Knox, Emily J.M.

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How one part-time library staff member can provide interlibrary loan service

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Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttp://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wild20Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery &Electronic ReserveISSN: 1072-303X (Print) 1540-3572 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wild20How One Part-Time Library Staff Member CanProvide Interlibrary Loan ServiceEmily KnoxTo cite this article: Emily Knox (2007) How One Part-Time Library Staff Member Can ProvideInterlibrary Loan Service, Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve,17:4, 87-94, DOI: 10.1300/J474v17n04_10To link to this article:  https://doi.org/10.1300/J474v17n04_10Published online: 04 Oct 2008.Submit your article to this journal Article views: 37How One Part-TimeLibrary Staff Member Can ProvideInterlibrary Loan ServiceEmily KnoxABSTRACT. Interlibrary loan is an integral part of library service, butit is a time and resource consuming endeavor. This article presents severaltime and cost-saving policies and procedures that will provide interli-brary loan service in very small interlibrary loan departments. doi:10.1300/J474v17n04_10 [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Docu-ment Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2007 by TheHaworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]KEYWORDS. Interlibrary loan, small staff, policies, proceduresHOW ONE PART-TIME LIBRARY STAFF MEMBERCAN PROVIDE INTERLIBRARY LOAN SERVICEInterlibrary Loan is one of the most important services a library canoffer. Small libraries have more of a need for interlibrary loan, espe-cially on the borrowing side, than larger ones. They usually do not havethe staff and resources for a full-fledged interlibrary loan department.Emily Knox is Associate Director and Reference Librarian, St. Mark’s LibraryGeneral Theological Seminary, 175 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (E-mail:Knox@GTS.EDU).Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic ReserveVol. 17(4) 2007Available online at http://jildd.haworthpress.com© 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1300/J474v17n04_10 87Although the amount of time and attention interlibrary loan takes is dis-couraging, both lending and borrowing services are essential. In orderto offer interlibrary loan without overwhelming a small staff, it is essen-tial to use various time-saving measures.This article will describe policies and procedures that are used inthe St. Mark’s library, as well as others that were gathered in responseto an E-mail solicitation to several listservs. St. Mark’s Library is a netlender with approximately 400 lending requests (half of them filled) and45 borrowing requests per year. St. Mark’s does not use any specializedsoftware such as Clio, Illiad, or Ariel. Almost all interlibrary loan trans-actions are conducted through OCLC Resource sharing. St. Mark’s Li-brary also accepts requests by fax or mail.DEFINITION OF AN “ON-THE-FLY”INTERLIBRARY LOAN DEPARTMENTThere are several ways to characterize this particular type of interli-brary loan department. For convenience, this paper uses the term “On-the-Fly.” To describe an interlibrary loan department where one personconducts all interlibrary loan activities but has other primary duties. Theterm is not used disparagingly, but indicates that interlibrary loan tasksare completed in a “get it done” manner. An “On-the-Fly” departmentis different from a one-person interlibrary loan department. A one-persondepartment implies that interlibrary loan is the staff member’s primaryduty, and interlibrary loan takes up the bulk of his or her working hours.RESOURCES IN INTERLIBRARY LOANAND DOCUMENT DELIVERY FOR BEGINNERSMost interlibrary loan literature is written for large interlibrary loandepartments. Although this can help an “On-the-Fly” interlibrary loan li-brarian, it takes a while to choose which information and new ideasare applicable to a particular institution. For example, quite a bit of in-terlibrary loan literature discusses new software and equipment, but it isoften impossible for a small department to justify the expense of suchproducts.There are two books that can be useful to even the smallest of de-partments. Virginia Boucher’s Interlibrary Loan Practices Handbook,88 Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reservethough dated, introduces interlibrary borrowing and lending. The “On-the-Fly” staff member can review the suggested policies and proceduresand decide what is best. Mary Jackson’s Assessing interlibrary loan/DD Services: New Cost-Effective Alternatives, although clearly gearedtoward large research institutions, also offers cost-saving proceduresthat can be used in any library.It is important for an “On-the-Fly” department staff to be awareof what is available in new technology even if they decide not to use it.If there is time, subscribing to interlibrary loan journals and listservscan be invaluable. Communications from OCLC regional service pro-viders can also help staff members keep track of changes to OCLC Re-source Sharing. OCLC offices distribute newsletters, offer training inresource sharing and employ experts who can help you or refer you tosomeone knowledgeable in the