Purpose -This paper aims to identify the factors that have led the USA to be one of the few countries in the world that has seen interlending and document supply continue to increase. Design/methodology/approach -The factors are identified, reviewed and assessed. Findings -It was found that the effectiveness of resource sharing facilitated by intra-and inter-state cooperatives using OCLC as a framework is a major factor, others being the improvement in discovery tools, requesting processes and the more recent improvements in the delivery process. Finally, the widespread subsidizing of access and delivery enables cheap or even free use of document supply. Originality/value -This paper is the only study so far that addresses the current puzzle of US "exceptionalism" for interlending and document supply.
PurposeThis paper seeks to examine the application of e‐commerce practices in libraries and the effect of those practices on interlibrary loan traffic among research libraries in the USA.Design/methodology/approachThis paper identifies key e‐commerce features and where parallel features exist in the discovery and request processes. In an age of unprecedented information access, instant communication, and large‐scale commercial information sources, the growth of interlibrary loan among US research libraries cannot be attributed solely to cost. A major factor in the continued growth of interlibrary loan must be, in part, attributed to the adoption by libraries of standard e‐commerce practices.FindingsThe author's research indicates that adoption of standard e‐commerce practices by libraries has resulted in a dramatic increase of interlibrary loan traffic among research libraries in the USA.Originality/valueThe research conducted for this paper is original and the findings add a unique perspective to the value of e‐commerce practices in libraries by focusing on the impact those services have had on interlibrary loan operations.
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