Resource Sharing and Interlibrary loan (ILL)

Request shared physical resources quickly and easily from other institutions.

Changes to interlibrary loan

As of July 4, 2023, RACER (the library’s legacy interlibrary loan system) will be retired because its software is at end of life and will no longer be supported by the vendor. You can now request items directly in Omni, either from the existing request form for items you find in Omni or from a new ILL form for items not found in Omni (Select “Interlibrary loan” from the top navigation in Omni). This eliminates the need for a separate log-in and provides access to all the same items that could be requested using the RACER interface. For any questions, please contact [email protected]
How to submit an interlibrary loan request

Resource sharing and Interlibrary loans

The Resource Sharing and Interlibrary Loans service assists members of the University of Ottawa community:

  • Students, faculty and staff
  • Retired and emeritus professors
  • Retired employees
  • Affiliated researchers - Are you affiliated?

This service is not available for alumni or external users. Please use the interlibrary loan services offered by your public library.

To request an item in Omni, login to your library account and perform a search in the uOttawa + Omni Libraries search. Omni searches across all 18 partners for that item and when it finds an available copy, you’ll be able to place a request, whether it is available at uOttawa or not. Omni automatically finds the item at one of our partner libraries, who will then send it to uOttawa, at no charge to you. You will be notified when your item is ready for pickup and you will enjoy the same 120-day loan period, the same as if you were borrowing a uOttawa item. While delivery times can vary due to a variety of factors, the anticipated average delivery time is 7 to 10 business days. 

If the item cannot be located at an Omni partner institution, library staff will proceed with an interlibrary loan from other institutions, if possible. Loan periods from non-Omni Libraries may differ.  

Requesting materials

TypeAvailability
ArticlesOMNI
Books and book chaptersOMNI
DVDs and filmsCurrently unavailable
Whole Journal volumes or issuesNot available
Maps and atlasesCurrently unavailable
Rare booksNot available
Reference worksNot available
SoftwareNot available
ThesesCheck first if available online

Read more about how to submit a resource sharing request.

Fees and fines

There is no cost to the user for requesting items.

Need help?

If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected]

More information

How to submit an interlibrary loan request

How to submit a resource sharing request

Learn how to quickly and easily request an item from another institution.

books

Lending to other libraries

Other libraries can request materials from one of our libraries. If you have any questions, contact us (Tel. 613-562-5210 email: [email protected]).

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