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



Unmediated is the message: consortially-facilitated, user-centered approaches to enhancing interlibrary loans: one academic library's experience

Ophelia Cheung and Susan Patrick

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

IFLA Conference Questionnaire for ZPortal/VDX Users

Ryerson University Library has benefited considerably from resource-sharing endeavors through the Ontario Council of University Libraries, a consortium of 19 libraries in the Province of Ontario (OCUL). A recent large-scale initiative is the implementation of the ILL management system VDX (Virtual Document eXchange). Users have the convenience of: searching a virtual union catalogue of Ontario university libraries and selected world catalogues at http://racer.scholarsportal.info, using Z39.50 search protocol; selecting search results which can auto populate into ILL request forms; and checking their requests' status. (Also, under the Canadian Universities Reciprocal Borrowing Agreement, users with a library card from most universities in Canada may borrow books directly from most other university libraries.)

Another consortial digital initiative, NetLibrary Ebooks, provides user-centred, unmediated access to shared monographs. In a collaborative OCUL purchase, approximately 2000 NetLibrary ebooks, plus an additional 3,000 titles shared with the Consortium of Ontario Libraries (COOL), which also includes the public, school and college library systems), fully integrated into our OPAC, are available remotely via the Web.

Another project, Ryerson's fully-subsidized document delivery service (benefiting from OCUL discount rates for Ariel delivery), allows users to order journal articles directly from the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTISource) database, which is linked to the Ryerson Library catalogue, preventing users from requesting our own holdings and connecting them directly to our full-text resources.

User surveys and statistics for these projects are monitored by Borrower Services, a user-centred administrative unit, combining interlibrary loan and other services to promote access and user satisfaction.

 

 

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