Interlibrary Loans Services
- Storage Collection Document Delivery
- Interlibrary Loan
- Overseas Book Loan Initiative
- Interbranch Returns
- Off Campus Article Delivery
- JULAC Libraries Access
Storage Collection Document Delivery
All registered HKUL borrowers can request materials in Storage. Requested articles will be delivered electronically and books can be picked up in any specified branch. Bound journals can only be borrowed by Academic staff, research staff, honorary staff, SPACE academic staff, technicians and postgraduates and undergraduates.
Interlibrary Loan
The Lending Services Division procures resources which are not available in the University Libraries from local and overseas sources.
Click here to submit Interlibrary loan request
Eligible Users
All eligible users will be given an assigned quota per academic year. If the number of requested items exceeds this quota, a cost recovery basis charge will be applied. Additional quotas are available upon request to the Librarian. The following table gives details:
| User Type | Quota * |
| Terms of Service I / Band G or above staff | 40 |
| Research Staff, Research Assistants and Demonstrators | 40 |
| Postgraduates of the University of Hong Kong | 40 |
| Final year degree students + | 25 |
| All HKU undergraduates except the final year students (CRL collections only) | 25 |
| SPACE Academics | 40 |
| SPACE higher degree students (local resources only) | 40 |
* Resources obtained from CRL collections will be deducted from the ILL quota.
+ Final year degree students need supervisor's endorsement if the number of requested items exceeds quota.
Types of materials can be requested via ILL:
- Loans of books and scores
- Photocopies of journal articles
- Photocopies of book chapters
- Theses which can be circulated in the library
Expected time for the items to arrive the library:
- Loans and photocopies from local institutes: 1 week
- Loans and photocopies from overseas institutes: 2 - 3 week
** Ninety percent of the resources arrive the library within the time-frame mentioned above. The rest of them depend on the availability of the resources and the workload of the lenders.
Overseas Book Loan Initiative
The Libraries will purchase requested books not available for loan in Hong Kong. If the purchase cannot be fulfilled within five working days, the item will be obtained overseas through interlibrary loans. Cost arising from such requests will be borne by the Libraries.
This applies to all books requested via the ILLIAD Interlibrary Loans Request e-Form. If the requested title is not available in any local libraries, the Libraries will try to purchase a copy for inclusion in the collection. However, if the purchase cannot be filled within four working days, the item will be obtained overseas through the usual interlibrary loans procedure.
Interbranch Returns
This interbranch return service excludes short loans of 14 days or less, i.e. journals, audio-visual materials, pamphlets and reserves and thread-bound materials. All materials except those mentioned earlier may be returned to any HKU Libraries circulation counters or book drops.
Off Campus Article Delivery
Terms of Service I / Band G or above (TOSI) staff from the main campus can send online requests via Interlibrary Loan Request Form to obtain photocopies of journal articles held in medical and dental and vice versa for medical and dental TOSI staff for journals held in the main library. Each photocopy request will cost HKD0.3 per page.
Eligible Users
Terms of Service I / Band G or above staff (excluding Research Assistants and Demonstrators).
JULAC Libraries Access
The JULAC card allows access to the resources in libraries of other UGC-funded institutions in Hong Kong. Please click here for more details.