Generally, there is no charge for this service. If any charges do arise, you will be contacted by the Interlibrary Loans staff prior to your request being placed.
Fees may be paid by cash, cheque, or may be charged to a Western account.
In Weldon, Taylor or King's Libraries, fees may be paid by debit card, Visa or MasterCard.
All charges are due when the requested material is picked up.
3. What cannot be borrowed?
An entire issue or volume of a journal.
E-Resources (ebooks)
Rare, valuable or reference material may be difficult to obtain.
Items listed in the Shared Library Catalogue. Items currently on loan may be recalled.
On reserve or short loan material.
Audiovisual materials are borrowed through Media Booking.
4. I am getting an error message. What do I do?
If your sign-in error message is "Authentication Declined. Invalid Username and/or Password"
Enter your Western ID number (student, faculty, staff) as your login
Enter the password you created when you registered in RACER
Choose "Western" as your Library from the drop down menu
5. I could not find my item in the RACER catalogues, how do I submit my request?
Use the Advanced Search with options such as title, author, subject or ISBN.
If you are still having difficulty locating the item within RACER, please complete and submit the RACER Blank Request Form located on the left side-bar under My Account.
6. How long will it take for my request to arrive?
Your request may come from anywhere in Canada, the United States or off continent.
Staff find the best source and arrange for the material to be delivered to campus.
If your request has a deadline, please note this in "special instructions" on the RACER form.
Photocopies are normally available within a week.
Loans usually take 1 to 4 weeks to arrive.
7. Will I be contacted?
Once you have registered for the first time on RACER, you will receive a confirmation e-mail.
You will be contacted by e-mail if additional information is needed for your request, e.g. charges apply.
You will be notifed by e-mail when your item has arrived.
You will be notified when your request is cancelled because:
the item is available at one of our Western Libraries
staff cannot find any library which will supply the item you need
8. How will I get my article?
In most cases, you will receive an email message explaining how to access your article electronically.
Sometimes, the format in which the article was received requires that a print copy be sent to your selected pickup location.
Cancellations are dependant on the current status of your request.
12. How do I set up and use my search profile?
Within RACER:
Select Search Profiles (left side-bar under My Account)
Select Create, then name and describe your profile
Select your desired collections
Your profile has now been added to the list of searchable collections
13. How do I see a list of all my requests?
Sign into RACER, select My Requests located on the left side-bar under My Account
Under Requests List, select Show Everything
This lists all your past and present requests
Click on Details for further information
14. Can I use Interlibrary Loan to request hard copy (e.g. print, microfilm) of a title we have electronically?
Yes, hard copy versions can be requested through ILL. Please indicate in "special instructions" on the request form that you require a hard copy version.
15. Where can I return my Interlibrary Loans?
You can return Interlibrary Loans to any Western Libraries' location or Affiliated University College Library.
