UCLA Library supports researchers with shipping service for UCLA-owned books

Augmenting its efforts to help faculty and graduate students continue their research during safer-at-home orders, UCLA Library is now shipping books and monographs to those who need them for their work.

In early July, the library kicked off its Pilot Emergency Temporary Digitization on Request Service, or PETDOR, program, which began with scanning and delivering published book chapters and journal articles in the library’s general print collections that have not been previously digitized.

During the pilot phase of the new shipping service, which is called PETDOR + Mail, priority will be given to requests from UCLA graduate students working under practical deadlines, followed by early career faculty, followed by early career researchers.

“Our intention is to grow service capacity over time, adding additional users as we review the demand for the PETDOR + Mail service,” said Virginia Steel, UCLA Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian. “As we develop pilot emergency temporary services in alignment with the campus research ramp-up plan, please know we are being careful to adhere to the guidelines from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the university.”

Eligible materials for the PETDOR + Mail service include all regularly circulating UCLA Library books and monographs not available in the HathiTrust Digital Library. Books loaned via this shipping service exclude manuscripts, special collections, non-general collections material, and materials from affiliate libraries and centers.

The process to request physical materials via PETDOR + Mail is similar to placing an Interlibrary Loan request:

• Researchers will be asked to fill out an online form in order to register for an account. (Please note: this is the same account used to fulfill digital requests.)
• Once active, researchers can submit specific requests.
• The library will fill requests for physical materials via direct delivery to your domestic shipping address (campus address and P.O. Boxes are excluded).
• For shipped materials, please allow a minimum of 2 weeks for delivery. Book requests will usually take 4 to 7 days to retrieve from our collections. Once shipped via FedEx or UPS, estimated delivery time is 3 to 7 days from when the material is mailed.
• Materials may be returned via the remote book drops at all campus-based libraries. Materials may also be mailed to the library. Contact yrl-ill-l@library.ucla.edu for additional instructions and to receive a postage-paid mailing label.
• While the library’s physical locations remain closed, the fee for the shipping service will be waived.

See the library’s FAQ about PETDOR and PETDOR + Mail for more information. For a complete list of remote resources currently available, visit the library website.