[WEB4LIB] Re: Coffman and ILL

[Bigwood, David]

>
>> Hi,
>
>I work as a solo librarian in a corporate library and ILL is very important,
>but as Linda Absher pointed out, most patrons know nothing about or are very
>confused about how it works.
>
>One of Linda's points was:
>3.)  The uncertainty/arcaneness of ILL:  after you offer the service, the
>first question generally is "when can I get it?"  I then find I lose the
>patron's interest when I try to explain how the system works, and how it's up
>to our workload, the other library's workload, etc.  Most companies offer
>their customers a ballpark estimate as to when they'll receive an item--we as
>a profession don't.  Does that make it acceptable?
><snip>
>
>This point really gets to the heart of my problem with the current ILL
>system.  Most of the libraries will only deal with you in writing.  So that
>means I have to use snail mail and get a snail mail reply on something my
>engineer needs yesterday.  It has only been recently that the libraries
>around me have been accepting a faxed ILL form.  They seem to be ignoring the
>technology that could actually generate them some money.  If, as I am
>beginning to understand, Coffman's proposal is more profit driven (which in
>and of itself is
>not a bad thing), why can't the compromise be that those who want it faster
>and are willing to pay for it, can get it faster?  What I see is that
>everyone is forced to wait in the snail mail line.  I would gladly pay to
>have my ILL expedited for those rush needs and I would gladly wait for snail
>mail on those items of lesser importance.  The libraries could still provide
>the free ILL and also make money by providing a fee-based service based on
>priority levels alone.
>
>But what I really want to see is online acceptance of ILL requests.  I would
>like to see a system that acknowledges my request, when it was received, what
>the estimated ship out date is and also notifies me when it gets shipped.  I
>would like to be given a tracking number that I can use to see where my ILL
>request is in the queue.  All of these things are possible.

And these things are available for libraries using OCLC.  It is not very
expensive to join as a selective member.  Then you have an e-mail system
which routes requests and shows ship date.  Combined this with Ariel
(recieve only is very cheap) and Pospero (free) and you have a modern
ILL system.  This is not a wish for but technology which has been around
for years.

Sincerely,
David Bigwood
bigwood at lpi.jsc.nasa.gov
Lunar & Planetary Institute
>
>I hope one day they happen.  Stepping off my soapbox now...
>
>CD
>
>--
>  CD McLean
>  Research Librarian/Library Services Manager
>  Paradyne Corp.
>
>  cmclean at paradyne.com
>  8545 126th Ave. N.
>  Largo, FL  33773
>  727-530-8206 (phone)  727-532-5949 (fax)
>
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>Thanks, cd mclean
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>