Meanings
plural interlibrary loans
- library scienceA loan of an item (such as a book, article, or sound recording) between two library systems or similar institutions.
Only one university in the country had the book they needed but they were able to get it sent to their local library via interlibrary loan.
1 more example
The Summon discovery service, as implemented at Penn State, prioritizes retrieval of online and locally owned material; therefore, it was not unexpected to observe a reduction in interlibrary loan borrowing requests by undergraduates.
2016, Linda R. Musser, Barbara M. Coopey, “Impact of a Discovery System on Interlibrary Loan”, in College & Research Libraries, volume 77, number 5, →DOI, page 651
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA loan of an item (such as a book, article, or sound recording) between two library systems or similar institutions.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 館際互借 /馆际互借
- 館際互借 /馆际互借 (guǎnjì hùjiè)loan of an item between two library systems
Greek διαδανεισμός
- διαδανεισμός (diadaneismós)loan of an item between two library systems
Indonesian peminjaman antar perpustakaan
- peminjaman antar perpustakaanloan of an item between two library systems
Swedish fjärrlån
- fjärrlånloan of an item between two library systems
Cite this entry
interlibrary loan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interlibrary%20loan
“interlibrary loan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interlibrary%20loan. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “interlibrary loan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/interlibrary%20loan.
Source: interlibrary loan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.