Document Services

Caltech Library provides a comprehensive delivery service for Caltech faculty, staff, and students. Requests may be submitted directly through DocuServe or from any SFX-enabled database including Web of Science, WorldCat (OCLC), PubMed, and GeoRef.  There is a standard charge of $6.50 per request regardless of whether the item is available on campus or must be obtained from an off-campus source. Additional charges and exceptions are noted in the Document Services Price List below.

Most requests for items available at Caltech will be delivered within one working day, either electronically, in print via campus mail, or by will call at the Millikan circulation desk. Items not available locally will be ordered from off-campus sources and may take longer to obtain.  Rush processing is available for an additional fee (see DocuServe price List below).

Access DocuServe

DocuServe Copyright Policy

DocuServe Price List

• Journal Articles, Book Chapters, Conference papers, and Similar Materials
• $6.50 for an article of 30 pages or less, plus $6.50 for each additional 30 pages or fraction thereof
• Books
• No charge if available in the Caltech Library collection.  Titles we own will be put on hold and you will receive notification that they are ready for pickup
• $6.50 per item if obtained from an off-campus source. Multivolume sets and oversized materials may incur an additional charge.
• Theses, Patents, and Technical Reports
• No charge if available in the Caltech Library collections.  Copying from microforms is charged at 30¢ per page.
• Book loan charges will apply for theses borrowed from other universities.  You may purchase many theses from universities in the United States from Dissertation Express (http://disexpress.umi.com)  and charge them to your credit card.  Or, we can purchase them on your behalf and charge them to your Caltech billing account.  Prices vary depending on format.  Prices quoted on request.
• Technical reports from other universities, for-profit corporations, and government agencies have widely varying costs.  If the cost exceeds $20.00, we will contact you to authorize the cost before we proceed with ordering the item you need.
• Patents normally cost between $6.50 and $20.00.  You will be contacted to authorize any cost in excess of $20.00 before we proceed with ordering the patent you need.
• Self-Service Photocopying
• Self-service photocopies cost 10¢ for each image (20¢ for two-sided copies.) There are self-service photocopiers on the 8th and 9th floors of Millikan, and on the first floor of the Sherman Fairchild Library. These machines are linked to the Campus Card System. Campus ID cards can be used to charge copies to departmental and personal accounts or debit accounts that have been registered with the card system.  Please contact the Caltech card office with questions (cardoffice@caltech.edu  or 626-395-6169).
• Microform Copying
• Self-service microform readers are located on the 1st floor of the Millikan Library and are available from 8:00am to 4:30pm. Non-Caltech users must make prior arrangements to use this equipment.  Please contact DocuServe staff for assistance (docuserve AT library.caltech.edu or 626-395-6437).
• Microform to paper or digital format by library staff:   30¢ per page
• Self-service, microfiche to paper copying (non-Caltech users):  25¢ per page
• Self-service, microfiche to paper copying  (Caltech patrons):  10¢ per page
• Photocopy Price List
• Self-Service
• 10¢ per page
• Transparencies
  • Labor and transparency - $1
  • Labor only, customer supplies transparency - 25¢
• Scanning
  • Scan papers/books to digital format by library staff: Contact Docuserve for pricing

Fees Charged to Other Borrowing Institutions (Interlibrary Loan)

• California sales tax is charged where applicable
• Reciprocal agreements with other colleges, universities, and public and government agencies take priority over these standard prices.
• Book Loans
• Processing fee per item from the Caltech collection - $15 (includes shipping)
• Photocopying
• Processing fee per item - $15 (includes shipping), plus a charge per sheet (8½"x11" - 30¢; other sizes - 40¢)
• Additional Services
• Rush Service (within 24 hours) - $20 surcharge per request. (Every effort will be made to expedite a rush order including receiving the request by OCLC or phone, and priority handling.)
• Emergency Service (1-2 hours) - $30 surcharge per request. (All processing expedited immediately upon receipt of request by OCLC or phone.)
• Microform Copies - Prices quoted upon request
• Ph.D. Theses – Caltech no longer loans Ph.D. theses, but many are available electronically free of charge (CaltechTHESIS).  If the thesis you need has not yet been digitized, we will do so on a priority basis.  If the author agrees to make his/her thesis globally available, we will contact you as soon as the thesis is ready to be viewed/downloaded.  If we do not have permission to release a thesis, it is normally possible to purchase a copy from Dissertation Express (http://disexpress.umi.com).

For further information on DocuServe please email (docuserve AT library.caltech.edu) or call (626-395-6437, 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday).