Implementing ILLiad: A Successful Collaboration of the Systems and Interlibrary Loan Departments in an Academic Library

In libraries, collaboration between departments or individuals can be the best way to implement a new project. This article will examine the implementation of ILLiad at the University of Toledo and show how a successful collaborative relationship was formed between the Interlibrary Loan and Systems Departments. It will demonstrate that, although challenging at times, collaboration is worth the effort in order to introduce a new service successfully.     

Electronic Document Delivery: A Survey of the Landscape and Horizon

The authors examine, based on a survey of users, the electronic document delivery methods currently in place as well as changes in the recent past and future developments. Interlibrary loan and document delivery staff from institutions across the United States were surveyed in order to ascertain what document delivery mechanisms are currently in place, how they are being used, and why. Findings from this study should lead to an increased awareness of electronic delivery options in libraries across the country and elucidate the dynamics involved at individual sites. This, in turn, will assist librarians in making decisions, based not only on their individual circumstances but on the experiences and trends found across a broad sampling of institutions.     

Bypassing E-Reserves with Durable Links to Subscribed Content

Increasingly, libraries of all types and sizes are adding electronic book (ebook) titles to their collections. A survey was used to explore the implications of ebook licensing and interlibrary loan use. Among academic libraries in the United States, a widespread preference for handling print books was found along with a need for more information about ebook interlibrary loan rights at one's own institution and a means to identify format type available from potential lending libraries.     

We're Listening: Using Patron Feedback to Assess and Enhance Purchase on Demand

Oregon State University Libraries piloted a one-year interlibrary loan purchase on demand service beginning in February 2009. An online survey was used to measure patron satisfaction and determine future borrowing and recommendation behavior. These results, along with patron comments, were used to explore future success of the service and ways to enhance the permanent service. Results provide context for the success of purchase-on-demand programs and support the development of innovative tools that increase the efficiency of purchase-on-demand workflow. Oregon State University Libraries permanently adopted the successful service and is working to incorporate patron input on purchase decisions.     

The Road Not Taken: SFX,ILLiad, and Interlibrary Loan Submission Methods

In Fall 2008, the interlibrary loan office at the College of Staten Island began to use ILLiad and SFX OpenURL to fulfill borrowing requests. Four years later a review showed that patrons used SFX to submit borrowing requests less than half the time. The majority of patrons’ borrowing request submissions were still being entered manually. We decided to review patron submission methods and see what impact this was having on transactions. We also explored possible patterns in order to encourage SFX usage and improve patron services. Reasons for this behavior are suggested and future solutions are explored.     

Unfulfilled: A Story of Users and Library Request Services

The current technology models for library request services present significant challenges for the user’s experience from discovery to delivery. Applying user-centered design and e-commerce modalities may allow libraries to create more engaging and useful request services for all users. The authors suggest six design principles to improve user’s experience with library request systems and offer practical applications of these principles based upon two case studies at The New School Libraries and New York University Libraries. Both cases utilize APIs currently available, suggesting that libraries may leverage current models to create a better experience for their users.     

A First-Year ILL Librarian’s Experience with the Human Element

Interlibrary loan is a service that involves the borrowing and lending of items between libraries. What also underscores this service is the human communication exchanges had with patrons and ILL staff via emails, phone calls, notes, etc. to ensure that items are correctly processed in a timely manner. This article is written from the perspective of a first-year ILL librarian highlighting the position from the one thing that is known but may get overlooked in the grand scheme of daily transactions: the human element.     

The Effects of Targeted Instruction and Other Interventions on the Interlibrary Loan Use Patterns of Historians and Their Students

Prior to this study, the Access Services Librarian systematically improved interlibrary loan (ILL) and related services offered by the R. Barbara Gitenstein Library of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). She and her staff reviewed and revised workflows even as the Humanities Librarian focused on instructional efforts to further drive ILL use. Patrons’ confidence in ILL expanded. Requests for non-returnables, primarily journal articles and book chapters delivered electronically and within twenty-four hours, increased significantly. Returnables now arrive on average within six business days, more than double the speed previously achieved. Despite vastly improved turnaround times for all material types and efforts to boost users’ awareness of those improvements, faculty members affiliated with the History Department whose students rely on printed monographs told us that they remained reluctant to initiate ILL requests. Moving beyond anecdote, the Humanities and Access Services Librarians surveyed TCNJ historians and their capstone students on attitudes toward and use of ILL. Survey results are cross-referenced with ILL use statistics to aggregate reality versus perception among study participants. Changes in target patrons’ use of, confidence in, and feelings about TCNJ ILL over time are described.     

Common Practices for Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery at a Small Private University

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to outline the “best common practices” at Regent University Library, and share survey data illustrating their effectiveness. Also discussed is how transitioning from an entirely graduate university to a university serving both graduates and undergraduates has influenced library services. The new constituency will increase interlibrary loan transactions and test the library's practices. Providing quality interlibrary loan service to a growing academic population requires innovative ideas and practices while keeping the workflow streamlined. New programs implemented over the past several years include books on demand and providing more electronic books and journals. A growing distance education student population has led to paying for library cards for academic libraries located near students' homes and permitting them to return materials to satellite campuses.