Interlibrary Lending Research Articles

Libraries without Walls: Linking Libraries in South Africa

The article places library collaboration in a South African context with some reference to the role of the National Library of South Africa, noting that one of the themes of the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2007, to be hosted by South Africa, will be the building of partnerships. The information gap between rich and poor reflects the deep division in the South African library and information profession at the end of the previous regime, but cooperation among libraries offers one way to build bridges among the ‘island communities’ that make up South African society. The history of library cooperation in South Africa is surveyed from its beginnings in the 1930s, through the development of inter-library lending, to the creation of a bibliographic network and regional consortia in the 1980s. More recently, the unified Library and Information Association of South Africa has as one of its key objectives the development of collaborative relationships, and the National Library of South Africa, launched in 1999, sees the building of partnerships as integral to its outreach ideals. A number of obstacles to cooperation are described, but the article concludes that the changing technology landscape will continue to make it easier for libraries to do things together in new ways.

Changes in University and Public Libraries in Japan

Describes the factors and institutions influencing university and public libraries in Japan, the organizational structure and basic characteristics of both types of libraries. The role and activities of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the National Institute of Informatics (NII), the National Diet Library, and the Japan Library Association are outlined. University libraries face problems related to budget cuts, journal price increases, insufficient shelf capacity, collection development, interlibrary lending and staff expertise. Public libraries face problems related to the merger of local governments, the Shitei Kanrisha System (outsourcing of local government management), budget cuts and poor staff qualifications. Public libraries are introducing business information and consumer health information services as well as IC tag systems.

Electronic Document Delivery in Academic and Research Organizations in the Gulf States: a case study in Kuwait

Outlines the nature of research and publishing in Arabic, the attempts to encourage resource sharing in the Arab Gulf States, the existing arrangements for interlibrary lending and the development of electronic document delivery systems that facilitate interlibrary lending. A case study examined the availability of relevant technology and personnel with appropriate expertise in three major libraries in Kuwait: Kuwait University, the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, and the National Scientific and Technical Information Center. Questionnaires and interviews, intended to assess staff attitudes and perceptions, were used to examine the reasons why the Ariel system of Electronic Document Delivery appeared to have not yet been adopted, although it has been increasingly used in other parts of the world for more than 10 years. The paper notes that the adoption of this new technology in Kuwait is supported in principle, but is hindered by lack of awareness, skills and motivation, and speculates about the wider implications for the Gulf States.

LIDDAS Goes Live: How Close is Australia to Interlending in One Easy Step?

Australian libraries have had a highly cooperative approach to resource sharing for many years. Interlibrary lending (ILL) has become increasingly automated since the introduction of the online union catalogue in 1981 and the national interlending system (ABN ILL) in 1989. In 1997, after major projects investigating the need to automate electronic delivery of documents to end users and for automation of interlibrary lending processes, the Local Interlending and Document Delivery Administration Systems (LIDDAS) project was formally launched. This paper reviews the factors influencing the establishment of the project, its operation and implementation. The impact and success of the project is evaluated, together with an assessment of issues that remain unresolved. An evaluation of key issues for the development of automation of interlibrary loans for the twenty-first century is provided, focusing on the need to develop greater international collaboration and greater interoperability through resource discovery tools such as portals and search engines.

The impact of electronic journals on interlibrary lending: A longitudinal study of statewide interlibrary loan article sharing in Illinois

The impact of electronic journals on interlibrary lending: A longitudinal study of statewide interlibrary loan article sharing in Illinois

The impact of electronic journals on interlibrary lending: A longitudinal study of statewide interlibrary loan article sharing in Illinois

Interlibrary loan (ILL) article sharing data from the 26 largest libraries in Illinois were collected in 1995/96, 1999/00, and most recently in 2002/03. The OCLC Management Statistics Service supplied the data with the permission of the participating libraries. Longitudinal data analysis focused on the changes that have taken place in article sharing over the past eight years within the state, offering insights into the impact of access to electronic journals. Results show a decline in the number of ILL article requests among the 26 largest libraries in Illinois: a near 26% drop in overall article requests took place between these libraries from 1999/00 to 2002/03, a much larger decline than was expected. The data provide answers to frequently posed questions concerning the impact of electronic journal packages on ILL article sharing and offer some insight concerning the future of ILL in the age of full-text online article availability.

Document delivery service at a Scottish primary care hospital library: Maria Henderson Library, Glasgow

Document delivery service at a Scottish primary care hospital library: Maria Henderson Library, Glasgow

E‐books: are they the interlibrary lending model of the future?

This article assesses the likely impact of e‐books on interlibrary lending in the UK. It examines a range of factors that are likely to impact on the lending of e‐books to other libraries, for example, digital rights management systems designed to protect copyright and publishers' profits, and the limited take‐up of e‐book services in UK libraries. It analyses the reasons behind this poor take‐up including unsuitable pricing and delivery models and lack of appropriate content. The article also gauges current levels of demand for books requested via interlibrary loans, and questions whether books are different from documents in terms of copying and distribution, and what the likelihood is of e‐books being able to satisfy interlibrary loan requests. A new hybrid model of interlending, aimed at solving the problem of lending e‐books in academic libraries, is reviewed.

Copyright in the networked world: interlibrary services

Interlibrary lending and document delivery have become an integral part of the services that contemporary libraries offer. The copyright laws in most countries authorized this copying within reasonable limits, but tensions with publishers may be growing. For interlibrary services to remain effective, libraries must continue to lobby politicians to defend their legal basis. Libraries must also continue to work with publishers to address legitimate economic concerns. This paper looks at the legal basis for interlibrary services, particularly document delivery, in the US, Canadian, and German law.

