All Penn State students are able to request materials from any library and have it available for pick-up or delivery. This page goes over in more detail how to request these materials. We do not cover here how to request specialized materials such as primary source documents or maps, but if you need those sources contact one of us and we will be happy to help you through that process. We will start by reviewing the policy and guidelines for borrowing materials. Then we will go over the process of how to request physical books that Penn State owns, how to request book chapters/articles, and how to request books or articles that Penn State does not own. 

Policies and Guidelines

Anyone who is a registered Penn State student is able to request materials to be either physically or electronically available to them. Your Penn State library account should be activated within 24 hours of receiving your other Penn State access account information. There is one additional account that you need to manually register for, your interlibrary loan account. You can use the Interlibrary Loan link below to register for Interlibrary Loan. 

The following links help to provide additional detail on the policies and guidelines around borrowing materials.

Requesting Library Materials. Provides brief overview of how to request and return materials. 

Using InterLibrary Loan. Provides information on interlibrary loan. World Campus students use this for requesting materials including electronic PDFs of physical book chapters. 

World Campus and Distance Researchers. Details on how to get materials when you are off-campus. 

As a World Campus student, you have access to many of the same services as residential students. One of these services is the ability to access resources that Penn State Libraries subscribes to for your use. Here you will learn how to request physical or electronic materials you may need. There are two main systems to use to get access to resources. First, if it is an electronic resource (like an e-book or journal article) and Penn State already purchases that resource you will have the ability to read that article immediately. The image below shows you how to access an article that Penn State has. 

The video below provides specific instructions as to how you as World Campus students can request materials. This covers unique considerations for online distance students.