Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a service provided to the Brown community by the Library designed to aid research and extend the boundaries of resources available to faculty, staff, and students. It is a library-to-library transaction that is governed by international agreements, the National Interlibrary Loan Code, and relevant local agreements, such as Boston Library Consortium (BLC) Guidelines and the Consortium of Rhode Island Academic and Research Libraries (CRIARL) Code.
Established at Brown in 1915, ILL has undergone many innovations. One of the most striking occurred twenty years ago, when the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) developed an online system that enabled libraries to transmit requests electronically. Implementation reduced the time it took to get material from another library from 6-10 weeks to 2-4, or even less for articles. In the past two decades, 84 million requests have been generated, a figure that should reach 100 million by the year 2000.
ILL staff can borrow books, dissertations, microfilm, and, sometimes, videos that Brown does not own or that have been declared missing or lost. Similarly, they can get copies of articles from journals, if Brown lacks issues or does not subscribe. Material cannot be borrowed for course reserves or for extended periods of time. Any materials are borrowed for the personal research use of Brown faculty, students, and staff. Requests may by submitted in person at the Reference Desks at Rockefeller and Sciences or via the electronic request forms on the library web page.
Several years ago, ILL instituted an Express service for copies that enables us to receive most articles in 3-6 days from commercial vendors. Since vendors cannot supply articles from pre-1988 sources, we do ask for rush service from our traditional partners, as well. Recently installed Ariel software helps by providing for scanning and sending articles over the Internet.
Despite all the improvements, ILL is not instantaneous. It's not like looking for a book or journal on Josiah and plucking the volume off the shelf. Utilizing the service requires planning and a little patience because it is dependent on the responsiveness of other libraries and their willingness to loan or copy their material. Although ILL does not impose limits how on how many requests can be submitted at any one time, the user should prioritize them, since books have a limited loan period, usually two weeks to a month, and it could be difficult to read several books that arrive at the same time. Renewals of books should only be asked for in unusual circumstances and may not always be granted by the lending institution.
Copies of articles are another matter, since they usually do not need to be returned. Unlimited requests may be submitted with the understanding that the more sent in at one time, the longer it will take to send them out, mainly because of the large volume received daily. Regardless of how many requests are submitted, the staff tries to get the material for the user as soon as possible, and 99% of all requests received are sent within 24 hours.
Another service being looked into is electronic delivery of articles to user's individual workstations. Ariel, for example, has the capability of sending articles directly to a requestor's email account. An online copy would be kept until the user confirms its receipt or for one week, thus avoiding copyright problems. Many users have asked if there was a way for ILL to keep track of their requests, which, because of the sheer numbers, is impossible. However, to help them monitor submissions, it is now possible for patrons to receive a copy of a completed form by providing an email address.
When planning a long and/or complicated project, it is best to discuss it with ILL, along with Reference, for suggestions on finding pertinent material efficiently and advice on availability to avoid frustration or disappointment.
Beth Coogan