Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program
University of Texas at Austin faculty members may obtain a Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program
(RFBP) card from the Circulation Services Department in PCL 2.122. This
card identifies the holder as a participant in the RFBP and authorizes
access to materials at many academic libraries in the United States and Canada.
The following information on the Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program
is from the pamphlet Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program. OCLC Online
Computer Library Center, Inc. Publication No. 46a.
The Program
To promote and facilitate scholarly research and communication among members
of their faculties, the university research libraries (members of the Association
of Research Libraries) of OCLC have established a program to provide broader
access to scholarly materials. Under the aegis of the Research Libraries
Advisory Committee to OCLC (RLAC), the libraries have developed an agreement
to extend library privileges to faculty members of other research universities
that are ARL members.
The program generally applies to the faculty based on the main campus
of the participating institution. The home institution determines who is
eligible for a Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program card. The lending library
determines whether the card will be accepted for on-site use and/or borrowing.
How Faculty Participate
Materials may be used on the premises of the owning library or may be borrowed,
depending on the policy of the lending library.
Privileges vary from institution to institution. A faculty member intending
to visit a participating library should ask his or her home library to
check online in the OCLC Name-Address Directory for the limitations and
relevant policies and practices of the prospective lending library.
A faculty member from an institution participating in the Reciprocal
Faculty Borrowing Program may request a Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program
card from the home library. To borrow materials, the visiting faculty member
must present the Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program card and any other
identification the lending library requires at the main campus of any participating
institution.
Reciprocal Faculty Borrower Responsibilities
-
Ask the home library to check the OCLC online Name-Address Directory record
for the information pertinent to the institution to be visited.
-
Present identification when requesting a Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program
card from the home library and show that card, along with other required
identification, when borrowing materials from another library.
-
Observe the regulations of the lending library.
-
Return materials, in person or by mail, within the loan period prescribed
by the lending library.
-
Return materials immediately, in person or by express mail, if recalled
by the lending library.
-
Pay any and all fines or other charges incurred due to late return of materials
or damage to materials.
Please note that this is a program of privileges. At its discretion, a
participating institution may suspend the privileges of its own faculty
members or the faculty members of another participating institution.
