn.edu.  Please indicate the following in your message:

• Whether your request is for a loan or a copy/scan.
• For books please include:
  • Author, title, (edition &/or year of publication)
  • If you only need a copy of a specific chapter(s) or sections of a book include: chapter, section and/or page numbers as appropriate.
• For journals/newsletter periodical articles please include:
  • journal title, volume & issue number, year of publication
  • article title & author, and page number(s).
• For newspaper articles include:
  • newspaper title, date, article title and author/byline, section and page number(s)

If you need help finding any of the above information, contact a reference librarian.

Please indicate in the request if the item should be at the University of Minnesota, but is missing or if pages are missing.  (This will speed up the request.)

TIP: For all ILL requests where we ask for part of an article or a book, we routinely ask for the title page.  You do not have to specify that you need this information.