Interlibrary Loan
What is Interlibrary Loan?
WGU students and faculty can use interlibrary loan to request articles and books from the WGU library. If you are looking for the full-text of an article and aren't able to get it from one of our databases, you can request the item using interlibrary loan. The service is free and it typically takes ILL only 24 to 48 hours to get you an electronic copy of an article you request.
How to request articles from Interlibrary Loan:
To request an article, you'll need to make sure you have all of the citation information for it (like the article title, author's name, what journal it was published in, page numbers, etc.). Then, log into your ILL account and click on the "Request Article" button to submit your request. ILL will send you an email once they have obtained a copy of the article for you.
How to request books from Interlibrary Loan:
WGU contracts with the University of New Mexico University Libraries to obtain books for WGU students. As such, if you want to request a book through Interlibrary Loan, you need to first check to make sure that it is a book that the University of New Mexico libraries own. You can search UNM's library catalog here, or by going to:
When you find a book in the catalog that you want to request through ILL, please click on the title of the book to check for two things:
1) That the status of the item reads "Check Shelves" as opposed to having a due date listed. If a date is listed, the book is checked out.
2) That the location code listed for the book reads CSEL, FAL, PML, or ZIM. These are the abbreviations for libraries at UNM.
To request the book, log into your ILL account and click on the button that says "Request a Loan". Fill out the citation information and submit your request. ILL books will be sent to you via UPS and will include a prepaid mailer for you to use to return the book to us free of charge. You can check out up to 4 books at a time.
If a book you want is not found in UNM's library catalog, try checking with your local public library to see if they can obtain the book for you. If you have a college or university in your area, you may also want to try contacting them to see if you can get the book from their library. A WGU librarian would be happy to help you find the closest copy to you or assist you in finding a substitute book that is available from UNM.
Tips to remember when using ILL
Texbooks are not available through Interlibrary Loan.
If you are using ILL because you don't know how to find an article in full text, please contact the WGU librarians. We'd be happy to show you how to use the databases the library subscribes to so that you can find the full text of articles. If you're not sure where to start, try the database Academic Search Complete. Once you've logged in, click in the check box that reads "Full Text" to limit your results to only those articles available in full text within the database.
Books need to be returned on time in order to avoid incurring any late fees or charges. If a book isn't returned, you will be charged a $25.00 fine in addition to the cost of replacing the book. We reserve the right to suspend ILL privileges if items are not returned; WGU also reserves the right to place a financial hold on your accounts, transcripts, learning resources, and assessments until ILL items are returned.