field.By e-mailing listservs, one can learn how small libraries, all overthe country, handle interlibrary loan. Methods range from the archaic(doing everything on paper) to cutting edge. Many of the libraries thatreplied to the survey, train student workers or volunteers to perform in-terlibrary loan tasks. It is a way to get interlibrary loan tasks accom-plished if it becomes too overwhelming for one person.GOOD POLICIESAll interlibrary loan departments, even the smallest, should takeLeslie Morris’ admonitions in “Why Your Library Should Have an In-terlibrary Loan Policy and What Should be Included” to heart. Mostof the time-saving measures detailed below are policy decisions. Inmany libraries, interlibrary loan policies and procedures are often inher-ited and may be out of date. Taking the time to evaluate current policiescarefully will save time.My non-scientific survey of “On-the-Fly” departments indicates thatsome institutions are not taking advantage of changes in technology thatcould greatly reduce the amount of time spent on interlibrary loan. It mayhave made sense ten years ago to print everything and keep a notebook,but new technology allows most transactions to take place electronically.Keeping a paper trail can consume staff-time and resources without pro-viding any tangible benefits.The less time one has to devote to interlibrary loan, the more stringentpolicies may need to be. While an institution’s own patrons come firstand all borrowing requests should be researched and processed, lendingEmily Knox 89requests can be triaged when there is limited time. It is important to re-member that borrowing libraries prefer that requests that will not be filledare forwarded quickly so that they can be filled by another library.IDEAS FOR BORROWINGWhoIn an “On-the-Fly” department, it is important to identify and some-times limit who is eligible to use borrowing services. Assessing Interli-brary loan/DD Services: New Cost-Effective Alternatives states thatuser-initiated interlibrary loan is a cost-effective borrowing method. Al-though St. Mark’s Library, nor any of the libraries that responded to thesurvey, use it. This is probably because it takes quite a bit of time tocomplete the initial setup. However, since it has been proven to be ef-fective, “On-the-Fly” departments should consider implementing user-initiated borrowing.WhenEven in tiny departments, borrowing requests should be processed assoon as possible. This may seem obvious but when there are no paperrequests, a staff member must log into the interlibrary loan managementsoftware almost every day to check for pending borrowing requests. It iseasy to forget to check when it is not a “processing day.” Establishinga time to check for requests every day (e.g., right after lunch) is a goodway to make sure that the task is completed.WhatLibraries with a small staff can also maintain a policy of not borrow-ing materials that are available at the local public library or at librarieswith reciprocal borrowing privileges. Although patrons prefer to havethe materials they need delivered to them, this policy can greatly reducethe number of borrowing requests.FeesLibrary budgets are tight and interlibrary borrowing can be expen-sive. Charging patrons interlibrary loan borrowing fees can help, but90 Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserveonly if too much time and effort are not expended trying to collect thefees. A few of the surveyed libraries mentioned that they simply add theborrowing fee to the patrons’ library record. This eliminates the need togenerate paper invoices for patrons and saves processing time. Other in-stitutions simply do not charge for interlibrary loan service because iteliminates record keeping and collection duties.Many libraries try to borrow from institutions that do not chargefees because of either consortia agreements or institutional policies. Ifa charge is assessed, the interlibrary loan fee management (IFM) sys-tem makes keeping track of these fees much easier. (IFM is discussedlater.)Keeping TrackKeeping track of borrowed material is probably one of the most vex-ing problems in interlibrary loan. Some institutions add an interlibraryloan item to patron records so that the material can be tracked with otheritems borrowed from the library. This can be a workable solution if add-ing dummy items to your circulation system is not too onerous.If you do not have a system that automatically prints out straps or la-bels, coming up with visual cues for interlibrary loan books can takesome ingenuity. Handwriting “ILL” and the due date on removable la-bels that are placed on borrowed books is one solution. It is important tobe aware, however, that these labels can be expensive and some lendersdo not want them used on their books.Running a “borrowing library” search on OCLC Resource Sharingevery so often will help remind the staff member of what is currentlyborrowed. If an item is due in the near future, the staff member cansend a reminder E-mail to the patron. Communicating with patrons viaE-mail reduces the need for more time-consuming phone calls or mailednotices.IDEAS FOR LENDINGInterlibrary lending is the area where an “On-the-Fly” departmentcan save the most time. Remember that not all requests must be filledsince other libraries, with the same material and more people on staff,can also fill the request. This may seem