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Frequently Asked Questions

Who can use the Resource Sharing service?

Active UWindsor students, faculty, and staff without outstanding library fines can use the Resource Sharing service, including document delivery and interlibrary loan.

Is there a cost for using the Resource Sharing service?

The Leddy Library provides this service for free to our users in most cases. Most loans are fulfilled within Ontario or elsewhere in Canada; there is no charge in these cases. In exceptional cases, the cost to borrow an item may exceed the amount we can subsidize. For example, a rare item that has to be shipped from overseas. In this case, you will be notified about the cost before we place the request.

How long can I loan the book for?

The loan period for your item may vary depending on the item-owning institution's policies. We will first try to find a copy of your requested item within Omni, our Ontario consortial borrowing system of 19 participating libraries. Most loans from our Omni partners are for 120 days. If an item is unavailable in Omni, we request items from other partner libraries and libraries worldwide. 

As a result, check your account for due dates and pay attention to all email notices, which will inform you when your book should be returned. 

What are the terms and conditions for requesting copies via document delivery?

Copies of print material are subject to the copyright law of the supplying library. Typically, you may only request a copy of a short excerpt from that work to comply with fair dealing exceptions. For example, a brief excerpt might be a single article from a journal issue or a single chapter from a book.

For born-digital resources like ebooks and journals, the library's license terms for electronic resources will dictate how much of the item can be shared through document delivery. The document you receive via this service will be used by you solely for research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism, review, or news reporting according to most licenses. 

Are there fines for late or lost items?

In most cases, you won't be charged unless you lose the item you borrowed or fail to return it, which will cause it to go to lost status. Patrons will be given 30 days to return overdue materials before they are declared lost.

Once an item is assigned a "lost" status due to non-return, a $125 default replacement charge will be applied to a user's account. Once again, please pay careful attention to all notices about your loans and check your account for due dates.

Can I pickup and return my items to any university in Ontario?

You can pick up and return materials to 19 of the 21 Ontario university libraries. These Omni partners will accept the return of library materials owned by any other Omni partner, who will then ship the item back to the item-owning Omni partner. The patron will not be charged for this service. 

Distance education students outside of the Windsor/Essex region: Please note that books owned by Omni partners can be up picked from and dropped off at any Omni library. So you can request a book from Brock and have it delivered to York. But this does not apply to books owned by other libraries outside of Omni. A book owned by the University of Alberta, for example, can only be delivered to the University of Windsor. Typically, requests made on items found in Omni can be filled by other Omni partners. But, if you use the blank request form be aware that if the request is fulfilled by a non-Omni library, the book will be sent to Windsor.

Participating Omni Partners

• Algoma University
• Brock University
• Carleton University
• University of Guelph
• Lakehead University
• Laurentian University
• McMaster University
• Nipissing University
• OCAD University
• Ontario Tech University
• University of Ottawa
• Queen’s University
• Toronto Metropolitan University
• Trent University
• University of Waterloo
• Western University
• Wilfrid Laurier University
• University of Windsor
• York University

Can I request scans of print items to be sent to me?

Requests for scanning or digitizing in-copyright works are typically limited to campus fair dealing guidelines. Across Canada, this is usually 10% of a work, 1 chapter, or 1 article from a journal (whichever is greater) and at the discretion of the library. So, if you are requesting digitization of a part of a work, specify what part you need to ensure your request can be fulfilled.

Can I borrow items while visiting other libraries in person?

Yes, while interlibrary loan is a convenient way to have items shipped to Windsor and Omni libraries from other libraries, you can also borrow directly from many other libraries in Canada and the US while visiting them. For more information please visit our page on Borrowing Agreements with Other Institutions.

How can I recover my account information?

Omni uses your UWin Account. If you are having trouble logging in, use the Campus IT website to manage your account. 

Can I request a textbook for my class?

Before requesting from another institution, check to see if the Library has the textbook through Course Resources and Reserves or ask your professor about placing a copy of your course text on reserve at the library. You can always search for information from other institutions in Omni. However, many libraries reserve their textbooks for their students. 

Using the Resource Sharing service

Using the Submit a Request form

1. Open the Submit a Request form. This is also located in the top navigation bar in Omni.
2. Sign in with your UWin Account.
3. Please complete the request form, providing as many details as possible about your item to ensure your request is fulfilled. Insufficient information may result in it being unfulfilled.
4. If you know the DOI or PMID of the item you're looking for, paste it in the DOI or PMID field, and the form will auto-fill for you.

Search and request in Omni

1. Log in to My Library Account.
2. Start a "New Search" to look for items.
3. If the item is not in our collection, a “Get it from another library” link will appear in the “How to get it” section of the record.
4. Complete the request form and select submit. The system will direct your request to the library that can fill it the quickest.
5. If you’re not seeing what you are looking for, expand your search results by selecting “Add results beyond our Collection” using the toggle in the left navigation to see more.

Search and request from our databases

1. If searching for articles using one of our databases, click the "Get it" button to check for access.
2. If you discover an article or resource we don't subscribe to, you'll be presented with a link to "Get it from another library."
3. Click the link and submit your request.

Questions? Talk to us!