Frequently Asked Questions

To access these resources from off-campus, start at the library website and use the links provided on our Find Databases page, or in our Library Catalog.

When you select a licensed resource such as a database, e-journal, or e-book from our website, library catalog or other library search tool, you may be prompted to log in. If you are on campus or using the UNCW VPN, you will not be prompted to log in. 

To log in, please enter:

• Your campus username (email address)
• Your campus (email) password
• You will be prompted to authenticate via DUO

Once logged in, you will be automatically transferred to the resource you selected.

*Remote online access is only available to currently registered students, and currently employed staff and faculty.

To access your Randall Library catalog account so that you can see fines and due dates, what resources you have checked out, or what holds you have waiting for you, go to My Account.

For interlibrary loan requests, log in here: https://liblink.uncw.edu/login?url=https://illiad.uncw.edu/illiad.dll 

To access a database, journal, ebook, or other resource from off campus, you will be prompted to log in with your UNCW credentials.

To log in, please enter:

• Your campus username (email address)
• Your campus (email) password
• You will be prompted to authenticate via DUO

Once logged in, you will be automatically transferred to the resource you selected.

Problems with your login?

• Contact TAC
• Reset your Password

At the Library Help Desk, you can check out:

• Portable DVD/CD players
• Disposable earphones
• HDMI cables
• The media viewing cart
• TI-84 CE-T calculators. 

The following equipment is available to check out at TAC on the first floor of Randall Library:

• Dell Laptops and power adaptors

For more information, please see https://uncw.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/1875/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=11558.

The Digital Makerspace offers a variety of equipment for checkout, including python capable graphing calculators, cameras, camcorders, lapel mics, and tablets. Please see: https://digitalmakerspace.uncw.edu/techcheckout

If you have a Borrower's Card, but are not a current UNCW student, staff or faculty, you will need a Library PIN to  renew materials online that you have checked out. To create your PIN:

1. Access the PIN Login screen
2. Enter your first or last name
3. Enter your ID (the barcode on your Borrower's Card)
4. Enter a library PIN up to 30 letters, numbers, or both. Do not use symbols.
5. If this is the first time you have set a PIN, the next screen will ask you to enter the PIN twice.
6. Your PIN is now set.

If you have any difficulty, please contact the Research Help Desk at 910-962-3760. 
 

• Undergraduate students: 28 days for books from the general and juvenile collections and government documents. 21 days for books from the featured new books collection.
• Graduate students: until the end of the semester for general collection books and government documents. Books from the juvenile collection circulate for 28 days for graduate students. Books from the featured new books collection circulate for 21 days for graduate students.
• UNCW Faculty, Staff, & Trustees:  until the end of the semester for general collection books and government documents. Books from the juvenile collection circulate for 28 days for UNCW faculty, staff, and trustees. Books from the featured new books collection circulate for 21 days for UNCW faculty, staff, and trustees.
• All others: 28 days for books from the general and juvenile collections and government documents. 21 days for books from the featured new books collection.
• DVDs, VHS tapes, CDs, and Audiobooks check out for 7 days for all users.
• eReaders can be checked-out for 14 days, but only by UNCW students, staff, and faculty.
• For more information, please see http://library.uncw.edu/policies/borrowing_policies.

Graduate students, faculty and staff may check out current and bound periodicals for 2 days. All other users must use the periodicals in the library (photocopiers are available).

Reference materials should be used in the library; however, faculty and staff may borrow some items for a negotiated period (please check with the reference librarian on duty).

Retired faculty, staff, and trustees of UNCW may borrow materials from the collections upon presentation of a valid UNCW identification card.

1. Visit the UNCW One Card Office in the Warwick Center to get a new retiree ID card made.
2. Bring the new One Card to the Library Help Desk and request library access as a retiree. A staff member will set up a new account in our library system and that will enable your library access.

Unaffiliated borrowers may check out materials by purchasing a NC Adult Resident Borrower's Card or North Carolina Community College student card. More information can be found in the given links. You may also call us at 910-962-3270.

In order to use your borrowing privileges, you need to present a valid form of identification at check-out, such as the University OneCard for faculty, staff, or students, a borrower's card for visitors, or a state-issued picture identification card (e.g., a driver's license).

For more information, please see http://library.uncw.edu/policies/borrowing_policies. 

Place a request for that item. Search the library catalog for the item you want, click on the title of the item, then click the "Request" button at the top of the display: 

Complete the login form, click "Submit," and the message displays that your request was successful. Please see our holds FAQ for pick-up information.

