Pioneering Document Delivery

Summary

The provision of materials through document delivery has become a critical issue for all libraries as die costs for materials skyrocket. This workshop described examples of pioneering document delivery from Maryland and Canada. The presenters provided examples of a public and a commercial document delivery system.     

Teaching Patrons to Fish: The Educational Value of Cancelling Requests for Locally Available Materials

Expansive document delivery service for locally available materials is becoming increasingly popular, but is a learning component lost with the implementation of this service? In this study, the authors compare data from two institutions, one that provides an unadvertised document delivery service without instruction, and another that cancels requests for locally available materials with an instructional component. The behavior of each institution's patrons over a 4-year period is analyzed and found to differ at statistically significant levels. These findings will be useful for interlibrary loan policy makers who are considering whether to implement document delivery for locally available items.     

Streamlining Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan Services for Distance Learners

Abstract

Technological advances in the processing of interlibrary loans have enabled libraries to deliver materials electronically to users. Delivery is especially beneficial for distance education students for whom typical interlibrary loan services are often not a viable option. The author conducted a survey of libraries that serve distance education students to determine which systems and processes, used in traditional interlibrary loan, are transferable to the delivery of materials from the “home” institution to off-campus students. To complement the survey, the results of a case study of experiences at Western Michigan University (WMU) are presented. WMU uses ILLiad and SFX systems to facilitate the request and delivery of interlibrary loan and document delivery requests to students both on and off-campus students.     

Delivery Time of Materials and Patron Satisfaction with Patron-Initiated Borrowing in a Library Consortium

Abstract

Library consortia offer expanded access to shared collections through patron-initiated borrowing of materials. This article looks at two primary questions regarding patron-initiated borrowing: Is it possible to improve delivery time of materials within the constraints of current staffing? Is it necessary for patrons' satisfaction to improve delivery time? Answers to these two questions were sought through two studies: a series of interviews with library circulation staff and a survey of library patrons. The results of these studies provided answers to these questions and additional information that could be used to improve the current service.     

Competitive Strategy Analysis in the International Document Delivery Services: A View from Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The authors examine international document delivery services, both from libraries and information brokers, between Taiwan and other countries. After examining the current state of document delivery, uses business techniques, including SWOT Analysis (Strength and Weakness Evaluation), to suggest ways to improve and increase the volume of materials sent from Taiwan to the rest of the world.     

Do Off-Campus Students Still Use Document Delivery? Current Trends

ABSTRACT

The tremendous increase in the availability of full text electronic resources has been particularly beneficial to distance education students who do not have easy access to print collections. However, Western Michigan University (WMU) has been experiencing a decrease in requests for traditional document delivery of print based materials. This article presents a case study of WMU document delivery services for the distance education community. A survey was also conducted of libraries serving distance education programs to determine whether other institutions are also experiencing a decrease in usage of document delivery. Survey results show a more universal trend toward decreasing requests for delivery of print based articles; book requests are also decreasing but not at the same rate. The article concludes with some possible reasons for the decrease in usage of document delivery for distance education.     

Ariel: A Resource-Sharing Support in a South African Consortium

SUMMARY

The Gauteng and Environs Library Consortium (GAELIC) in South Africa is one of the nation's first attempts to pool resources in a multi-million volume regional virtual library. Through the linking of member libraries by networks and the utilisation of innovative technology, the vision is to provide access to information within the context of a 48-hour delivery system for books and to improve this delivery time for copied materials by utilising an electronic delivery system. Ariel, the electronic document delivery system of the Research Libraries Group in the United States, has been selected by the consortium as the standard for timely transfer of electronic information. A literature study of this system, which included a study of a test conducted by one of the GAELIC libraries and an assessment of the need for this delivery mode, indicated that Ariel could support resource sharing in the consortium.     

Improving Electronic Reserve Services: A Collaborative Effort

To improve the efficiency of Ryan-Matura Library's electronic reserve (e-reserve) service, the staff of the library and the Office of Instructional Technology at Sacred Heart University codeveloped and implemented a system that streamlined the request and delivery of e-reserves for faculty and students. This system utilizes the institution's integrated course/content management system (Blackboard) along with a custom-built Web application that facilitates the request, retrieval, digitization, and delivery of e-reserve materials directly to students within their Blackboard courses.     

Purchasing or Borrowing

The Interlibrary Loan Department is authorized to make immediate purchasing decisions for inexpensive items to speed delivery of requested materials to patrons and to enhance patron satisfaction. Criteria for purchasing, rather than borrowing materials for patrons through interlibrary loan are outlined. The practices and procedures of several other institutions about buying rather than borrowing in the interlibrary loan environment are reviewed. Copyright guidelines are another factor that affects decisions about borrowing or purchasing articles.     

