Resource Sharing
at the Crossroads: National Resource Sharing Working Group and Policy Committee
Final Meeting
The National Resource Sharing
Working Group (NRSWG) and National
Resource Sharing Policy Committee (NRPC) were established by the National
Library to support the development of a national interlending infrastructure
following wide-ranging consultation and discussions. After five years, the groups
reviewed their achievements at a final meeting on 30 July and considered issues
which should be addressed for future developments in resource sharing.
During the period the groups have been active, there have been profound changes
in interlending. There has been a significant increase in electronic resources
available at the desktop, a small increase in automation of interlending and
a significant step in implementation of ISO
ILL
in Kinetica Document Delivery. This has enabled libraries to use their own systems
for automating their workflows, with an extension to end users.
The group has led on many issues which have improved the efficiency of interlending
in Australia.
Improvements include the Australian ILRS
Code (launched in 2001), its wide promotion and acceptance; a national interlending
benchmarking study; and training programs, conferences and seminars to discuss
a variety of models for improved access to resources for end users. The final
meeting included discussions based on specific papers that addressed the achievements
of the group, key issues and trends, the ARCLAP (Australian Research Libraries
Collection Analysis Project) study, the work of the Australian Library Collections
Task Force and perspectives from all library sectors.
For the first time, public and TAFE libraries were represented at a meeting
of the NRSWG. It is clear that public libraries are increasingly moving to supply
resources from beyond their local networks and are looking forward to participating
in discussions on resource sharing. They provide a very strong link with end
users. The TAFE sector is moving to packaged electronic resources to support
curricula and is likely to want to play a small role in resource sharing initiatives.
Considerable discussion occurred on the ARCLAP study, which showed significant
unique collections and the loss of collections through closure of libraries.
While there are mechanisms for offering collections to other libraries, it appears
that these are not well known or publicised. The need for all collections to
be listed in the NBD was identified, an issue seen as within the scope of the
National Library.
Some of the key issues identified for future action were:
- ILRS Code: Recognising that expectations of users and libraries
have changed significantly, the group took into account feedback through the
NLA Document Supply survey, and from various librarians, that a five-level
code was too complex and that the five-day core turnaround time is too slow.
This issue was referred to ALIA for review.
- Skills, manuals and documentation: A need was identified for an up-to-date
information package for library staff on interlending and document supply.
The most recent edition of Ausloan was published as The Australian Guide
to Interlending and Document Delivery in 1993 by ACLIS, and is sorely
out of date. Work on a manual was referred to the ALIA Interlending Group.
- National performance indicators and benchmarking: The interlending
benchmarking study has provided a great basis for understanding how libraries
can be efficient. While the measurement of the improvements in Australian
interlibrary lending from implementation of the findings of the study has
not been undertaken, the group consider that a manageable way forward would
be for a sector to develop performance indicators and trial these. A project
for work on indicators in the university sector was identified.
- New models: A number of ‘borrow direct’ type initiatives are being
developed in Australia and it was considered important that information on
new models and their effects should be explored, but within the existing Australian
conference and research reporting framework, including the Australian Library
and Information Association’s REAP (Research and Exchange Partnerships).
- Trends: While statistics compiled for the background paper suggest
interlending remains in decline, monograph interlending has generally not
declined. Monitoring of the impact of direct end-user access through services
such as Copies Direct is important for the consideration of new services by
libraries in all sectors. Unmediated interlibrary loans are likely to be an
essential future direction to ensure user satisfaction, and consortia are
also essential for access to printed as well as electronic collections. Sharing
of information was identified as an important area for action over the next
year.
In summary, the major themes were the need for increased resource discovery
(through the NBD),
acquisition of collections (particularly with library closures), capability
building (training and manuals), information on performance and an urgent need
to review the ILRS Code to improve the speed of delivery and intelligibility
of service levels.
Papers from the meeting and a summary of discussion can be found at <www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/nrswg/finalforum.html>.
—Roxanne Missingham, Assistant Director-General,
Resource Sharing
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