For books, a recall notice will be emailed to the patron automatically when you place your request. The patron can use the book for a minimum of 21 days and has 7 days to return the recalled book. If the hold is placed within 4 days of the book’s loan period, the due date will not be altered.

• When you get an email from the library stating that your material is ready for pick up, visit the Library Help Desk and tell staff you are picking up your hold. 
• If you are a faculty or staff member, you may request that your held items be mailed to your campus address by contacting User Services staff at 910-962-3272.

For students, faculty, and staff at UNCW, there is no limit to the number of books you can check out from the General Collection. 

• Featured new books, DVDs, VHS tapes and CDs have a limit of 7 items checked out at one time, in any combination (for example, 4 DVDs and 3 CDs).
• Non-university borrowers may check out a total of 4 items from any part of the library's collection. The only exception to this is Government Documents; all users may check out an unlimited number of materials from Government Documents.

As a student in the UNC system, you are eligible for a free Cooperative Borrower's card as long as you are in good standing with your home university's library. Please see our policy page for further details and requirements.

• Most items checked out from Randall Library, including Interlibrary Loan items, may be returned to the Library Help Desk when the library is open or deposited in one of our two item return stations when the library is closed. 
• We have one item return box by the Library lot (directly beside the library) and an item return slot in the wall to the left of the library's main entrance. 
• Items with very limited check-out periods, such as course reserve materials, and fragile or temperature-sensitive items should be returned directly to the Library Help Desk whenever possible. 
• You do not need to present ID when returning items.

• Books, DVDs and other physical items on course reserves are kept behind the Library Help Desk. Just bring the call number and your UNCW OneCard to the desk and ask for the item.
• Be sure to return the course reserves item(s) to the Library Help Desk when finished.

• Yes, take your UNCW OneCard to the Library Help Desk in the main library at one of the other UNC system libraries.
• Let the staff know that you want to borrow materials through the "UNC Direct Borrowing agreement."
• Show your UNCW OneCard and be prepared to log in to your UNCW account in order to show that you are in good standing.
• If the library does not honor your UNCW OneCard, ask the staff member to call the Randall Library Help Desk at 910-962-3272 so your status can be verified.
• The borrowing policies of that library will apply to any items checked out to you.

Yes, Randall Library is a public facility and welcomes high school students to use its information resources in the building. View our High School Students policy for more information.

You may renew items online that you have checked out as long as no one else has placed a hold on the item, and you have not reached your maximum renewals for that kind of item. To renew online, visit Your Library Record and login.

• How to login if you are a UNCW Student, Staff or Faculty
• How to login if you have a Borrower's Card

Once logged into your library record, you will be able to renew your items using either the "renew all" or "renew selected" buttons. If you have difficulty logging into your library record, please contact us.

There are three ways to renew library items:

1. Log on to your library record, check the items to renew, click renew
2. Call the Library Help Desk @ 910-962-3272
3. Contact us via chat or email.

• You may request one renewal for an Interlibrary Loan item, unless the lending library has disallowed renewals. If no renewal is possible, it will be stated on the item's white band and in the item's record in your ILLiad account.
• To request a renewal, log on your Interlibrary Loan account, click on the transaction number of the item you want to renew, and select "request renewal" in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Your request will be forwarded to the lending library for consideration.
• You will get an email with a new due date if the request is granted or a message requesting the return of the item if the renewal is denied.
• For policy information, please see the Interlibrary Borrowing Policy

If you have a NC Resident's or other type of visitor Borrower's Card, you login to your Library Account by entering:

• Your last or first name:
• Your ID (barcode from your Card)
• Your Library PIN

What if I have forgotten my Library PIN?
How do I create my library PIN?

To access your Randall Library catalog account so that you can see fines and due dates, what resources you have checked out, or what holds you have waiting for you, go to My Account.

For interlibrary loan requests, log in here: https://liblink.uncw.edu/login?url=https://illiad.uncw.edu/illiad.dll 

To access a database, journal, ebook, or other resource from off campus, you will be prompted to log in with your UNCW credentials.

To log in, please enter:

• Your campus username (email address)
• Your campus (email) password
• You will be prompted to authenticate via DUO

Once logged in, you will be automatically transferred to the resource you selected.

Problems with your login?

• Contact TAC
• Reset your Password

• Undergraduate students may renew books from the General and Juvenile Collections until the book is requested by another user, reaches the highest level overdue, or the student's library privileges expire. 
• Graduate students may renew books from the General Collection up to twice (allowing a continuous checkout period of three semesters) unless the book is requested by another user, reaches the highest level overdue, or the student's library privileges expire. Books from the Juvenile Collection may be renewed as per the rules for undergraduate students.
• Faculty and staff members may renew books from the General and Juvenile Collections until the book is requested by another user or the faculty/staff member's library privileges expire. 
• North Carolina Resident Borrowers may renew books from the General and Juvenile Collections until the book is requested by another user or their library privileges expire. Resident Borrowers may not renew overdue material.

