Faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students were asked several questions about interlibrary loan on the User Survey. Response summaries follow:
How frequently do you faculty/researchers use ILL? | |
|---|---|
| Mean ILL Usage: | 2.2 |
| (2 = once per quarter or less) |
Are faculty/researcher users satisfied overall with ILL? | ||
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating: | N: | Percent: |
| Satisfied | 242 | 67.2% |
| Not satisfied | 34 | 9.4% |
| Don't use | 84 | 23.3% |
| Of those who use ILL, 11.9% not satisfied with service. |
What ILL features are faculty users satisfied/dissatisfied with? | |
|---|---|
| Ease of request | 4.3 |
| Book turnaround | 3.7 |
| Journal turnaround | 3.7 |
| Percent of requests filled | 4.2 |
| Status notification | 4.0 |
| Length of loan | 3.8 |
| Satisfaction scale: 1=not at all satisfied; 2=not too; 3=somewhat; 4=satisfied; 5=very satisfied |
UCSD ILL staff have examined the data and have renewed their commitment to providing faster and more efficient service. Significiant cooperation is taking place at the campus and UC level. Several specific examples of campus and UC initiatives are listed below:
Over the past several years, more attention, within in the UC system and nationally, has been given to interlibrary loan services. Interlibrary loan has become a more integral part of information delivery for research and teaching as libraries confront the need to cancel more subscriptions, deal with shrinking budgets and increasing demands,
Over 70% of UCSD ILL requests are supplied by other UC libraries. Requests are transmitted over national interlibrary loan systems which routes the requests to a "string" of libraries. Each library is given a set amount of time to respond to the request before it is automatically routed to the next library on the string. Typical turnaround for an item owned at another UC averages from 3-7 days. Items owned outside the UC system may take from 5-12 days.
For more information on interlibrary loan services at UCSD, please see the web page at Interlibrary Loan Services at UCSD
Using technology developed by the Research Libraries Group that allows articles to be scanned and then delivered over the internet, much like FAX but with better quality and lower cost, the UCSD libraries have adopted ARIEL as a delivery method for articles.
Doctoral dissertations, a popular and useful source of information, traditionally have been difficult or expensive to obtain via interlibrary loan services. DISSERTATION EXPRESS, developed in partnership with University Microfilms Inc., provides high quality copies of U.S. dissertations quickly, conveniently, and economically. Accessible through the Internet, ILL staff can order unbound copies of U.S. dissertations through Dissertation Express for a fee, with express delivery usually within 48 hours.
The vast collections of the UC libraries are the first-choice source for obtaining material on interlibrary loan. However, commercial document services provide fast, supplemental sources. Among these worldwide services are the British Lending Library, CICST (Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, JICST (Japanese Information Center of Science and Technology), CAS (Chemical Abstract Service), UMI. All offer rapid and affordable access to vital literature. ILL staff decide which source isfastest and most cost effective.
The UCSD Libraries have established or are pursuing special borrowing partnerships with selected research libraries in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, and Mexico, links that will enhance our capacity for obtaining historical, foreign-language, current affairs, and scientific publications from these lands.
Requesting electronically saves patrons time and expedites the process in the interlibrary loan unit. Through Library Express UCSD faculty, staff, and graduate students can place orders for items owned in the UC system or in libraries across the world. Using the "X" command, users display the item they want on MELVYL (in any MELVYL article index, or in WCAT or RCAT) and type "X" followed by the item number. The system will prompt the user for their ID and password. Requests are electronically mailed to the appropriate ILL unit where it is quickly processed. To register for Library Express call 534-5351 or visit Library Express on the web.
Electronic request forms for ordering interlibrary loan services are available at some UCSD libraries via the following Web sites:
In order to facilitate the receipt and timely processing of Interlibrary loan requests, as well as to provide current information on the status of requests and availability of materials, the Social Sciences & Humanities Library ILL service desk is open Saturday from 10am-6pm. During these hours, ILL materials may be picked up and returned. Other ILL units will consider weekend staffing as appropriate.
In the past several years select committees within the UC system have taken an active interest in interlibrary loan activity. Budgetary problems have led to a greater reliance on interlibrary loan activity, a service that was once utilized for rare and occasional materials is now used routinely.
In light of these demands, there have been many UC wide initiatives to strengthen the current system and develop new systems. Below is a list of the most significant of these initiatives.
Adopted in 1992, UC libraries have agreed to a standard policy for loan periods for materials borrowed from other UCs:
Materials borrowed from non-UC libraries are subject to the loan period set by the lending institution and is typically 2-4 weeks with renewal options in most cases. Their loan periods are usually based on the loan period for their own users.
UC interlibrary loan units have agreed to a standard policy for items needed quickly by another campus. The definition of "rush" service is listed below:
Definition of Rush
For more details ask at any Interlibrary Loan service point or view the complete policy on the web ( UC ILL Manual).
In 1995 the Office of the President funded the hiring of a consultant to make recommendations on systemwide improvements to strengthen and enhance the interlibrary loan system. The consultants report, presented in March 1996, outlined a conceptual framework for ILL operations with recommendations that were intended to move the UC ILL operations towards that conceptual framework. The recommendations included several initiatives which are currently under review (Tricor, Direct Borrowing, Electronic Journals).
UC Interlibrary Loan Turn-Around-Time studies have shown that a significant portion of the time necessary to complete an Interlibrary Loan transaction was caused by the physical transport of the materials from one campus to the other. The UC campuses are experimenting using a bank courier (Tricor) to deliver Interlibrary loan materials between campuses. Tricor guarantees next day delivery and their rates are cheaper than delivery via UPS, Federal Express, or U.S. Postal Service. Tricor holds the potential of two promises: reducing the time it takes to move material between campuses and reducing the cost of ILL to the library.
In a survey of Tricor's turn around time, conducted from October 21 to November 1, the early results show the average turnaround, including weekends, to be 1.69 days. Previous delivery methods, van/jitney service within north or south regions, UPS, fax, and mail showed an average turnaround of 3.6 days. Use of Tricor has dramatically increased the ability to receive items quickly, in most cases between 4-6 days from another UC library.
In July 1996 a task group was established to undertake a preliminary study to determine the feasibility and acceptability of providing direct ILL borrowing access for UC users.
Direct borrowing was defined as the process in which the user would access the catalog of choice from a workstation, type a simple command to initiate a request for an item, either a photocopy of an article or a book to be borrowed. The request for the item owned at another library would be sent electronically to the library. The library would receive the request, process the item, and either mail the book or deliver the article using the fastest delivery mechanism.
The complete study, with recommendations that are currently under review or in-process, is located at Direct Borrowing Feasibilty Study Report.
Last update: 21 March 1997
For more information about ILL services at UCSD, direct questions to Tammy Dearie, UCSD, at tdearie@ucsd.edu