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Chapter 1
What Is Interlibrary Loan?
Interlibrary Loan, or ILL, has a long history within libraries, with examples of interlibrary cooperation dating back hundreds of years (Smith 1993, 715). It has become the most common resource sharing activity within the library, though the scale of activity remained fairly small until the mid-1950s, when a standardized request form was introduced. The next decade saw increased development and availability of union catalogs and union lists of serial holdings and, in the 1970s, Interlibrary Loan was transformed again with the introduction of OCLC’s ILL subsystem, which permitted libraries to electronically send and receive requests. Interlibrary Loan continues to evolve today with new developments such as the implementation of international standards for transmitting and receiving requests, and electronic delivery of requested materials directly to patrons.
“Traditionally, libraries and information centers depended on an ownership-of-materials model as the primary means of meeting customer information needs. ILL for books and photocopies of journal articles more or less filled any gaps between the local collections and local needs” (Evans 1995, 261). The perception of Interlibrary Loan as a “filler” measure is no longer valid, as libraries accept that their collections will not always be able to provide all of the materials necessary to meet their patrons’ information needs. In response, activity continues to increase to handle growing demand for interlibrary services.
Several 20th century trends are driving the need for resource sharing activity and increasing demand for ILL services: “. . . (1) the growth of all forms of literature; (2) stemming from this, society’s increasing reliance on information to enable it to function effectively; (3) inflation in the cost of materials coupled with increasing availability of technology, which have made it economically imperative to consider sharing resources” (Smith 1993, 715).
Other factors fueling the increase in Interlibrary Loan activity include lack of physical space, the proliferation of holdings information as more and more libraries continue retrospective conversion projects, and delivery mechanisms such as statewide and regional courier systems or electronic delivery methods. One such electronic method is the widely-used Research Libraries Group’s ARIEL software, which enables libraries to scan requested materials and transfer them using standard FTP (file-transfer-protocol) to another library. These continuing developments raise customer expectations for ILL service.
Interlibrary Loan: A Working Definition
Note: Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service in an academic library may operate under various names: Interlibrary Borrowing, Interlibrary Lending, Interlibrary Services, Document Delivery, Resource Sharing, and others. Throughout this volume, I will use the terms “Interlibrary Loan” or “ILL” to refer to all of these services.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is the sharing of materials among libraries, be they across town or across the globe. It is a service that provides access to the collections of libraries throughout the world. Interlibrary Loan service is primarily conducted library-to-library, on behalf of the patron (a mediated service). It is evolving and changing to incorporate more and more unmediated services, where the patron requests and receives material without any intervention by the ILL department. Interlibrary Loan provides access to materials not held in or otherwise unavailable from a library’s collection.
Interlibrary Loan comprises two parts: Borrowing and Lending, and two parties: the borrowing,or requesting library, and the lending,or responding library. Most libraries function as both borrowers and lenders.
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Chapter 2
Getting to Know Your Interlibrary Loan Department
Mission Statements/Departmental Goals
Supervisors are encouraged to start the learning process by examining the library’s mission statement, the departmental mission statement and/or a list of departmental goals.
The library’s mission statement is important, in that it provides a rationale for the existence of the Interlibrary Loan Service.
The mission of the Fondren Library of Rice University is to support the instructional, research, and public service programs of the University, including its strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate education; to the advancement of literature, science, and art; and to the pursuit of excellence in all activities. The collections and services of the Fondren Library are based on the philosophy that a library is more than a collection of books; it is an essential campus resource with knowledgeable staff and evolving information technologies where emerging and established scholars acquire information and gather in an atmosphere conducive to learning and other creative endeavors. (Rice University)
The department’s mission statement/statement of goals is also important, providing a more specific rationale:
The mission of the Document Delivery Services department of Fondren Library is to support the instructional, research, and public services programs of Rice University by facilitating resource sharing for the ultimate benefit of all who seek knowledge. The department will recognize and respond to the information needs of its diverse client community, providing the highest levels of service by maintaining an ongoing awareness of all avenues for information retrieval. (Rice University ILL Department [Originally written by Una Gourlay])
The overall goal(s) of Interlibrary Loan service should be clear and fully articulated in the departmental mission statement.
Library Organization
The exact organizational “location” of the ILL department within a library varies widely. Some libraries consider Interlibrary Loan to be an extension of the Reference department, while others consider it a function of the Circulation department. Some departments may be totally separate from either Reference or Circulation, and report to a supervisor in Public or Technical Services. Libraries that handle a volume of greater than 10,000 Interlibrary Loan requests (both borrowing and lending) per year should maintain a separate ILL department whenever possible.
To ensure success, supervisors should have a clear understanding of the importance or status accorded to ILL as a patron service, as well as the reporting structure. For example, does the supervisor report to the head of public services or of technical services?
The department may also be responsible for additional services such as photocopying, expedited campus delivery, or fee-based document delivery to meet the information needs of local businesses. These services may or may not be controlled by the same authority within the library.
Departmental Organization
Interlibrary Loan departments in academic libraries usually handle both borrowing and lending tasks together, with some libraries splitting tasks between departments. (Note: For purposes of clarity throughout the text, I will treat the ILL department as a separate entity within the library, handling both borrowing and lending functions.)
Interlibrary Borrowing may be located in the Reference department, since a patron request for service can be considered an extension of information-providing services like Reference. Interlibrary Lending may be part of the Circulation department, since the lending of library materials is similar to the circulation of materials to local patrons.
If the department is a separate entity, the ILL supervisor may encounter less administrative/managerial difficulties than if the operation is split among departments. No matter what the size or setup, however, the supervisor needs to know and understand the departmental organization.
Division of Labor in the Interlibrary Loan Department
Staff members of ILL departments usually “specialize” in either Borrowing or Lending. Borrowing staff is usually responsible for handling requests created by the library’s patrons and for preparing received material for delivery to those patrons. The Lending department handles incoming requests by other libraries to obtain materials from the library’s collection.
Borrowing/Lending groups may be further subdivided: for example, if there are two staff members in Borrowing, one of them may be tasked with day-to-day ordering, while the other may be primarily responsible for materials processing and the handling of patron inquiries.
In addition to Borrowing and Lending groups, there may be additional staff assigned to tasks such as packaging and shipping or accounting.
There is no perfect plan for dividing duties in Borrowing or Lending groups. Students are often called upon to perform a wide range of functions in an ILL department, from retrieving material from the library’s stacks to photocopying to ordering materials using OCLC or RLIN (see Examples 1 and 2).
Questions/Suggestions to Consider
Mission Statements/Departmental Goals
- Read over the Library’s mission statement/statement of goals. How does Interlibrary Loan help the Library reach its goals?
- Read over the departmental mission statement and/or statement of goals? Do they coincide with overall library goals?
- What is the department’s ultimate goal? Is it written/posted and clearly articulated to staff?
- Was staff involved in crafting this mission statement/statement of goals? If not, involving the staff in a review/revision of the mission statement/statement of goals will help with “buy-in” and commitment to future goals.
Library Organization
- What is the Interlibrary Loan department’s “place” within the library?
- What is the status or importance accorded to ILL at the library?
- Where is Interlibrary Loan “located” on the library’s organization chart?
Departmental Organization
- How is the department organized? Is it a separate entity within the library, or are Interlibrary Loan services split among multiple departments?
Division of Labor
- How are the duties divided among staff in the department?
- How much of the staff handles Borrowing? Lending?
- Are there other support groups in the department such as accounting or shipping?
EXAMPLE 1. Departmental Organization
EXAMPLE 2. Departmental Organization