DVDs, VHS tapes, audiobooks, and CDs may only be renewed up to twice by all users. Periodicals, reference books, and course reserve items are not eligible for renewal. 

For more information, please see http://library.uncw.edu/policies/borrowing_policies.

If an item is damaged or lost, repair or replacement costs will be assessed in addition to a $15 non-refundable overdue fee. Please note that water damage cannot be repaired and must be replaced.

Randall Library is unable to accept replacement items in lieu of payment for lost or damaged items due to variations in format, edition, and condition, as well as associated costs of evaluation and processing. Patrons should pay any applicable replacement costs and fines. Please contact Jeanne Cross (crossj@uncw.edu), Coordinator of Collection Development, for further information.

For more information, please see our Borrowing Policies.

Reserve materials are subject to fines because these items are in high demand, require high turnaround and need to circulate to all persons enrolled in the specific course. 

For e-readers, late fee charges are $2.00 per day or any part thereof.

If items are not renewed or returned by the due date, replacement costs will be issued for items that are at least 14 days overdue. The bill will include the replacement cost and a $15 non-refundable overdue fee per item. If items are returned to the Library within two months after a bill has been issued, a waiver of the replacement charge(s) may be requested but the non-refundable overdue fee(s) will not be waived.

If an item is damaged or lost, repair or replacement costs will be assessed in addition to the $15 non-refundable overdue fee. Please note that water damage cannot be repaired, and must be replaced.

Please see our Borrowing Policies for more information.

• Current UNCW faculty, staff and students are eligible to borrow materials not owned by Randall Library through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
• First time users will enter their name, address, and other personal information into the system only once, at the time of their first request. Thereafter, you log in with your UNCW username and password and need only enter the bibliographic information for your requests.
• Whenever possible, documents are delivered electronically to your ILL account (you will receive email notification).
• Users can check the status of request(s) through their Interlibrary Loan account.

• Current UNCW students, staff and faculty can use our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service to borrow items not owned by Randall Library.
• Log on to our Interlibrary Loan Page to create a request.

• You may request one renewal for an Interlibrary Loan item, unless the lending library has disallowed renewals. If no renewal is possible, it will be stated on the item's white band and in the item's record in your ILLiad account.
• To request a renewal, log on your Interlibrary Loan account, click on the transaction number of the item you want to renew, and select "request renewal" in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Your request will be forwarded to the lending library for consideration.
• You will get an email with a new due date if the request is granted or a message requesting the return of the item if the renewal is denied.
• For policy information, please see the Interlibrary Borrowing Policy

• Current faculty and staff may choose to have items sent to their office through campus mail by selecting "Mail to Campus Address" as the delivery method in their ILLiad profile.
• Undergraduate and Graduate students will receive an email notification and instructions when an article is available for download from your ILL account. When a loan is received, an email notification message is sent when the item is available for pickup at the Library Help Desk in Randall Library.
• Distance Education faculty and students will be prompted to enter their current mailing address when creating their ILLiad profile. Items will be mailed via UPS with return shipping provided.
• Graduate students completing degree requirements outside of the Wilmington area may set their ILLiad profile status to “Distance Ed Grad” and provide their current mailing address. Items will be mailed via UPS with return shipping provided.
• Graduate students based at the Center for Marine Science may have items sent to them at CMS Myrtle Grove through campus mail. In their ILLiad profile, students should select “CMS” as their department/major, set their status as “Distance Ed Grad,” and enter CMS/Myrtle Grove as their address.

• Yes, take your UNCW OneCard to the Library Help Desk in the main library at one of the other UNC system libraries.
• Let the staff know that you want to borrow materials through the "UNC Direct Borrowing agreement."
• Show your UNCW OneCard and be prepared to log in to your UNCW account in order to show that you are in good standing.
• If the library does not honor your UNCW OneCard, ask the staff member to call the Randall Library Help Desk at 910-962-3272 so your status can be verified.
• The borrowing policies of that library will apply to any items checked out to you.

Most books, DVDs, Music CDs. Dissertations/Theses and articles from journals or magazines. Course textbooks and other required course materials are not available to borrow though ILL. These items can be purchased or rented from UNCW's Campus Bookstore.

