National Resource Sharing Working Group

Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Benchmarking Study

See also:
Main report: PDF version (1.423MB) or Word2000 format (557KB)
Appendices: PDF version (1.057MB) or Word2000 format (399KB)

Executive summary

[This Executive Summary is an extract from the Main report.]

The Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery (ILL/DD) Benchmarking Study was undertaken by the National Resource Sharing Working Group with the assistance of the National Library of Australia. It is the largest and most comprehensive study ever undertaken of ILL/DD operations in Australian libraries. The results are of relevance to all library sectors.


Aims and methodology

The key aims of the study were to:

Turnaround time, fill rate and unit cost were used as the main performance measures for requesting activities, and fill rate and unit cost were used for supply. Some data for supplying turnaround time was also collected. The relative importance placed on these measures may vary from sector to sector. Definitions of the measures are included in Section 3.2.

Ninety-seven libraries from all states and territories and sectors were surveyed. Data from ninety was included in the main part of the analysis. The data was analysed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the findings corroborated by a detailed analysis of the high performing requesting and supplying ILL/DD operations.


Summary of performance

While the study identified high performing libraries, none were in the top 10 per cent in all performance criteria. The table below provides the average performance overall and for each sector against the key measures.

Performance measure Combined National/State University Special Public
REQ turnaround time
11.5 days 12.5 days 10.8 days 8.7 days 16.6 days
SUP turnaround time 6.2 days 6.3 days 5.3 days 5.8 days 8.0 days
REQ fill rate 89% 79% 89% 96% 83%
SUP fill rate 83% 88% 77% 91% 79%
REQ total unit cost $32.10 $79.99 $35.21 $24.76 $18.98
SUP total unit cost $17.03 $20.13 $18.47 $15.20 $16.21
REQ patron satisfaction          
Timeliness 97% 95% 96% 97% 97%
Quality 97% 98% 97% 98% 96%

Table 1: Summary of performance: averages


Key results and recommendations

The factors that maximise performance are listed in Section 5 of the main report. There are five recommendations based on these factors:

Examine workflows to ensure there are as few steps as possible

The most efficient libraries had the least number of steps involved in obtaining an item. This may involve patrons creating their own requests electronically, and aiming to obtain over 90% of items from the first library approached.

Implement an automation package

Automation was a decisive factor in every performance criterion, literally saving days in turnaround time and reducing unit costs. Automating any part of ILL/DD operations was influential in increasing efficiency and effectiveness, from having the patron create the request to delivering electronic copies to their desktop. Automation is a marginal cost compared to staff costs. Large gains can be made for a relatively small investment particularly when automation is combined with the streamlining of processes.

Ensure ILL/DD staff are well-trained in resources and systems

Staff are the major contributor to unit costs. Maximising their competency and efficiency has the potential to create the greatest savings. Investment in training to produce expert searchers who are knowledgeable about key resources contributes to a faster and more effective service. It may also provide opportunities to offer new services without increasing costs.

Add and maintain holdings on union catalogues

Libraries are more efficient suppliers when requests for items they do not hold are minimsed, and are more effective requestors with access to up-to-date information about other libraries' collections. Both are achieved when libraries add accurate and up-to-date holdings information to major union catalogues. A commitment by libraries and encourgement by the library community to contribute in this way is required.

Investigate cooperative agreements with key libraries

Well-regulated cooperative agreements assist the efficient delivery of an effective service where:

Benefits include reductions in administrative costs and a greater availability of material for patrons where there are more liberal lending policies in place between libraries.

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