DOCLINE® is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM) interlibrary loan request routing and referral system. It provides efficient document delivery service among libraries in the health/biomedical sectors in the United States and Canada. The Health Sciences Library at Unity Health Toronto is the coordinator for DOCLINE Canada.
As the DOCLINE coordinator in Canada, we determine the suitability of new applicants, oversee the application process, and act as a liaison between Canadian participants and other libraries.
To sign up for DOCLINE, libraries are required to meet the criteria outlined in DOCLINE eligibility guidelines and to be able to help support DOCLINE’s mandate as a resource for reciprocal interlibrary lending among libraries in Canada and the United States.
Only libraries with a health-related or biomedical collection are eligible for DOCLINE. Participants must have at least ten (10) DOCLINE journal holdings and will be asked to keep their profile updated in the system. Each library is entitled to set its own interlibrary loaning policies, including restricting the scope of its lending and setting fees and similar policies.
Upon confirmation that your library is eligible to use DOCLINE, the Coordinator will then work with you to establish a basic DOCLINE Library Profile and set up DOCLINE user account(s) for your institution.
New participants should begin actively lending and borrowing within three (3) months of activating their account and ensure continued efficiency in routing requests quickly and accurately through the system.
If you are a Canadian library, please contact Unity Health Toronto’s DOCLINE Coordinator or use the Apply Now button on the DOCLINE home page to discuss your library's eligibility. U.S. libraries, should contact the Network of the National Library of Medicine.
For FAQs, releases, quick tour videos and webinars, see the National Library of Medicine's resources for DOCLINE members. See DOCLINE system requirements for more technical details.