As of August 3rd, 2021, uOttawa students, staff, and faculty can now use Omni to request shared physical resources quickly and easily from across all 16 Omni partner institutions, a collection of nearly 23.5 million resources.
To request an item in Omni, login to your library account and perform a search in the uOttawa + Omni Libraries search. Omni searches across all 16 partners for that item and when it finds an available copy, you’ll be able to place a request, whether it is available at uOttawa or not. Omni automatically finds the item at one of our partner libraries, who will then send it to uOttawa, at no charge to you. You will be notified when your item is ready for pickup and you will enjoy the same 120-day loan period, the same as if you were borrowing a uOttawa item. While delivery times can vary due to a variety of factors, the anticipated average delivery time is 7 to 10 business days. Our goal is to reduce this delivery time as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and the Library returns to business as usual.
RACER, the Library's Interlibrary Loan system, is still available for requested physical resources not available at any of the 16 Omni partners, as well as all electronic resource requests.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
The interlibrary loan (ILL) service assists members of the University of Ottawa community:
- Students, faculty and staff
- Retired and emeritus professors
- Retired employees
- Affiliated researchers - Are you affiliated?
This service is not available for alumni or external users. Please use the interlibrary loan services offered by your public library.
Requesting materials
If you are a first-time user, sign up for RACER.
| Type |
Availability |
| Articles |
RACER |
| Books and book chapters |
RACER |
| DVDs and films |
Currently unavailable |
| Whole Journal volumes or issues |
Not available |
| Maps and atlases |
Currently unavailable |
| Rare books |
Not available |
| Reference works |
Not available |
| Software |
Not available |
| Theses |
Check first if available online |
Tip: Always search our catalogue first to be sure that we do not own the item. You cannot request an item that is already in our collection, even if it is in use.
Items usually arrive within 2 weeks. Please do not inquire about your request before then.
Read more about how to submit an interlibrary loan request.
Fees and fines
- There is no cost to the user for requesting items.
Need help?
If you have any questions, contact interlibrary loan.
