Seven degrees of interlibrary lending

Abstract

PurposeIn September 2011 the authors presented a paper at the IFLA Interlending & Document Supply Conference in Chicago, Illinois, USA, which focused on resource sharing in the digital age. Following that, the authors felt a need to further challenge and/or validate some of the conclusions drawn: the aim of this paper is to do that.Design/methodology/approachThe best way, in the authors' opinion, was to talk with thought leaders in resource sharing, interviewing each one to see what trends and concerns would emerge. The goal of the interviews was to ascertain: changes over the last five years; current trends and impacts; and future trends and possible effects.FindingsWhile the result of these interviews is anecdotal, it did allow the authors to draw some conclusions worthy of librarians’ consideration as to the current and future state of resource sharing.Originality/valueThis paper gives a good overview of key issues libraries are facing with resource sharing and document delivery services.

Developing a Data Narrative: Analyzing Trends in an Academic Interlibrary Loan Department

“…Though Albertsons Library actively maintains reciprocal agreements, for nonreciprocal institutions there is a $20 domestic or $30 international transaction charge. Birch et al (2013) described increased lender fees as a common consequence of the economic downturn and identified increased consortia participation as a response to this trend. If the decline were to continue, it could prove valuable to conduct a borrowing institution satisfaction survey to determine if a policy issue, such as transaction cost, was preventing former borrowing institutions from considering Albertsons Library.…”

“…The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, as studied by Atkins, Greenwood, and Whaley (2014) showed a slight, 2% decrease in the average number of total requests between 2010 and 2013 (p. 19). In speaking with "thought leaders in resource sharing" (p. 12) Birch et al (2013) discovered that some institutions were experiencing increases in requests while others experienced decreases. Such inconsistencies seem to underscore the assertion of Little and Leon (2015), "it is vitally important that resource-sharing operations gather better, more comprehensive data to This is an author-produced, peer-reviewed version of this article.…”