8th Interlending and Document Supply International Conference, Canberra Australia 28-31 October 2003
 



Consortia and collections: enhancing interlending effectiveness

Margaret Jones and Dr Paul Genoni

Abstract | Paper in [PDF] Portable Document Format (PDF)
Presentation in Microsoft® PowerPoint® format

At the heart of an effective interlending system is the aggregation of the collections on which it depends. However, discussions of inter-library lending rarely focus on the central role of collections, emphasising instead the technical infrastructure necessary - the availability of bibliographic and holdings data, agreed charges and payment methods, requesting and supplying mechanisms etc.

The current interlending environment consists of three distinctive forms of supply. These are:

  • The centralised system exemplified by the British Library Document Supply Centre, which is replicated in many other countries,
  • Commercial document suppliers, e.g. publishers providing documents on demand,
  • Individual libraries and library consortia.

The National Library of Australia's recent inter library lending benchmarking study suggests that for many libraries, the third of these options, membership of an interlending consortium, will deliver greater efficiency and lower costs. Many libraries are therefore choosing consortium membership as a means of achieving efficiencies in their interlending operations. These efficiencies can be maximised by increasing the volume of requests supplied from within the consortium. This paper therefore argues that interlending consortia need to incorporate a focus on collaborative collecting activities.

The paper considers several existing consortia in order to investigate how a modern cooperative collecting function can be developed and incorporated within their activities.

 

 

 
  National Library of Australia Australian Library and Information Association International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions