Meeting Our Customers’ Expectations: A Follow-Up Customer Satisfaction Survey After 10 Years of Free Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan Services at Texas A&M University Libraries

A customer satisfaction survey was conducted at Texas A&M University Libraries to determine how we can continue to deliver the best document delivery/interlibrary loan service possible for our customers. The results confirm our excellence in delivering this popular “Get it for me” service. The findings also enable us to make some changes in our process to further improve the service.     

Giving Patrons What They Want: An Analysis of a Thesis and Dissertation Purchase-on-Demand Project at East Carolina University

Joyner Library's Interlibrary Loan Department has been purchasing theses and dissertations that it could neither borrow from other libraries nor find freely available online to fulfill patron requests. Purchased documents are reviewed by Collection Development for possible accession after the patron has finished consulting the works. The background, interlibrary loan process, collection development process, and technical services process are discussed. Summary data and analysis are presented.     

The Client Satisfaction Survey as a Tool for Evaluating Library Fee-Based Information Services

ABSTRACT

Fee-based services deliver information to a library's non-primary clientele by providing products such as document delivery and research services, usually on a cost-recovery basis. A client satisfaction survey is one method of evaluating a fee-based information service's effectiveness in meeting its clients' needs and of learning new ways to serve customers better. To gain the most benefit and insight from the survey's results, the survey must be carefully planned and implemented. Compiling, Interpreting, and reporting the results are equally important. Finally, the staff modifies or improves services based on the survey results.     

Think Locally,Work Globally: International Document Delivery and CISTI

ABSTRACT

Videocassettes are difficult to obtain via PRISM ILL. Very few participating OCLC members lend videocassettes and PRISM ILL is not designed to steer borrowers to the few lenders of this type of material. A worksheet, based on responses from the forthcoming ILPD, 5th ed., is offered for use at the OCLC workstation. A strategy for best use of this worksheet is also included.     

Putting Ariel to Work at the University of Texas at Austin: A Case Study

SUMMARY

This article is a case study of Ariel use at the University of Texas at Austin. The author divides the history of Ariel use into three distinct stages: resistance, full implementation, and enhanced. For each stage the advantages and disadvantages of using Ariel are discussed. The author concludes that using Ariel saves both money and staff time and permits faster delivery of documents than other methods.     

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.     

Ariel in a High-Volume Environment: How CISTI Has Integrated Ariel into Its Document Delivery Business

SUMMARY

CISTI, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, is one of the world's largest document delivery suppliers, and was among the first to be fully automated. The revolutionary Intel-liDoc system, developed during the years 1993 to 1995, provided for end-to-end automation of the document delivery process, which has enabled CISTI to improve its service and accommodate growth. From the beginning Ariel was, and remains, an integral part of IntelliDoc. This article describes how Ariel has been integrated into IntelliDoc and into CIS-TI's services, showing the benefits to CISTI and to its clients.     

Chapter II: Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT

The article describes the successful Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery services at Eberhard-Karls-Universitat in Tuebingen, Germany. Founded over 500 years ago, the University Library at Tuebingen is on the leading edge of Document Delivery service in Germany. In addition to regular Interlibrary Loan services, the library participates in direct lending to individuals, supplementing the traditional library-to-library lending pattern.     

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.     

On Our Own: Starting an Interlibrary Loan Service From Scratch

In August 2009, the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine Medical Library opened its doors to students, faculty, and staff. One of the many challenges before opening the library was developing a unique and autonomous interlibrary loan service for its patrons. This article examines the decisions in choosing the best document delivery system, the management of funds, and the selection of holdings for a new medical library. Along with these decisions, there is discussion on the significance of costs, turnaround times, and challenges going forward.