Interlibrary lending and document supply: past, present and future

The authors give an overview of remote document supply in the world today and some of the key factors influencing its development. They illustrate this by referring to the Ghana project – a collaborative project between Danish and Ghanaian libraries to facilitate document supply, funded by IFLA. Finally, they make some predictions for the future.

The Future Library Consortium in Ghana

This paper looks at the major goal and objectives set by Ghanaian academic libraries for the formation of a multipurpose consortium different from the Ghana Interlibrary Lending and Document Delivery Project (GILLDDNET). It also discusses the challenges that will be faced in achieving the stated goals and objectives and suggests what librarians can do to make a success out of the proposed consortium.

Just in Time vs. Just in Case

SUMMARY In this session, there were two presentations covering the same subject from different points of view. The main conclusions are that document supply is a viable alternative to journal subscription and inter-library lending for an academic library; document supply is generally used sparingly to supplement existing collections; and document supply is not a threat to journal subscriptions. The two studies-one for a particular university, the other analyzing summary data for multiple publishers and two document supply services-reinforce each other's conclusions.

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries Annual Statistics: an exploratory twenty-five-year trend analysis.

This paper presents an exploratory trend analysis of the statistics published over the past twenty-four editions of the Annual Statistics of Medical School Libraries in the United States and Canada. The analysis focuses on the small subset of nineteen consistently collected data variables (out of 656 variables collected during the history of the survey) to provide a general picture of the growth and changing dimensions of services and resources provided by academic health sciences libraries over those two and one-half decades. The paper also analyzes survey response patterns for U.S. and Canadian medical school libraries, as well as osteopathic medical school libraries surveyed since 1987. The trends show steady, but not dramatic, increases in annual means for total volumes collected, expenditures for staff, collections and other operating costs, personnel numbers and salaries, interlibrary lending and borrowing, reference questions, and service hours. However, when controlled for inflation, most categories of expenditure have just managed to stay level. The exceptions have been expenditures for staff development and travel and for collections, which have both outpaced inflation. The fill rate for interlibrary lending requests has remained steady at about 75%, but the mean ratio of items lent to items borrowed has decreased by nearly 50%.

Looking Back to the Future

Summary This article reviews the American and British library literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to see what librarians of this period expected libraries and librarianship to be like in the mid to late twentieth century. They expected librarians would be involved in a variety of services and outreach activities such as teaching children in the schools. These writers also anticipated a publishing glut with more books being printed than any library could acquire. Budgets, consequently, were expected to be tight. Though no one foresaw the computer, most expected technology to have an increasingly important role. Improvements in mechanical devices also meant a unified national catalog might be realized. This would be but the harbinger of other cooperative activities such as inter-library reference and lending. Writers also expected libraries would be imposing edifices. Finally, many forecast that librarians would become professionals.

Interlibrary Loan

In an environment of limited budgets, increased Internet access, and ceaseless demand for information, academic libraries must continue to rely upon resource sharing to be successful. Further, because of interdisciplinary research and the scholar's need for resources from around the world, the demand for international interlibrary loan has intensified in the past decade. This paper makes the case for the use of global interlibrary lending to meet the needs of today's scholar and student. It outlines the benefits and advantages of international interlibrary loan, discusses barriers to its success, gives examples of successful endeavors, and outlines needs and recommendations for the future.

Management issues in library networking: focus on a pilot library networking project in Ghana

Discusses the management issues involved in library networking, using GILLDDNET, the DANIDA/IFLA sponsored Ghana Interlibrary Lending and Document Delivery Trial Project as a reference point in the discussion. There is an attempt to apply the management principles that Urwick outlined decades ago in the Elements of Management to this project. The challenges and the successes of the project are discussed.

Video Interlibrary Loan: Challenges Facing the Small College Library

This article addresses the status of and the issues surrounding interlibrary lending (ILL) of audiovisual resources, particularly videocassettes, in small college and university libraries. The authors discuss how small libraries can supplement their collections, or if they have no collections, meet the resource needs of their faculties. In the course of articulating the relevant issues and current status of video lending, the authors report a survey of small academic libraries in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, and they advocate the adoption of the Association of College and Research Libraries Media Resources (ACRL) committee Guidelines for Media Resources in Academic Libraries (1999) and the American Library Association's (ALA) Guidelines for the Interlibrary Loan of Audiovisual Formats (1998).

New edition of Australian online interlibrary lending directory

New edition of Australian online interlibrary lending directory

New Zealanders’ access to the world of information

New Zealand is a small nation with experience and challenges in the area of interlending that have relevance for both developed and less developed countries. The National Library of New Zealand operates in a political environment that is committed to ensuring effective control and value for money of public expenditure. Employing both well tested professional strategies and the opportunities opened up by new technologies, the National Library is committed to maximising national access to library resources through facilitating interlibrary lending and document delivery. In mid‐1999 the National Library replaced the automated interlibrary lending module of its national bibliographic utility with a fully standards‐compliant facility. Central to this system is the automated national union catalogue and library directory service maintained by the National Library. The Library also has a history of working in partnership with the library profession to manage a national resource‐sharing cooperative.

The impact of electronic journals and aggregate databases on interlibrary loan: a case study at Ball State University Libraries

Reports the results of a series of studies conducted at Ball State University Libraries to examine the impact electronic journals and aggregate databases have on interlibrary loan activities. Borrowing and lending were monitored intermittently over a two‐year period to determine the number of requests that could be filled from available electronic journals or aggregate databases. The findings were not significant enough to justify changing current interlibrary loan procedures for searching requests before ordering. Among several follow‐up studies suggested is a recommendation to investigate whether there might be a correlation between recent decreases in the number of interlibrary loan borrowing and lending requests and the increasing amount of full text information researchers have available online.