| Interlibrary Loan |
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Information AboutInterlibrary Loan |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT INTERLIBRARY LOAN | |
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Without interlibrary loans, if a library patron found an item they wanted, they would have to travel to that library, and apply for a local Library Card if eligible, or present a reciprocal card in order to borrow the item. By taking advantage of interlibrary loan, in comparison, the library staff can search large numbers of libraries at once, transport the item from several miles to thousands of miles away, and allow a patron to borrow the item using their local library card. HOW INTERLIBRARY LOAN WORKS Interlibrary loan is conceptualized in terms of borrowing and lending.
Commercial document delivery services can borrow on behalf of anyone willing to purchase the information. In some instances, one librarian is in charge of borrowing and another is in charge of lending; this varies by institution. Some computer programs used to manage interlibrary lending include Ariel, Clio, and Odyssey. Loans between branch libraries in the same system may take one or two days, while loans between library systems may take a week or more to be delivered. If an item is rare or difficult to find, this may be the easiest way to gain access to it. However, if an item is rare or difficult to find, interlibrary loan does not guarantee that the lending library will send the item to you through your local library. Some collections and volumes may be non-circulating. ''Urgent requests'' are placed if the item is needed urgently. These requests should be prioritised and supplied quickly. Books may be posted by courier and photocopies may be faxed or scanned and sent electronically. Additional fees may be charged for urgent service. HISTORY OF INTERLIBRARY LOAN Traditionally, library users discovered potentially useful titles from book advertisements, through word-of-mouth from a friend or an authority on the subject, consulting the Bibliographies found at the back of books or published as a separate book, or a printed Union Catalog of all the books in a group of libraries such as NUCMC . Since the mid-1980s, searching for books located at other libraries has become easier, as many libraries have allowed library users to search their Online Catalogs at the library or over the Internet . RESOURCE SHARING NETWORKS Libraries have formed voluntary associations with each other to provide an online union catalog of all the items held by all member libraries. Whenever a library adds a new item to their own catalog, a copy of the record is sent to update the union list. This allows libraries to quickly find out what other libraries hold an item, and software can facilitate the requesting and supplying of interlibrary loans. In the U.S., OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) is usually used by public and academic libraries, and RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network) is used primarily by academic libraries, although some libraries are members of both. Australia and New Zealand use Libraries Australia and Te Puna respectively, the national bibliographic networks of those countries. Libraries that do not belong to a network can participate in interlibrary loan by making the arrangements by postal mail, fax, email or phone. Requests placed in one of these ways are referred to as ''manual requests''. Libraries may also have reciprocal arrangements with each other in order to supply loans and copies for free. USEFUL INFORMATION FOR INTERLIBRARY LOAN USERS
JOURNALS The leading journals in the field are:
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