Circuit is the fastest way to get a book that's not held in the SDSU Library collection. Only books can be borrowed through The Circuit (no journal articles). This union catalog contains the collections of the libraries of UC San Diego (UCSD), University of San Diego (USD), and CSU San Marcos. Books are generally available for pickup at the Circulation Desk within 1-2 days. If you find the book you need in Circuit, click on REQUEST THIS ITEM and follow the prompts. More details can be found on the Circuit Help Page.
If the book you need is held by any of the 25 (and growing!) libraries participating in the Link+ union catalog, you can get expedited delivery for pickup at the Circulation Desk (generally within 3-4 days). Only books are available for loan through Link+ (no journal articles). Search and locate your book in Link+, click on REQUEST THIS ITEM, and follow the prompts. More details can be found on the Link+ Help Page.
Materials held at the SDSU Imperial Valley Campus (IVC) in Calexico, CA are included in our online catalog, the PAC, and are available for immediate ordering directly from the PAC. When you find a record for an IVC book you need in the The PAC, click on the REQUEST button and follow the prompts to place your order. Books from the Imperial Valley Campus are available for pickup at the main Circulation Desk within 3-5 days. Loan policies and fines are the same as those for books checked out from the main SDSU collection (see the Circulation Desk Home Page for current policies).
Ingenta provides faxed (or, sometimes, electronically delivered) articles direct to your fax machine from their online database of over 25,000 journals. The library pays all costs up to $50 per article for SDSU graduate students, staff, and faculty. The average turnaround time is 24 hours. For more information, please see "About this Site" on the SDSU Ingenta Welcome Page.
Although not always as fast as the newer, automated services described above, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is able to acquire a much broader range of materials. When you submit an Interlibrary Loan request, an Interlibrary Loan staff person will perform an in-depth search of thousands of other libraries' catalogs worldwide to find the item you need. Once the item is located in another library's collection, we'll submit your request in compliance with that library's requirements. We are able to obtain 92% of all materials requested. For more details, please visit the ILL Help page.
Go to the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Home Page
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