DiLIS offers a postal loan service for books in stock. Students only pay the costs of returning books to the Library. Renewing books on time to avoid fines is the responsibility of each reader.

Postal loans are restricted to:

• Ordinary Loan type items from the University Library. Short loan (e.g. 1 or 7 day loans) and books which are requested from another library cannot be sent as postal loans.
• Students who are resident in the UK or other EU countries

  Books may be renewed without limit if they have no reservations and the reader’s library record is not blocked.

Ordering books

You may order the books you wish to borrow by telephone, fax, email or post. To order items please supply the following details:

STUDENT INFORMATION

Your Name
University Number
Course/research degree (not module)
*Address to which items should be posted
Contact telephone number (landline or mobile)

ITEM INFORMATION

Author or Editor
Title
Year of publication or edition
Shelf mark (from the Library Catalogue)

*Books are sent out by recorded delivery, so please ensure that there will be someone at the address that you provide to sign for the parcel.

• If the item is in stock it will be issued to your Library record and sent out to you
• If the item is on loan you will be notified and a reservation will be made if you wish; when the item becomes available it will be sent to you
• If the item’s loan period has been reduced due to existing reservations you will be notified so that you can decide if you wish to continue with the request

You may also order books by post, phone or fax.

Service boundaries

• Postgraduate distance learning students may order/borrow up to 15 ordinary loan category books at one time
• Ordinary loans can be borrowed for a period of 4 weeks (postgraduate) unless they have existing reservations on them, in which case the loan period is reduced to 7 days and books cannot be renewed.
• Books with existing reservations will not normally be posted until the book is available for the usual loan period.
• Each student has the responsibility for renewing his or her books to avoid fines.

What happens next?

• If the item is in stock with no existing reservations it will be issued to you and dispatched.
• You will be notified by email that the item has been dispatched and of the due date for renewal or return of the item. The due date will also be marked on the date label inside the book.
• If the item is on loan to another reader you will be notified and a reservation will be made for you; when the item becomes available it will be sent to you.
• If the item’s loan period has been reduced due to existing reservations you will be notified so that you can decide if you wish to continue with the request.
• You will be contacted if processing your request is delayed for any reason.

How do I renew my books?

You may renew books as follows

• Via 'My Account' on the Library catalogue
  • Go to the Library catalogue, select 'My Account', enter your University Registration Number (URN) and PIN.
• By phone using the 24 hour automated telephone renewal service 01483 689235 -select option 5 (URN and Library PIN required).
  • This method will renew overdue books and inform you of the fine but if you already have outstanding fines your books will not be renewed.

Staff assistance is available during staffed opening hours

Books may be renewed provided they are not reserved by another reader. If they cannot be renewed because they have been recalled for another reader, books must be returned to the Library. We recommend that you renew books 2-3 days before the due date.

Returning books

• You will be notified by email (your University email account) if you have a recalled or overdue item.
• You will be invoiced for lost or missing books unless you have proof of posting. We recommend that you use a recorded delivery service for the return of items.
• You may return books either addressed to DiLIS or to the Lending Services Desk. If you know that your books are likely to be overdue on return please return them to DiLIS.

Overdue books and Fines

• The current fine for ordinary loan items is 20p per book per day
• If you renew books promptly and/or return them before the final due date you should avoid incurring fines.
• You have a 7 working day “grace” period in which to return recalled/overdue Ordinary loan items and fines will be adjusted accordingly.

  NB: this grace period does NOT apply to any short loan books which you may have borrowed in person and does not apply to fines on books which have been renewed late.

• For more information please consult the Library Fines policy
• Consistent failure to return books will result in the withdrawal of DiLIS privileges and notification will be sent to your course director/supervisor.