I was necessarily incomplete in describing what ILL does since I figured that information was easily available at places like <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Interlibrary_loan" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Interlibrary_loan</a> and <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.oclc.org&#x2F;services&#x2F;resource-sharing.en.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.oclc.org&#x2F;services&#x2F;resource-sharing.en.html</a> .<p>No, you absolutely do not have access to &quot;all publications&quot; - for example, you cannot ask the Library of Congress to send you their copy of the Magna Carta. Some things are too bulky, expensive, or fragile to ship. Remember though that you asked about some academic&#x27;s &quot;magnum opus&quot;, which is unlikely to be restricted that way.<p>No, not all public and private libraries are members of the OCLC. A search of <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.oclc.org&#x2F;contacts&#x2F;libraries.en.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.oclc.org&#x2F;contacts&#x2F;libraries.en.html</a> gives 15K OCLC members and 63K participating libraries around the world. The library at the National Museum of Mysteries (see <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.randi.org&#x2F;swift&#x2F;paranormal-themed-festivals-bring-tourists-to-town" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.randi.org&#x2F;swift&#x2F;paranormal-themed-festivals-bring...</a> ) is not listed as one of them.<p>Remember though that your scenario concerned a state university, and those definitely are members of ILL.<p>&quot;Technically one could argue that I have &quot;access&quot; to those books.&quot;<p>Yes. Though &#x27;technically&#x27; you have access even if you have to fly to the Vatican library to see something in person. I would add the qualifier &quot;relatively low-cost&quot;. It&#x27;s costs me about $12 to get a copy of a journal article though ILL when it costs me about $35 to get it directly from the publisher. The main difference is that I need to wait a week or two. Books, oddly enough, are free.