WEED FOR IMPROVED INTERLIBRARY LOAMPerhaps the best indicator of the need for improvement in the present system is the sheer volume of inieriibrary loan of periodical materials being supplied by a relatively small num-IM s &RL8BKARY LBFYIJLPIG BY ACADEMIC LIBRARIES In 1970 it was estimated that academic libraries in the United States received 2 122 000 interlibrary loan requests [1 ], About 48 percent of all iriterlibrary loan requests were for periodical materials and 83 percent of the periodical loans were in the form of photocopies in lieu of the original material. in tcililb ui uiuau auujCwi aiwab, icqucsib, ill pciccnl, LVl periodical iiialciiiiis wcic aS follOwSI science and technology 56 humanities 15 soical science 13 other 16.ihe bulk oi tire interiibraty ioan burden iaiis on tne larger academic libraries, as shown in Table I. Approximately 85 per cent of all periodical requests were for materials in the English language. Sixty-four percent of the items requested had publication dates in the last 10 years. About 80 percent of all requests for periodical loans were filled. TABLE I Percent of Periodical Loan Requests by Collection Size of Lending Library Collection Size of Lending Percent of Total Requests for Library (total volumes) Periodical Material (%) 20 000-99 999 5 100 000-499 999 17 500 000 and over 78The future growth of interlibrary loan of periodical materials was forecast by use of a linear regression model fitted to 6 years of historical data (Table II). The danger of extrapolating from past experience for these kinds of forecasts is well known. Since tins forecast does not assume a change in the traditional interlibrary loan system, it can only serve as a starting point for estimating demand for a modified system based on the intro duction of alternatives to increase access.Abstract-The nation's libraries axe currently faced with severe budget problems. One of the more critical for the isigo scsdejiiie rercai'ch libraries is the acquisition of scientific journals. Faced with ihe requirement to reduce the number of journal titles to stay within budgets, many librarians are considering cooperative activities to share resources. At the same time the number of available ctiffeni titles still appesfs to be iiiCf essiHg. The uslsmnia is bssicslly iiGvV to spiesd. reduced, real dollars over an increasing number of titles competing for the funds* Based upon a recent study by the Association of Research Libraries, two alternative annroaches fo? improving the access to periodical re sources are examined, The two basic configurations are i) a dupe new national facility with a comprehensive collection, and 2) a regional «r--so™?ce p&f\j!jtoi?k fossad an designated existing library collections. After a brief description of the approaches, they are compared on the basis of estimated costs and satisfied demands. Additional noncost fsCiOis sic included in the final decision io* s singly S««JW Miaiionat canief.
