Request Books or Articles

Search your favorite database to find an article. If your article isn’t available online, click the  or button and then click “Interlibrary Request.” In most cases, an electronic copy of the article will be sent to you within 24-hours. If you’re having difficulty, check our ILL Quick Guide. This service is provided free of charge to UCD faculty, staff, and students.

Individuals not affiliated with UCD are able to request copies of UCD-owned articles using the library’s fee-based Document Delivery Service (DDS). Users must register for this service and use the request form provided.

If UC Davis doesn’t own the physical item that you need, click either the  button in Melvyl, the UC-wide library catalog, or the “Interlibrary Request” link in Primo, our UCD-specific library catalog. ILL staff will search libraries worldwide for the material and have it shipped to the library for your use.

If UC Davis owns the physical items that you need, you may request it using the same Request options noted above. ILL staff will simply direct your request so that it’s filled from our own collection. If logged in to your library My Account while searching Primo, you’ll see a third “Request” option to request UCD-owned material. This third option has the benefit of bypassing ILL ordering systems and therefore may expedite fulfillment of your request.

UCD items that are on loan will be recalled from the current borrower. These items are generally available within the next 7 days and can be picked up at the UCD library location of your choice. If the item that you need is on the shelf here at UCD, it’ll be pulled by library staff and transferred to a different UCD library location for more convenient pick-up. These items are generally available at their destination within 2-3 business days.

If you’ve searched Melvyl, Primo, or other of our online databases and couldn’t locate what you need, please fill out the Blank Request Form to submit your request.

The My ILL Requests website shows details of your Shields Library ILL requests for books, journal, and media, both in-process and received.  This is the best way to renew currently checked out ILL books. ILL requests for articles and any of the Health Sciences ILL transactions are not visible in this system.  To check on the status of these ILL requests, please use the contact information below.