Document Delivery offers Book Express and Article Express for UA faculty, staff and students for items held by UA Libraries. Request materials from the Archival Facility, Gorgas Library, Bruno Business Library and Rodgers Library for Science & Engineering. Book Express allows for patrons to request print, AVS and microform materials to be placed on hold for pick up at the library of choice. Article Express allows for patrons to have print materials scanned and delivered electronically.


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Book Express

Request books, DVDs, CDs, microforms or Archival Facility materials to be placed on hold at the library of choice. This excludes special collections materials, ready reference materials and some periodicals.

Making a Request

To have print, AVS, microform or Archival Facility materials retrieved, place a request from your ILLiad account.

  1. Search for your item in SCOUT.
  2. Click on the “Request this” tab located at the bottom of screen. This will take you to the catalog record.
  3. Click “Request Item” on the right side of the screen.
  4. Log into your ILLiad account and choose the Document Delivery form for a loan (physical item): Doc Delivery – Loan (UA Libraries Collection).
  5. Complete the required fields in the form and submit.

Delivery Times

Requests located on the shelf will be filled within 24-48 hours. When your item is ready, you will receive an email to pick your item up at the owning library’s circulation desk. The item will be held for 10 business days.

If your requested item is not available on the shelf, we will borrow it from another library. Delivery time will depend upon the availability of the item from the requested libraries.

Faculty Intra-campus Mail Delivery

Faculty can request to have materials sent via intra-campus mail to their campus mailbox. This excludes periodicals, special collection materials, microforms, oversized materials and items borrowed from other universities.

Requests are delivered within 48 -72hours. If items are needed sooner, you can retrieve the items directly from the stacks and check out at the Circulation desk.

Materials Located in other UA Campus Libraries
(Bounds Law Library and the Health Sciences Library)

Document Delivery does not include items located at the Bounds Law Library and the Health Sciences Library. For materials located in these libraries, please contact the respective library for assistance.

Article Express

Don’t have time to go the library and copy materials? Article Express provides scans from print and microform collections. To comply with U.S. copyright law, only one book chapter or one article per journal issue is allowed per request.

Making a Request

To have materials scanned and delivered electronically, place a request from your ILLiad account.

  1. Search for your item in SCOUT.
  2. Click on the “Request this” tab located at the bottom of screen. This will take you to the catalog record.
  3. Click “Request Item” on the right side of the screen.
  4. Log into your ILLiad account and choose the Document Delivery form for copy: Doc Delivery – Copy (UA Libraries Collection).
  5. Complete the required fields in the form and submit.

Delivery Time

Requests are filled within 24-48 hours. When your item is ready, you will receive an email with a link to your PDF scan in your ILLiad account. The PDF scan will be under “Received Copies” located in the menu on the left side of the screen.

Electronic items will remain accessible for 30 days from the date of posting.

Copyright Restrictions

Scans are subject to copyright restrictions. The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order, if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law.

Materials Available for Scan

  • Journal Articles
  • Book Chapters
  • Articles and Documents in Microformats
  • Tables of Contents & Indexes
  • UA These and Dissertations

Reasons for Unfilled Requests

When we are unable to fill your requests via Document Delivery or via borrowing from another library, we will notify you by email. There may be various reasons for an unfilled request:

  • Item is unavailable on shelf and unavailable via borrowing from another institution.
  • Item cited does not match the holding selected in the catalog, i.e. the volume selected from the catalog does not match the volume cited in your request.
  • Violation of Copyright (see copyright restrictions)
  • Item located in Special Collections.

Materials Located in other UA Campus Libraries
(Bounds Law Library and the Health Sciences Library)

Document Delivery does not include items located at the Bounds Law Library and the Health Sciences Library. For materials located in these libraries, please contact the respective library for assistance.

Items beyond UA Libraries

If the book or article you want is not at UA Libraries, request it through Interlibrary Loan via your ILLiad account. When requesting an item that is not in the UA online catalog, please provide as much citation information as possible to ensure that the request is filled quickly and accurately.

Contact us

LocationGorgas Library, Floor 2
Telephone(205) 348-4018
Fax(205) 348-9564
Emailillstaff@ua.edu
HoursDocument Delivery material can be picked up all hours that the owning library is open.

Members of ILL staff are available Monday through Friday from 8 am – 5 pm.

Mailing address

University of Alabama Libraries
Gorgas Library/ ILL RM #2007
P.O. Box 870266
711 Capstone Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0266

Contact an individual

ILL Supervisor

Document Delivery

Borrowing

Universal Borrowing/ILL Information Desk

Lending to Other Libraries/Distance Ed

RapidILL

Libraries Archival Facility