[Service Points]

DOCUMENT SUPPLY SERVICE UP-DATE - 1/96



Service improvement

Over the next few months, we will be implementing some changes in the Document Supply Service that we believe will result in a quicker and more accurate service for you The staff have recently attended a Planning Day and follow-up meetings at which objectives for improving our service were identified and solutions sought.

Our major objective was to find ways to improve productivity by changing work procedures and practices, and providing effective staff training and communication. A major theme of the day was to improve services to clients, including keeping you better informed about how we can assist you to get the best service.

We will be implementing the identified improvements over the next few months and expect to see results soon. At present our turn-around time for requests not requiring searching is 5 working days or less. We hope to maintain and, if possible, improve on this.

The National Library is happy to be your library of first resort for requests. It is not necessary to try other libraries before sending your request to Document Supply Service.

How to make sure that your request is processed quickly

In order to expedite your request, please quote the National Library call number whenever possible. Most National Library call numbers have prefixes which are essential for directing your request to the appropriate stack area. Requests that are received without any call number, or with an incomplete call number, have to be checked in our catalogues, thus adding another step (and extra days) into the retrieval process.

You may check the National Library online catalogue via the Internet using the Telnet address: janus.nla.gov.au, or, 192.103.239.30. It can also be selected from the menu of the National Library Information Server using the World Wide Web address: http://www.nla.gov.au/.

National Library holdings are of course listed on ABN and serial holdings may also be checked on NUCOS, which as a microfiche product is a union catalogue of all serial holdings recorded on the National Bibliographic Database. Our NUC symbol is ANL.

Please note that the National Library does not have any other files for checking Australian library holdings in addition to ABN.

Proper verification improves the speed and accuracy with which we can respond to requests. Although we will accept non-verified requests, particularly from small libraries, we expect libraries to follow good interlibrary loan practice by verifying requests before sending them.

Negatives

Document Supply Service fills at least 80% of all requests received. If we are unable to fill a request, we notify you with the reason. A guide to negative reply messages was distributed late in 1994. If you did not receive a copy or would like another, please contact us.

New courier

Australia Post has been awarded the contract as provider of the nationwide freight service for the National Library of Australia. We anticipate an improved service, however, if you do experience any problems, please contact us.

SUPPLY 1

The SUPPLY 1 service was launched on 1 May 1996. The new service will obtain articles not held in the National Library of Australia from commercial document supply services, or from overseas libraries through the international interlibrary loan network.

A brochure, User Guide and order forms can be obtained from SUPPLY 1. Please contact SUPPLY 1 on phone (02) 6262 1407, fax (02) 6273 2719 or e-mail supply1@nla.gov.au. Order forms and information on SUPPLY 1 is also available via the World Wide Web address http://www.nla.gov.au/2/supply1/.

ASTINFO

cument Supply Service supplies copies of articles to libraries and research institutions in Asia as part of the ASTINFO Document Delivery Project, which is funded by UNESCO. If the National Library does not hold the item requested, we search ABN for holdings and request from CSIRO or other Australian libraries. We receive approximately 300 requests per month, of which 50% are supplied from the National Library holdings, 35% from other Australian libraries and 15% are not held or not able to be verified.

Surveys

Document Supply Service conducts a survey every May to identify the origin of request by state. The 1996 survey was conducted during the two weeks 6-17 May, with the following result from 4,575 requests received:

NSW   28.7%					Overseas   10.1%				SA     5.3%
VIC     20.3%					ACT           9.6%				NT     2.8%
QLD    13.9%					WA            8.2%				TAS   1.1%

Contact information

To ensure that we receive your request promptly, please use our correct contact numbers. The correct fax number for sending all requests to Document Supply Service is (02) 6273 2719. Standard service and Fast Track service requests may be sent by fax on an Interlibrary Loan Request Form. If you send your request to another National Library fax number, we cannot guarantee when we will receive it and a delay of at least a day will result.

Please contact one of the Senior Librarians on (02) 6262 1421 or (02) 6262 1269 or fax (02) 6273 2719 if you would like more information on any aspect of our service. If you have any problems or suggestions, please let us know.


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Last updated 27 February 1998