Library Resources -- Recommendations and Requests

Document Delivery (DocDel) is a service provided by NTU Library to source for and deliver publications that are not available from NTU Library, such as journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, government documents, and technical reports.

Document Delivery items are generally provided on a single-use basis. Before you submit a DocDel request, please acknowledge that:

1. You will only use this document for non-commercial/research or private study and will not supply a copy of it to any other person, and 
2. You have not been previously supplied with a copy of this item by an authorised officer of the Library.

Who can request?
NTU faculty, staff, researchers, postgraduate, FYP and URECA students. NIE and RSIS faculty, researchers, and students should contact their respective libraries.

How do I submit a DocDel request?
There are two ways to submit a DocDel request. To start, sign in to your account on the OneSearch page.

Option 1:

1. Select the tab REQUEST FOR DOCDEL/ILL on the top navigation menu of OneSearch.
2. Complete the form and click on SEND REQUEST.
3. To track or cancel your request, go to My Requests in your account.

Option 2:

1. Search for the article/book chapter/publication in OneSearch. If it is not in the Library collection, the results page will show No records found.
2. Select Search beyond Library holdings in the left-hand panel under Refine my results. Your article should appear on the results page with the status of No Online Access.
3. Click on the title to go to the full record display.
4. Click on Document Delivery or Inter-Library Loan in the section How to get it. A pre-filled form will appear.
5. Complete the rest of the form. Review all the information and click on SEND REQUEST.
6. To track or cancel your request, go to My Requests in your account.

Provide sufficient info in the field Reason for request. Below are some guiding questions:

1. Which research project or course/assignment is this for?
2. How will this be used?
3. How important is this to you, and why so?
4. By when do you need this?
5. Have you looked at what the Library already has or considered alternatives?
6. Have you previewed the resource or examined the table-of-contents (e.g. from Google Books) to judge the relevance?

When can I get my document?
Turnaround time largely depends on:

• Whether there is sufficient information for us to review the request
• The number of sources available, the ease-of-borrowing from the sources, and the location of those sources
• The speed of our partners' responses
• The nature of the item, e.g. is it something rare or published in limited quantities? Does it require special processing or reproduction?
• The number of active requests we have at any time

For physical books available at local institutions, or journal articles that are available, it may take up to 10 working days for you to get the item. For items that are rare, hard-to-find or with limited availability worldwide, it may take up to 3-6 months, assuming that they can be obtained at a reasonable cost.

How do I track the status of my request?
Sign in to your account on the OneSearch page and select My Requests. The requests you have submitted will be listed with one the following statuses:

1. Created borrowing request
2. Locate in progress
3. Request sent to partner
4. Physically received by Library (for physical items)
5. Digitally received by Library (for digital items)

For physical items, you will receive a notification via email when the item is ready for you to pick up. For digital items, you will receive an email from the Library with the link to download the document.

When a request is completed, it will be removed from your account. Physical items that need to be returned will only be marked as completed when the Library has received the item from you.

You can have up to 12 active requests at any time. When you have reached this limit, you will not be able to submit any additional request.

Items are supplied within the constraints of the Copyright Act as well as the licensing terms and conditions of journal subscriptions. NTU theses and project reports are not available for DocDel. Note that selected NTU documents can be found in our open access collections.

Submitting a request
Libraries must email the following details to acquisition@ntu.edu.sg:

1. Name of your institution/library
2. Bibliographic details of the item, e.g. Title, author, year of publication, volume/issue, call number, etc.

Charges
We charge SGD10.00 for up to 10 pages + SGD2.00 for each additional 10 pages; or 1 IFLA voucher for up to 20 pages + ½ IFLA voucher for each additional 20 pages

Payment method
We accept IFLA vouchers or payment by bank draft in Singapore dollars made payable to Nanyang Technological University.