When placing an ILL request for a book during the fall or spring semesters you may recommend that Randall Library consider purchasing the item for the collection. To do so, select “Consider for Purchase” or “Not sure” on the request form. If you prefer to borrow the book through the traditional ILL process, select “Borrow.” 

The criteria for this ILL-initiated purchasing program are more restrictive than for standard purchase requests, and include year of publication, cost of item, and expedited shipping availability. If the title meets the criteria, the item will be purchased rather than borrowed. If the title does not meet the criteria it will be requested for borrowing via ILL. 

Purchased items are typically ready for check out within 7 to 12 days. On arrival the item will be placed on hold for you at the Circulation Desk and you will receive an email when it ready to be checked out.

As a reminder, items outside these criteria may be requested by contacting your Liaison Librarian or submitting through the Suggest a Purchase form.

• Please fill out our "Suggest a Purchase" form.
• You will be asked for the author, title, publisher, date, and where you saw this item mentioned.
• You will receive an email confirmation of your purchase suggestion.
• If you want the item put on hold for you when it is available, you can select that option in the form. You will receive an email when the item is ready for pick-up.

Items requested through Interlibrary Loan may take anywhere from a few days to several weeks to arrive depending on the item's type, availability, and the shipping method used by the lending library. Please plan for a waiting period of at least 4 business days for journal articles, and at least 7-14 business days for books. Certain material types are less-often lent by libraries (including newly-published popular fiction and recreational media), so requests for these items may take longer to fill than for other items.

Due to licensing terms, e-books cannot be borrowed or lent via interlibrary loan. Any ILL request for an e-book will be processed as a request for a physical copy (unless Randall Library already owns the e-book, in which case a link to the item will be provided via e-mail).

Interlibrary loan requests can only be canceled between the time they are submitted and the time they are processed by ILL staff. Once a request has been sent out to potential lending libraries (in status: Submitted to Lending Libraries), it cannot be canceled by the requestor.

Current UNCW students, faculty and staff.

Interlibrary Loan is offered as a free service for eligible users because Randall Library absorbs the following costs for our campus community.

• Borrowing fees can range from $8.00-$35.00 per request, depending on the lending institution.
• Copyright fees can range from $25.00-$65.00 per article, depending on the publisher.
• Shipping rates vary by courier, weight, and destination.

Library resource sharing staff abide by the statutes outlined in Title 17 of the U.S. Code, as well as the CONTU Guidelines which aid the interpretation of Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act. This process may require the utilization of the Copyright Clearance Center and commercial document suppliers to obtain as much requested material as possible.

The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "Fair Use," that user may be liable for copyright infrigement.  This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

The National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) has developed a set of guidelines to assist libraries in fulfilling their duties while adhering to copyright law. CONTU guidelines (or the "suggestion of five") permits the copying during a calendar year of no more than five articles from a single journal title, not owned by the library, dated within the past five years. This means that the Interlibrary Loan Department staff can order a total of only 5 articles from a single journal title dated within the past 5 years regardless of how many users request articles from the same journal title. For articles obtained in excess of this number, the Library must pay a fee to the Copyright Clearance Center or must purchase the articles from a commercial vendor.  Any costs exceeding $30.00USD per request are the responsibility of the user requesting the material.

Overdue interlibrary loans damage our reputation with other libraries and inhibit our ability to successfully borrow materials for all faculty, staff, and students. You will receive several warning notices before your borrowing privileges are suspended. Borrowing privileges are reinstated once an overdue item is returned unless we have received a final replacement invoice for the item from our lender. You will be notified via email when a final replacement invoice is pending.

Once the final invoice is issued, replacement charges and billing fees will be added to your library account and the item can no longer be returned. At this point, ILL privileges may be suspended indefinitely. Unpaid charges are transferred to student accounts and can inhibit registration, graduation, and transcript requests. Replacement charges issued by lending libraries typically far exceed the market cost of the item, and invoices are non-negotiable.

The lending library may issue a replacement invoice for any item they consider to be returned damaged. Damage can include (but is not limited to) highlighting or pen marks, coffee stains and other water damage, and torn or detached pages. 

Replacement invoices are the responsibility of the individual who borrowed the item, and charges are added to the user’s library account. Once these charges are paid, the item becomes the property of the user.

For policy information, please see https://library.uncw.edu/policies/interlibrary_borrowing 

The due dates for interlibrary loan items are set by the lending library, and do not conform to Randall Library's checkout periods for items from our own collection. The typical lending period for an ILL item is 4-6 weeks, although some libraries will grant more or less time depending on their institution's policies. An item's due date will be printed on the paper strap attached to the item for customer reference.