Document Delivery FAQS

Definitions
Who Qualifies ?
How do I register ?
What should I do before lodging a document delivery request?
How do I lodge a request ?
What costs are involved in delivering the materials ?
How long does it take to deliver the materials ?
Questions ?
Comments about the Library ?

 

Definitions
Document Delivery – we use this term to mean the delivery to qualified users of information resources from external libraries and library services.  The resources might be a physical item or a document, whether that be electronic or hard copy.
Physical items include books, video tapes, DVDs or a bound thesis. These are obtained for qualifying and registered staff and students from other libraries in the Libraries Australia network.
Documents include articles from edited books or copies of journal articles.  These obtained for qualifying and registered staff and students from other Libraries in the Libraries Australia network or from the British Library Document Delivery service if they are not available from the Libraries Australia network.  These articles might be obtained in print or electronically.

Who Qualifies ?

  • Academic staff
  • PhD candidates
  • Masters by Thesis students
  • Masters by Coursework with a major thesis component (click here for a list of the approved courses)
  • Honours students in the Schools of Arts and Science, Fremantle and Sydney

How do I register ?
Once you have completed the registration process, request can be made by completing the request form

What should I do before lodging a document delivery request?
The key thing you should do is to ensure that we don’t already have access to the materials you are looking for.  You should use the following methods:

  • Books, Videos, DVDs
    • Check the Library Portal by title (click here) to see if it is already available
    • Check to see if you can get it from a local library under the reciprocal borrowing arrangements (click here to check on these arrangements) this will be much quicker and the loan period will be longer.
    • Consider whether this will be a useful resource to have in the library for other staff and your students.  If this is the case recommend that we purchase the item rather than borrow it (staff - click here, students - click here)

How do I lodge a request ?
Once you have completed the registration process, request can be made by completing the request form
You can complete the word version and then send this as an attachment or you can use the PDF version, complete and then either scan to PDF and attach the PDF to an email or send us the hard copy in the mail.
The completed form should be sent to the library you use.  Click here for complete list of the libraries and their email, phone and address contacts.

What costs are involved in delivering the materials ?
We will endeavor to obtain books, videos and DVDs on short-term loan (usually four weeks maximum) from another Australian library.  We will endeavor to obtain print copies of articles from document supply services in Australia.  Both of these services attract a charge of at least $13.20 per item.  This cost is met by the Library
Theses are sometimes only available for purchase.  In this case the cost is likely to be around $70.  You can elect to cover this cost yourself if you wish to retain the copy or recommend that the library purchase the item for the collection.  The Library would require the endorsement of a research supervisor before committing to such a purchase and would retain the thesis in the collection.  You would have to use the thesis in the library it was stored in.

How long does it take to deliver the materials ?
The standard turnaround time for the arrival of Document Delivery requests is two weeks.  We will notify you via email when loans and documents are available for pick-up and specify the library desk they are to be collected from.  If the document is an electronic one we will send it directly via email.

Questions ?
These can be directed to the library you use. You can find direct contacts for all of our libraries here.

Comments about the Library ?
Comments about the Library ?  Please use our feedback form to tell us what you think (click here).