
Interlibrary loan
General information
Interlibrary loan is a service that lets you borrow items from other libraries, including books, journal articles and other media that are not available in Rostock. Before requesting an interlibrary loan, please make sure that the item is not available in Discovery or the Catalogue. For publications from 1851 to 1959, please also check the electronic card index.
Please contact a member of staff at the information desk for help.
The Union Catalogue GVK is the central search and ordering platform for interlibrary loans. To use this service, you first need an interlibrary loan account, which you can set up using the online form “Ersteinrichtung Fernleihkonto” below. (These forms are currently only available in German. Please contact us if you require assistance.) You need a valid Rostock University Library user account in order to open an interlibrary loan account. It usually takes one working day for us to process your account set-up. We will email you confirmation once the account is available for use.
Online forms
Interlibrary loan account
You can access your interlibrary loan account via the GVK. Your account contains the following information:
- order status, for example: "photocopy shipped", "original shipped", "on loan", "not available"
- account summary ("deposit"), showing available credits (not euros. These are not costs.)
- address
- password
Tips
You can access your interlibrary loan account via the GVK.
- order status, for example "copy sent by mail", "original sent by mail", "on loan", "not available"
- account summary, detailing units (not euros)
- address
- password
Items you cannot request via interlibrary loan
- books, journals and other media that are available from Rostock's libraries (even if they are currently on loan or not available for loan)
- very valuable works from before 1800
- entire journals or journal collections (you may request a copy of the contents pages of these collections)
- reference books and loose-leaf editions
- bachelor's or master's theses and the like
Please ask a member of staff for assistance if an item is not available for loan.
Restrictions
Sometimes the lending library places restrictions on an item; for example, that it may not be copied or that it may only be read in-house. Rostock University Library is subject to these requirements.
Delivery takes 2 – 4 weeks. Article orders are usually delivered in a digital format. You will receive a link to download the article by e-mail. Once a book or printed article has arrived, you will receive a notification e-mail. You can also check your user account for information.
You can collect your items from the circulation desk at Campus Library Südstadt. Researchers at Rostock University can also request to have their orders delivered to their office address or closest library using internal mail. This address has to be entered in the interlibrary loan account.
Prices
- students and members of the University generally do not pay a fee for interlibrary loans (but see exceptional costs below)
- private citizens and non-members of the University pay 1,50 Euro per item, payable at collection from Campus Library Südstadt
Exceptional costs
You will need to pay any exceptional costs, such as for articles of more than 20 pages, direct orders from other services, or international loans. We will assume that you are willing to do so, and only confer with you if the fees exceed 8 Euros.
Renewing a loan period
Renewing an interlibrary loan period is generally not possible.
Conventional interlibrary loan
Interlibrary loan requests that cannot be made online are filed via the traditional request form. For this service please contact the staff at the information desk. You can also fill in the form on your PC and hand in the printout at a Service Desk or send it by e-mail to fernleiheuni-rostockde: Interlibrary loan request form.
International loans
If an item cannot be found at any German library, you can request an international loan. Please contact a member of staff. Note that international loan can carry high fees.
Interlibrary loans are regulated by the "Ordnung des Leihverkehrs in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Leihverkehrsordnung (LVO)", dated 19.09.2003 and published in: Amtsblatt für Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 2003, Nr. 55 (09.12.2003), S. 1190 - 1199. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the regulations took effect on 01.01.2004 and were published in: Mitteilungsblatt des Ministeriums für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 2004, Nr. 2 (17.02.2004) S. 184-193
Alternative delivery services to interlibrary loan are listed below. These services carry a cost. You will need to register with the respective services provider.
- Subito
- Subito-PreOrder Bestellungen über die GBV-Datenbanken
- Webis