Skip to Main Content

Introduction to the Brown University Library

This guide is intended to introduce you to the Brown Library, its people, and its services. It is not meant to be comprehensive, so please reach out to us at anytime with questions that you might have.

Interlibrary Loan

If we don't have what you need, for instance, a book is not in our collection, it's checked out, it's on reserve, etc, you have access to libraries around the world by using Interlibrary Loan. For books, try BruKnow first. If there is a catalog record but the book is not available, you'll see a link to Request from BorrowDirect.

If we don't have a record in our catalog, try clicking on "Expand My Results" next to your list of books. This will bring in books from other libraries. If you see your book listed here, you'll be able to use the Request from BorrowDirect link

If your book still doesn't appear, you can use Worldcat Discovery to search library catalogs worldwide. You'll see a Request link that will take you through your ILLiad account to order the book. Besides the link below, you can also find Worldcat by scrolling down the library page to the box called Library Resources.

For articles that we don't have, you will often see a Findit! link in our databases. Simply click on that to request a pdf from another library. If you have an article citation but no Findit! link, you can use your ILLiad account to request the article.

For more detailed information about Interlibrary Loan, see the following guide: