Serial cuts and interlibrary loan: filling the gaps

Abstract

The Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) Library, which is a member of the Association of Research Libraries with holdings exceeding 2,000,000 volumes and current serial subscriptions numbering more than 14,000, intended to serve a constituency of 25,000 graduate and undergraduate students and 5,000 faculty and staff. Documents how in fiscal year 1990, financial exigency resulted in the cancellation of 1,241 serial titles at the library for a saving of US$233,322.80. Describes how a review of the titles cancelled revealed a high percentage of international subscriptions; thus a major concern of librarians and local scholars was the potential impact that these cancellations might have on the availability of these materials for research. Shows how the SIUC interlibrary loan (ILL) staff has attempted to make the cuts reasonably transparent to the user by tapping traditional and non‐traditional sources to fill the requests produced by these cuts; such that in 1993 ILL made a commitment to integrate document delivery (UnCover, British Library Document Supply Centre, UMI and others) into its standard routines. Assesses the full impact of the cuts four years after the cancellation project. Examines the impact of the 1990 serials cancellations on ILL and the ILL response. Analyses ILL serial requests for the cancelled titles generated during a six‐month period in 1994, looking at availability through document delivery suppliers, cost of acquiring the articles, turnaround times and impact of ILL workload.