Delivery and Interlibrary Loan:
E-ZBorrow: The Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI) Project

• Eligibility
• How to Place an E-ZBorrow Request
• Guidelines for Placing Requests
• Borrowing Conditions
• Renewals
• Cancellations
• Fees
• Notification and Delivery
• About PALCI
• Questions

The Rutgers University Libraries are a member of the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI) and participate in PALCI's E-ZBorrow program for the expedited delivery of books. Participating libraries include Carnegie Mellon, Pennsylvania State and Temple Universities, and the Universities of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Journal articles are not available through this service.

Eligibility

Rutgers University students, faculty, and staff are eligible to search the E-ZBorrow Discovery Interface and place E-ZBorrow requests. Borrowers in affiliated programs who are eligible for interlibrary loan service may also use E-ZBorrow. Students, faculty, and staff at remote locations are eligible, but delivery is only to on-campus libraries. If you are not affiliated with Rutgers or another participating institution, you may not search the PALCI catalog.

How to Place an E-ZBorrow Request

Connect to the E-ZBorrow Discovery Interface by entering your Rutgers NetID and password on the E-ZBorrow log-in screen. Borrowers in affiliated programs who are eligible for E-ZBorrow may login with their library barcodes and PINs.

The E-ZBorrow Discovery page defaults to the simple search entry. If you wish to perform a more advanced search, click on the "Advanced Search" link below the search box. Advanced search supports phrase and Boolean searches.

Enter your search terms and click on "Search." The catalogs of all participating libraries are searched at the same time. By default, results display in order of relevance but can be changed on-the-fly to sort by title, newest, or oldest.

Click on a title to view more details. If there is a copy within E-ZBorrow available to request, you will see the message "Click here to request this item from E-ZBorrow." Select a Rutgers pickup library from the drop down list, and add any notes that are relevant to your request, for example, to indicate the specific volumes of a multi-volume set that you need. Click on "Request."

You will see a message on the screen confirming that your request was submitted, including a request number prefixed with "RTG" for Rutgers. You will also receive a request confirmation email.

If a book is available at Rutgers, you will be given the option to transfer to the Library Catalog and place a request for it. If a title is held but not available through E-ZBorrow, you will be given the option to transfer to "ILL and Article Delivery" and place a request for it. After you log into ILL, the item's bibliographic information will automatically populate the ILL book request form.

Guidelines for Placing Requests

Use E-ZBorrow to request books either not owned, checked out, or otherwise not available in the Rutgers University Libraries. Requests may be placed for books charged out to or on hold for another Rutgers borrower, available only as a reference or reserve item at Rutgers, noted as missing in the Library Catalog, and in a non-circulating library or collection. Journal articles are not available through this service.

Books that normally circulate from participating libraries will be loaned. Journals or journal articles, e-books, films, videos, CDs, and rare materials are generally not eligible. If you need a photocopy of an article from a journal not owned at Rutgers, please request it through Interlibrary Loan and Article Delivery.

The target time frame for delivery to any Rutgers pick-up library is 5-7 working days. If your request cannot be filled by E-ZBorrow, you will be notified and asked if you wish to request your book through interlibrary loan.

Borrowing Conditions

The loan period for E-ZBorrow books is 28 days for all borrowers. One renewal is allowed for an additional 28 days. Books will be held for 14 days and if not picked up will be returned to the lending library. The PALCI libraries have cooperatively agreed to this loan period.

When an E-ZBorrow book is recalled, you will receive an email notice from the Rutgers University Libraries with a new 7 day due date. Rutgers libraries recall fines will apply if a book borrowed from a PALCI library is not returned by its new due date. Borrowing privileges at Rutgers University Libraries will be suspended if recall fines are owed or E-ZBorrow books are overdue.

Like other interlibrary resource sharing programs, E-ZBorrow is based on reciprocal and cooperative agreements with other libraries. These partnerships were formed with the understanding that the borrowing library and individual borrower have the responsibility to treat the borrowed materials as they would the property of their own library and to return them within established time frames in good condition. Failure to do so jeopardizes our ability to continue cooperative arrangements with these institutions in the future.

Renewals

E-ZBorrow books may be renewed in the Library Catalog "MY ACCOUNT" for one additional 28-day loan period. The 28-day renewal loan takes effect on the day you make the renewal; 28 days are not added to your original due date unless you wait to renew on that date. E-ZBorrow books cannot be renewed if they are not renewed within seven (7) days from the initial due date.

Cancellations

If you wish to cancel an E-ZBorrow request, write to Ask A Librarian and include the RTG-request number.

Fees

There is no charge to you for E-ZBorrow unless you lose or damage a borrowed book. Replacement charges and processing fees for lost E-ZBorrow materials are assessed at $102 per item when they are seven days overdue.

Notification and Delivery

You will be notified by email at your email address on file with the Libraries when your request has been placed. To view a list of your E-ZBorrow requests, logon to the E-ZBorrow Discovery Interface and click on "My Account."

You will receive another email notification when E-ZBorrow books arrive and are being held for you at your pickup library. You will also be notified about book availability in your "MY ACCOUNT" file in the Library Catalog.

About PALCI

The Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI) is a membership organization formed in 1996 as a grassroots federation of private and public academic libraries. The primary mission of the group is to spur the development of library cooperation within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and its focus has been the improvement of virtual library services among member institutions. In addition to development of the E-ZBorrow service, PALCI has negotiated consortium licensing agreements for databases and electronic journals. A list of libraries participating in the PALCI virtual union catalog and E-ZBorrow program is available on the PALCI website. Rutgers is the first library outside the Commonwealth invited to participate in PALCI activities.

Questions

Have a question about E-ZBorrow? Use the Ask a Librarian service to submit questions about accessing E-ZBorrow, searching the E-ZBorrow Discovery Interface, placing requests, or the status of your outstanding requests. Rutgers librarians or library staff will respond to your question via email.