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). Along with over three dozen Pennsylvania academic libraries and the University of West Virginia, Rutgers participates in PALCI's E-ZBorrow program for the expedited delivery of books. PALCI libraries have developed a virtual union catalog with more than twenty-six million items that permits combined searching and requesting by their students, faculty, and staff. 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 place E-ZBorrow requests. Students, faculty, and staff at remote locations are eligible, but delivery is available only to on-campus libraries. Borrowers in affiliated programs who are eligible for interlibrary loan service are also eligible for E-ZBorrow. Requestors must have a valid Rutgers library barcode and pin.

How to Place an E-ZBorrow Request

Connect to E-ZBorrow by entering your Rutgers library barcode on the E-ZBorrow log on screen and selecting "Search/Request." You may search as a guest, but you will not be able to submit delivery requests unless you log on with your barcode. Search the PALCI virtual union catalog and request delivery to the Rutgers library of your choice.

Guidelines for Placing Requests

E-ZBorrow may be used for requesting 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 IRIS, and in a non-circulating library or collection. If you request a book that is available at Rutgers, you will be notified immediately, and your request will be blocked.

Books that are normally available for loan from participating libraries will be loaned. Journals or journal articles are not eligible. Media materials such as films or CDs are generally not eligible. If you need a photocopy of an article from a journal not owned at Rutgers, please request it through the normal interlibrary loan process.

The target time frame for delivery to any Rutgers pick up library is seven or fewer working days. The Pennsylvania lending library will ship your book via UPS to one of four locations at Rutgers - Alexander Library and the Library of Science and Medicine in New Brunswick/Piscataway, Dana Library in Newark, and Robeson Library in Camden. If your pick up library is not one of these four, we will reship your book to your chosen pick up library.

Borrowing Conditions

E-ZBorrow books are charged out to you in IRIS in the same way as books owned at Rutgers or borrowed on interlibrary loan.

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 the length of the loan period 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 within the newly established due date. All borrowing privileges within the Rutgers libraries will be suspended if recall fines are owed or E-ZBorrow books are overdue.

When an E-ZBorrow request is unfilled for 30 days, you will be notified that your request cannot immediately be filled and asked if you wish your book to be requested through interlibrary loan.

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 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 Rutgers libraries' ability to continue cooperative arrangements with these institutions in the future.

Renewals

E-ZBorrow books may be renewed in IRIS "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. EZ-Borrow 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 EZ-Borrow request, log on to the PALCI EZ-Borrow site by entering your library barcode. On the Patron Main Menu screen, select the “Review Your Requests” button. Select the request you wish to cancel and then click on the “Cancel Request” button at the bottom of the Request Details screen. You can only cancel requests that have a Status of Pending. Shipped and Received requests cannot be cancelled.

Fees

There is no charge to you for E-ZBorrow unless you lose or damage a borrowed book. Replacement charges 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 when your request has been placed and when your EZ-Borrow books are ready for pick up. To view a list of your E-ZBorrow requests, go to the Patron Main Menu in E-ZBorrow and select the "Review Your Requests" button.

You will receive email notification at your email address on file with the Libraries 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 IRIS.

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 virtual union catalog and 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? Ask for assistance in accessing E-ZBorrow, searching the PALCI catalog, or placing requests electronically. Use the Ask a Librarian service to submit questions. Rutgers librarians or library staff will respond to your question via email.