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Vincent C. Immel Law Library Guide to Requesting Materials

A guide to assist students, faculty, and staff of Saint Louis University School of Law with the requesting process at the Vincent C. Immel Law Library

Getting Started as a Faculty Fellow

Before beginning your work as a faculty fellow we strongly encourage you to do the following:

  • Attend one of the faculty fellow workshops hosted by our research librarians 
  • Meet individually with your faculty member's liaison to discuss research tips 
  • Have your faculty member fill out an authorization form found here, or ask them to send an email to xlcirc@slu.edu asking us to authorize you to check out items on their behalf. Without prior authorization, you will be unable to check out items for your faculty member. We strongly advise against checking out items for your faculty member on your personal account. You are responsible for all items on your own account and will be billed accordingly for lost or damaged items.

Requesting Books for Your Faculty Member

Search the SLU and MOBIUS online catalogs to see if the item your faculty member needs is available to be requested. If so, send an email to the xlcirc@slu.edu email account asking us to borrow the item for your faculty member. Please include the link to the catalog page where you found the item. 

If the item is unavailable, you may need to make an ILLiad request. See "Requesting from ILLiad" below for more information. 

How will I know when the item I have requested has come in?

Your faculty member will receive an email when the item you have requested is ready to be picked up. 

How long will it take for my request to come in?

Items from our Locust Street offsite storage generally arrive in 24-48 hours. 

SLULink and MOBIUS items generally take 3-5 business days.

What if I have requested an item for my professor on my account by mistake?

Contact us and let us know.  You can stop by the circulation desk, email us at xlcirc@slu.edu, or call us at 314-977-3081

 

Requesting Articles

Article requests can include articles found in journals, newspaper articles, chapter requests, and statute requests. 

All article requests should be made through ILLiad with two exceptions*:

  • Material that can be found full-text in one of our databases
  • Material that can be found in a bound journal, or on microform on the 5th or 6th floor of the law library. 

First, check to see if the item you need is available at the law library or electronically through the SLU catalog. If unavailable, and you have complete citation information, log in to ILLiad and submit an article request. 

 

Requesting from ILLiad

​Before submitting an ILLiad request, check to see if the item you need is available at the law library or electronically through the SLU catalog. For books, be sure to also check our MOBIUS catalog. If unavailable, and you have complete citation information, log in to ILLiad and submit an article request. ILLiad, is a web-based interlibrary loan system, only available to current students, faculty, and staff at Saint Louis University Law School. Once you set up an ILLiad account you can:

  • Place, track, and keep a history of interlibrary loan requests.
  • Receive articles and photocopies electronically as Adobe PDF documents and view them for up to 30 days.

You will use your SLU credentials to sign in to your ILLiad account here. Should you need to set up an ILLiad account you will need to fill in the following information:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • E-Mail Address: must be your SLU e-mail address
  • Daytime Phone
  • Primary Address Line 1: enter "N/A"
  • Primary Address City: enter "N/A"
  • Primary Address State: enter "N/A"
  • Primary Address Zip: enter "N/A"
  • Status: Full or Part Time Law Student
  • Department: Law School​

Login to ILLiad

When filling out the request form be sure to include:

  • author
  • title
  • publisher
  • date
  • ISBN
  • Notes field: must include "Faculty Fellow Request" and the name of your faculty member. 

The Notes field can contain 4,000+ characters. Tell us everything! You can put your entire citation here. If you have talked with a research librarian, let us know. The more we know, the better equipped we are at getting you what you request.

When your item comes in you will be notified via e-mail. You can pick it up at the circulation desk. You will need to sign a checkout slip acknowledging you picked the item up.

When filling out the request be sure to include: 

  • volume
  • issue 
  • date (when requesting from a newspaper)
  • year 
  • page numbers
  • Notes field: must include "Faculty Fellow Request" and the name of your faculty member

The Notes field can contain 4,000+ characters. Tell us everything! You can put your entire citation here. If you have talked with a research librarian, let us know. The more we know, the better equipped we are at getting you what you request.

Use this request format for journal articles, book chapters, and statutes:

  • Book chapters - for books not available in the SLU, MOBIUS, or Prospector catalogs
    • Article title field - put the chapter title/number here

  • Statutes

    • Journal title field - put the name of the statute or code here, e.g. Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated
    • Article title - put the title of the section here e.g. Lien for Taxes
    • Publisher
    • Year or "Current"
    • Pages - section number e.g.§200/21-75
    • Notes - copy and paste the citation scheme and include if title page, TOC and copyright page and pocket parts are needed; if not there, a duplicate request will not be accepted.
      • Citation scheme:
        • Cite: 35 ILL.Comp. Stat. Ann.200/21-75(West 2008)
        • West's Smith-Hurd Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated
        • Chapter 35. Revenue (Refs & Annos)
        • Property Taxes
        • Act 200. Property Tax Code (Refs & Annos)
        • Title 7. Tax Collection
        • Article 21. C (Refs & Annos)
        • Division 2. Enforcement Actions
        • Section 200/21-75 Lien for Taxes

ILLiad Frequently Asked Questions

How long will it take for my request to come in?

The length of time it takes for a request comes in is individual to each request. Books generally take more time than articles,  but it all depends on if the library we request the item from has it on their shelves and how quickly they can send it out to us. 

How long can I keep my requests?

Due dates depend on the lending library. Some libraries will give a long due date, but not allow renewals while others have a shorter due date, but one renewal. If the due date is close and we are not able to renew the item, we ask that you scan any sections you need and return the item so it can be sent back to the lending library. 

Articles will stay in your ILLiad account for 30 days. We encourage you to download and save or print your articles when you receive them.

How do I renew my item?

Send an email to the xlcirc@slu.edu with the TN number of your item and we will request a renewal from the lending library. 

ILL Tips

  1. If you can't find the book or article you are looking for, see one of our research librarians for more information. Research librarians will help you vet your citations, ILL will help you get your requests. 
    • Page numbers are essential when looking for print articles in newspapers
    • Some articles are "born online" and won't have the page numbers you need to find a print copy. See a research librarian to help you with your citation. 
  2. Request early! ILLiad books generally take longer to come in than MOBIUS items, so request your items as soon as you know you need them. 
  3. Keep the bands on the books. Bands include important information, including your due date and may include information about the condition of the book