ISSN ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 66 | December 2003
8th IFLA Interlending and Document Supply International Conference Report on Success
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Above: Dan Archibald, Edith Cowan University and Ruth Wong Shuk-Ching, University of Hong Kong prepare to speak Left: Jan Fullerton, Director-General, National Library of Australia opens the conference |
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| Robin Murray, Managing Director, Fretwell Downing Informatics addresses the conference dinner |
Mary E. Jackson giving keynote address
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Australia became the centre of the world for transferring documents between libraries during the four days of this international conference held in late October at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. Two hundred and seventy-one delegates from 24 countries discussed the results of research into new services and new ways of doing things as well as lessons learned from experience.
Mary E. Jackson of the Association of Research Libraries in the United States of America set the scene for the rest of the conference during her opening keynote address with her top 10 picks for change over the next five years. She forecast that libraries will be supporting a blend of mediated and user-initiated services, with an increase in the percentage of returnables (for borrowing and lending) as electronic journals expand in number and that global interlending and document delivery may reach five per cent of a library’s ILL transactions, up from the estimated one to two per cent of current traffic. Turnaround times were predicted to be faster, but user expectations will also increase, and bibliographic items will be easier to identify, though users will continue to use a variety of online catalogues, portals, gateways, and other tools.
What happens when everyone in your country has access to 8000 electronic journals, how are they using this facility, and what are they using? Þórný Hlynsdóttir and Þóra Gylfadóttir from the National and University Library of Iceland answered these questions and shared other outcomes of their research into the effects of national access in Iceland. Their presentation ended with a key finding: ‘increased access to information creates more needs’, many of which are met through interlibrary loans.
‘An absolutely fantastic service’ is what one faculty member said about the Borrow Direct service in the survey results that Danuta Nitecki and CarolJones from Yale University in the United States reported on. Delegates were impressed with this quick, very satisfactory and cheap service model for meeting information needs.
There were papers on how to lend e-books, lessons learned about changing services or systems, the convergence between acquisitions and interlibrary loans, leaping into the unknown with technology, and sharing between libraries in Brazil, Guam, Hungary and China, to name just a few. Panel discussions on copyright around the world and technology standards raised awareness of like-issues faced by everyone who works in interlibrary loan areas.
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| Lunch is served | The view from the audience |
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| Conference dinner |
An audience member asks a probing question |
Delegate comments included ‘excellent, I learned a lot’ and a ‘good blend of practical and theoretical’.
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| Jens Vigen,CERN-European Organisation for Nuclear Research |
Everyone also relaxed and enjoyed themselves at the social events, with the highlight being the conference dinner at the Great Hall in Parliament House. Delegates left sated on food full of Australian flavours such as Akudjura, Rosella, Lemon Aspen and Macadamia nuts.
It might have been a bit chilly, but many delegates enjoyed the outdoor movie screening at the National Botanic Gardens, after eating entrée in the rock garden, a buffet on the eucalypt lawn with entertainment from a local Aboriginal dance group, and dessert and coffee where the film was shown.
And finally, there was even a short article about the conference in the local paper, The Canberra Times … something to do with librarians running down Northbourne Avenue … but, of course, you should get your interlibrary loan department to get it for you if you want to read it in full.
The conference papers and presentations are now on the National Library website
at <www.nla.gov.au/ilds>.
—Tom Ruthven, Director, Interlending Services
| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: mbrooks@nla.gov.au