Interlibrary Loan Service

Interlibrary Loan

The idea is to communicate the patron of the library with a feeling that when he enters the portal of library, he is as it, entering the portals of all libraries not only of his country but also of the world at large. It is the dictate of modern librarianship that has improved access to information enhancing the libraries mission .There will always be overworked librarians and underfunded libraries, but the efforts to meet the customers need should be made whenever possible.

Interlibrary loan and document delivery are important adjunct to the basic library goal of access to information. The objective of ILL is to build closer cooperation between libraries and bring all communities of the world together to facilitate the exchanging of ideas and wisdom. But borrowing libraries are under obligation to consider ILL service as a courtesy and a privilege, rather than a right. Interlibrary loan (ILL) is the process by which a borrower in one library obtains books, periodicals articles or other library materials from another, sometime distant library. ILL allows broadening the scope of research by facilitating use of materials not owned by Library. In interlibrary loan at its simplest may allow one branch of a large library to borrow a book from the central library for the benefit of a requesting borrower. More complex transactions might be the case of a researcher requesting a filmed or a paper copy of a medieval manuscript from an overseas library. In either case, besides the number of steps in each procedure and needed expertise of the parties involved the philosophy as well as the procedure is basically the same.

Philosophically, interlibrary loan stems from the premise that no library can be completely self sufficient in meeting the needs of its customers and that increasing the expansion of knowledge is in the general interest, Under ILL borrowing and lending is regarded by libraries as essential to library services. ILL has two complementary purpose: the first is to aid the researcher in acquiring specialized material whatever origin and of whatever location for research and serious studies ; the second is to assist the general to borrow materials he might not otherwise have access to because of lack of proper library facilities.

Inter Library Loan Process:

Under ILL practice one library (the requesting library) places a request on behalf of its users with another library (the fulfilling library) for materials that the requesting library does not possess or cannot be immediately provided by the library. ILL service is an essential service provided by all libraries throughout India and USA. ILL practices encompass the lending of the item itself, such as a book, audiovisual material, or microfilm (referred to as “returnable’s”), as well as the provision of copies of requested items, such as journal articles, and conference papers (referred to as “non returnable’s”). Good faith cooperation between libraries is the basis of interlibrary loan; therefore it is acceptable only in the case of true financial distress. Interlibrary loan requires time for contacting the patron, verification, searching, communication, packaging, furniture, space and billing cost.

Original Research Article:

• Khan, M. A. (2013). IPR in India and USA: Its impact on library services. Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10603/40586