obvious, but librarianship is aservice profession. Most librarians do everything they can to get a pa-tron what they need, even if that patron is halfway across the country. ItEmily Knox 91is important to remember, however, that interlibrary loan only functionswhen libraries are willing to lend materials, and when each institutionparticipates in the system fully and fairly.Who and WhenAlways triage your requests. This can be difficult. How do you de-cide that one request is more important than another is? One way is toestablish a hierarchy for requestors. Lending requests from consortiaand affiliated libraries are always completed; others are moved furtherdown the queue. Some libraries complete incoming requests on particu-lar days of the week. On slow days, however, check the pending queueto see if there are any requests that can be filled quickly or to see if yourinstitution is the only one listed in the queue.WhatIn order to save time and resources, it makes sense to consider notlending any special collection material or theses because of their rarityand the increased need for careful packaging, tracking, etc. Sendingonly circulating books and articles reduces the amount of preparationtime required for each item.Carefully wrapping interlibrary loan items is recommended in theInterlibrary Loan Practices Handbook (Boucher 1997, 60), but it seemsunnecessarily excessive for a $20 book to be sent in a padded envelope.Instead, eliminate the need for extra wrapping by having a policy of onlysending books that are robust enough to withstand the shipping process.FeesOCLC’s IFM system has eliminated the need for invoices. “If an insti-tution does not use IFM, and they charge for borrowing, we will not lendto that library.” This might seem overly harsh, but it takes more resourcesto create, print, and mail an invoice than what a $15 fee recovers.Keeping TrackSome libraries create an individual patron record in their circulationsystem for each borrowing library. However, it is easier to keep track92 Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserveof interlibrary loan lending by creating a single interlibrary loan patronin the circulation system. Allowing a generous lending period of 6months may be necessary if items are shipped via Library Rate. (Thelending period suggested in OCLC Resource Sharing is one month.) Allnotices for the account are sent to the interlibrary loan staff memberwho can then contact the library by e-mail or phone. A long, six-month,lending period ensures that this rarely occurs.GOING PAPERLESSMost of the suggestions above have one factor in common–they useas little paper as possible. Interlibrary loan is the best area to implementthe paperless office. There is no need to duplicate information that isreadily available electronically.Computer-based management systems; OCLC Resource Sharing,Clio, and Illiad, keep track of transactions including the titles of all loaneditems and the names of all borrowing libraries. When borrowing, it is bestto fill out the online form as completely as possible so that on retrievinga record it provides all needed information. It is not necessary to printlending requests until they are filled. A copy of the request is placed inthe book for shipment.Going paperless means using as many electronic interlibrary loan re-sources as possible. “On-the-Fly” departments cannot afford software,such as Ariel, for electronic transmission of articles, but a decent scan-ner is all that is needed to send articles to a patron’s e-mail address or toa borrowing library. Illiad’s Odyssey program, which allows electronicarticle delivery between Odyssey libraries, is now available, free, to alllibraries for downloading.GETTING INTERLIBRARY LOAN DONEThe above suggestions may seem counterintuitive to some of the fun-damental philosophies of librarianship. Instead of saving the patron’stime, they save staff time. The ideas will allow any library, no matter howunderstaffed, to begin to provide expected and valuable interlibrary loanservice to patrons.Emily Knox 93BIBLIOGRAPHYBoucher, Virginia. Interlibrary Loan Practices Handbook. Chicago and London:American Library Association, 1997.Jackson, Mary, Bruce Kingma and Tom Delaney. Assessing Interlibrary Loan andDocument Delivery Services: New Cost-Effective Alternatives. Washington, DC:Association of Research Libraries, 2004.Morris, Leslie. “Why Your Library Should Have an Interlibrary Loan Policy and WhatShould Be Included.” Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery and Elec-tronic Reserves 15:4 (2005): 1-7.doi:10.1300/J474v17n04_10APPENDIXE-mail QuestionnaireIn May 2006, I sent an initial E-mail to NewLib, ATLANtis, GSLIS(UIUC) Discussions and GSLIS (UIUC) Alumni to find libraries that had aninterlibrary loan department that matched my definition of “On-the-Fly” li-braries. The following questions were sent to all who responded:1. How many hours a week do you spend on interlibrary loan? Is the workdone on certain days or throughout the week?2. How do you manage incoming and outgoing requests? Do you use com-puter software to do interlibrary loan?3. If you charge for the service, how do you keep track of the invoices andmoney?4. Is someone else in your library trained to do interlibrary loan if you areaway?94 Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve

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