Is there a way to tell if ivy is an annual or a perennial?
Unless you know what the name of the vine is, you need to observe it's growing cycle. If it grows year-round or if it dies to the ground in winter and regrows from the same rootstock in the spring, it is a perennial. If it dies to the ground in winter and doesn't regrow, or just seedlings sprout up near where the original plant was then it is probably an annual. That's my non-professional explanation and I'm sticking to it, LOL.
Are you trying to find a particular vine or trying to ID one that you already have?
Are you asking about english ivy? The formal name for that is hedera helix. It is perennial in zone 5. The leaves are usually killed in the winter and new ones grow the next spring.
BTW, if 60185 is your ZIP code, you are in zone 5.
A friend gave me the ivy so I do not know what type it is. I was hoping it was the perennial type. Do you know of anyway to identify it just from the leaves?
Yes - you can identify it from the leaves. If you post a photo on the Name that Plant forum they will tell you what you have. So many plants are called (incorrectly) 'ivy' that it's impossibele to answer your question until we know what you have. You could try googling English ivy, Swedish ivy, Grape Ivy, Boston ivy just for starters.