Definition: Interlibrary loan (or ILL) is the process by which a library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library.
NOAA has a stellar interlibrary loan team of one! Sean Jones, library technician with MPF-ZAI Solutions, LLC is answering your emails, requesting material, and scanning or sending NOAA material to other libraries around the world. Here are some of the highlights of the interlibrary loan service.
What is the most borrowed item in NOAA Library's collection?
The wind came all ways : a quest to understand the winds, waves and weather in the Georgia Basin (1998) by Owen S. Lange. Why? We have no idea! It could be that we have the only copy in the United States (which is getting a little worse for wear with all its travel!) But this spiral bound book retails used from $65-$359 and has a 4.7 star review on Amazon.
What is the most newsworthy interlibrary loan story?
In January 2023, the library was contacted about a 1892 Weather Bureau codebook - we scanned and sent the item to a researcher at the University of Manitoba who used it to help solve the Silk Dress cryptogram! Read the full story in Cryptologia: Breaking the Silk Dress cryptogram
Is it too late to return that interlibrary loan item?
Never too late to return an ILL - about a month ago (March 2025) we were given a book from an ILL borrow from 2015!
NOAA Library is happy to loan and borrow on behalf of our NOAA patrons. Send requests either to interlibrary.loan@noaa.gov or visit fill out our form.