Cooperative Remote Storage: Challenges for Resource Sharing

Cooperative storage involves two or more libraries sharing space within a facility. Kansas State University leases space at the Library Annex, a remote storage facility owned and operated by the University of Kansas. Various challenges are involved in maintaining access to remotely stored materials for resource sharing and document delivery purposes. The authors, staff members of the Interlibrary Services Unit at Kansas State University, discuss variables affecting access to remote materials and share their experience working within a cooperative storage model.     

Providing Technical Report Services in the Academic Library

Technical reports are a valuable information resource for faculty and students in engineering and the sciences. Academic libraries should have service plans designed to handle requests for these materials. This paper reviews some of the options available for providing reference services and document delivery for the technical report literature.     

A research agenda for libraries

The author proposes a research agenda for libraries focusing on ten problem areas: rising costs, shrinking funding, electronic provision of services, deterioration of materials, use of document delivery services, changes in copyright and licensing, out-sourcing, staff training, organizational challenges, and redefining the library’s role.     

Seeking the 99% chemistry library: Extending the serial collection through the use of decentralized document delivery

Libraries are successfully seeking, developing, and testing new ways to broaden their collections with materials that are neither cataloged nor stored for anticipated need. Instead, these acquisitions are purchased on demand, ordered and received online, by fax or overnight mail, and delivered to the requestor. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Chemistry Library, a document delivery project was established to study how this type of acquisition could be mainstreamed into everyday collection development as a traditional user service. A 6 1/2-month pilot project was conducted that provided free document delivery for articles, patents, and conference proceedings, which were available through the Chemical Abstracts Document Delivery Service, a commercial vendor. This pilot study tested the feasibility of decentralized document delivery in a branch library; a follow-up questionnaire was used to gauge user response to the service. Data from the study were also used to evaluate the serials collection and previous serial cancellation decisions. Results showed the decentralized document delivery service (DDS) was a cost-effective way to extend the serials collection; the user survey results showed a high level of user satisfaction associated with the service.     

How to Find Local Law

This article provides guidance for legal research in American municipal and county law, with particular emphasis on California. Included is information on the local lawmaking process, an overview of local legal publishing, availability of local laws, and a review of suggested secondary sources, both print and on-line. Applications of the Internet and other developing technologies are discussed as emerging avenues for the delivery of local legal materials to remote based researchers.     

High-Density Off-Site Storage: Document Delivery and Academic Library Research Collections

ABSTRACT

This article describes a high-density off-site book storage facility operated by a consortium of the University of Colorado and the University of Denver. Opened in 2001, it has capacity to house nearly 1.5 million items in only 9,500 square feet by shelving books by size on thirty-foot tall shelving. Materials are retrieved upon patrons' electronic request and delivered to the library daily. By removing seldom-used material to off-site storage, valuable library space is made available for patron-service activities. As millions of volumes are moved off-site in favor of on-demand delivery, the nature of the research library will change. This article describes the high-density off-site storage facility at the University of Colorado, the reason for its existence, the retrieval and delivery system. This paper also explores some implications of high-density off-site storage for library materials.     

From Ownership to Access

Summary

In 1992, Auraria Library fully embraced the idea that meeting user information needs is a collection development activity which should be funded from the materials budget whether accomplished by purchasing material for permanent retention or by acquiring one-time access for an individual user. This article discusses the restructuring of a traditional Interlibrary Loan Department into Information Delivery/Interlibrary Loan (ID/ILL) and its move to Collection Development Services. Because access to resources was funded from the learning materials budget along with ownership, it became necessary to rethink the Library's collection development philosophy. Implementation of the new philosophy required modification of collection building practices and the creation of aggressive information delivery programs.     

In-House Training on New Library Processes at the NIST Research Library: A Case Study

This case study describes the development and implementation of a home-grown internal training program to teach the reference staff at a U.S. federal government library a new process for obtaining research materials that are not owned through alternative means rather than through the traditional interlibrary loan. Proficiency in the new process and increased use of existing resources were goals of the program. Included are the activities related to planning, logistics, success indicators, and lessons learned in the development and delivery of the in-house training program.     

Cataloging on Receipt for Monographs: Merging Cataloging and Acquisitions Functions at UCLA

Institutions have sought to improve technical services workflows by merging some acquisitions and cataloging functions in different ways and with varying results. Those institutions’ experiences with the merging process contrast with the process implemented at UCLA. At UCLA a process of cataloging on receipt was planned and implemented in the Print Acquisitions Department, in cooperation with the Cataloging & Metadata Center. The process resulted in significantly faster delivery of print books from receipt to shelf for materials not batch packed for remote storage.