Promoting ILL/DD within the Jiangsu Academic Library & Information System in China by small consortia

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to describe and analyse the interlibrary loan and document delivery (ILL/DD) in university libraries in Jiangsu Province, China, and to evaluate the service quality of one library as an example of how to improve. Design/methodology/approach – This paper first describes the ILL/DD of the Jiangsu Academic Library & Information System (JALIS). It then provides an analysis of the problems in JALIS ILL/DD and gives some suggestions for improvement. Finally, it evaluates the service quality of one library’s ILL/DD based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Findings – It is found that JALIS ILL/DD can be done better via small consortia and discipline centres, and that AHP can be used to evaluate the service quality of a library’s ILL/DD. Social implications – More patrons can access better service, and the work effectiveness of librarians can be improved. Originality/value – This paper is helpful to librarians interested in ILL/DD or resource sharing in China.

Case studies and comparison between two models for assessing library service quality

“…Thus, to obtain Q, we sum the product of the 15 secondary indicators P ij in Table IV with their corresponding weights W ij from Table III. In the actual application, to avoid decimals, Q is multiplied by 100 first and then rounded to the nearest integer (ARL, 2017; Xi et al , 2015).…”

“…Chu et al (2014) used the AHP to create a subject librarian’s service evaluation model and applied it to assess the subject librarian’s service of a university library on the basis of 20 indicators grouped into six aspects: talents, resources, environment, institutional rules, financial conditions and service. Xi et al (2015) used the AHP to evaluate the quality of a library’s interlibrary loan and document-delivery services. Albert et al (2016) established a blueprint for smartphone applications that can potentially reduce risky driving behaviour on the basis of applications for mapping and expert opinions retrieved by the AHP.…”

“… 3-C stands for communication, collaboration and creativity. DD stands for document delivery (Xi et al , 2015). QQ is a chat software similar to ICQ.…”

Applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process to an Institutional Repository Collection

“…For example, Harshan, Chen and Shi assess the quality of library websites to identify attributes that prioritized improvements [4]. Xi, et al employed AHP to evaluate interlibrary loan service [11]. The weights of the criteria were derived from scores by experts in the field; the measurements used for each of the levels or scores for these criteria were objective and not difficult to assess.…”