Inter-library loan

You can use inter-library loans to borrow media from other libraries that we unfortunately do not have in our own collection.

To order an inter-library loan, you need an inter-library loan account with credit, which we will be happy to set up for you on request. You will need to pay a sum of money into this account, as each order will be debited with a fixed fee of 2.00 euros.

You can pay for interlibrary loan credit on site using a card at the payment machine and have it credited at the counter during service hours. You can then place an order directly in the HeBIS portal.

If you transfer the money to the relevant bank account, the order can only be placed a few days later after the credit has been credited to your interlibrary loan account.

The cost of an interlibrary loan request (book or journal article up to 20 pages) is 2.00 euros. This is a lump sum for expenses not dependent on success. You can indicate with each order, whether you accept additional costs or not.

There are always separate costs for orders from abroad.

Start the HeBIS portal and register under "User data". You can then start your search using the search mask provided and order the desired item online immediately. Please note that not every item that can be ordered is also available via inter-library loan. It makes sense to click through to the owning libraries, especially if the list of hits is very short, as the library pages often contain information on inter-library loans.
We will be happy to provide you with more detailed information on this topic by email, phone or online consultation.

To order an essay/article, please follow our instructions.

You can use the inter-library loan service to order media that are not in our collection as originals or copies following your research in the inter-library loan portal. The requirement is that the desired literature is graded for professional or academic purposes as well as for training and continuing education.

• Media that are available in the HLB. Even if all available items are on loan, interlibrary loan is not possible.
• Literature that is available in bookshops for less than 15 euros.
• Entire journal issues/volumes, whereby copies can be ordered.
• Reference works and loose-leaf collections, whereby copies of individual articles can usually be ordered.
• DIN standards cannot be ordered via inter-library loan.
• The following media are often not delivered, although they can be ordered via the interlibrary loan portal: DVDs, audio books, theses (Diplom, bachelor's, master's theses etc.), new publications from the last 6 months, large formats, essays (instructions for ordering essays).
• E-books or articles from e-journals

We cannot guarantee fixed delivery times due to the different delivery conditions of the libraries. On average, you can expect a delivery time of 2-3 weeks.

We will notify you as soon as the item you have ordered via inter-library loan has arrived. If we have your e-mail address, this will usually be done by e-mail, otherwise you will be notified by post.

If you log in to the interlibrary loan portal under "User data" and select your interlibrary loan data, you will receive an overview of your interlibrary loan requests with the current processing status of the lending library. You will always receive a message from us as soon as your order has arrived.

It is possible that the library providing the work only allows use in the reading room or issues a ban on copying. The HLB is obliged to pass on these restrictions.

On the colored data carrier/section enclosed with the inter-library loan, which must remain in the book until it is returned, you will find information on whether the check-out period can be extended.

If a one-off extension is possible, you can do this yourself online in your loan account. Further extensions are not possible.

If you are in a particular hurry, you can order books and articles (for a fee) via electronic document delivery services.
For example: www.subito-doc.de

An order from abroad is generally possible, but costs at least 8.00 euros.

If you are interested, please contact us by email.