Interlibrary Loan Borrowing: A Methodology for Analysis

• Main Author: Newsham, Michael A
• Format: Publication
• Language: English
• Published: 01.08.1973
• Subjects: College Libraries; Interlibrary Loans; Library Circulation; Library Research; Research Libraries; Use Studies

The research reported in this paper examined data related to the characteristics of interlibrary loan borrowers, the material borrowed, the question of cost and time it takes to acquire the material, and staff information and procedures. The variables were coded onto computer cards and then tabulated into frequency tables by the computer. There were four major findings discovered as a result of this investigation. First, the average total time it takes for a request to be filled is twenty-three days. Borrowing costs were insignificant, while 75 per cent of the photocopied requests cost only ten cents per page. The concept of a heavy user of interlibrary loan from one department or agency was the third major finding. The fourth and final finding was the percentage breakdown of the number of requests filled on successive passes. This methodology could conceivably be applied to the interlibrary loan services of other medium and large research libraries. (Author/SJ)