Overview
BorrowDirect allows Harvard students, faculty and staff to request items from partner libraries for delivery to Harvard, free of charge.
Search the BorrowDirect catalog and request items. (HarvardKey required)
If you find an item in HOLLIS but it's not available at Harvard, click "Check Borrow Direct" and it will search the BorrowDirect catalog for that item.
What Can Be Borrowed
- All printed books and music scores that are lent by the owning library
- Some audio-visual material (DVDs, videos), or microforms (film, fiche)
What Can't Be Borrowed
- Books held in the Harvard Library collection that are on the shelf and available for lending
- Books assigned to reference, reserve, or rare book collections by the owning library
- Bound journals or journal articles
LOAN DETAILS
- Available materials usually arrive within four business days and must be picked up in person.
- Loans are for 16 weeks and renewals are not allowed.
- You will be notified via email when your materials are available for pickup.
- BorrowDirect materials can be returned to any Harvard library.
Known BorrowDirect Accessibility Issues
Issues for Screen Readers
Search Results
When a search is submitted, the search results page refreshes several times before the searching is complete. If your screen reader does not reveal the changing page status, please wait for approximately 30 to 45 seconds. Then, reload the page and reread it from the beginning.
Item Requests
When an item is requested, the page refreshes several times before specifying that the request has been submitted. If your screen reader does not reveal the changing page status, please wait for approximately 30 to 45 seconds. Then, reload the page and read it from the beginning.
Page Navigation
We are working to improve internal page navigation for users of screen readers.
Issues for Speech Recognition Software
Search Results
If your speech recognition software does not recognize text links on the search results page, please refer to Library Support for Users with Disabilities for assistance.