1.
Rethinking Resource Sharing Again: the
Rethinking Resource Sharing Ini4a4ve at Ten
Years Old
Margaret Ellingson
Interlibrary Loan and Course Reserves, Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Poul Erlandsen
Department for Information Resources, The Royal Danish Library/Copenhagen University Library,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Sue Kaler
Resource Sharing Team, Massachusetts Library System, Marlborough, MA, USA
Beth Posner
Interlibrary Loan, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA

2.
Rethinking Resource
Sharing. Inspiring libraries.
Empowering people.
Fostering an updated
framework of cooperation
and collaboration

3.
Manifesto
Forums/Presentations
Innovation Awards
ALA RUSA STARS Policies
Committee
STAR Checklist
Contribute to information standards
(NISO and ISO)

4.
VIVA awarded 2017 RRSI Innovation
Award
For whole e-book lending contracts
negotiated with Brill, Oxford University
Press, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley

5.
Manifesto Principles
• Restrictions shall only be imposed as necessary by individual institutions with the
goal that the lowest possible barriers to fulfillment are presented to the user
• Library users shall be given appropriate options for delivery format, method of
delivery, and fulfillment type, including loan, copy, digital copy, and purchase
• Global access to sharable resources shall be encouraged through formal and
informal networking agreements with the goal towards lowest barrier to fulfillment
• Sharable resources shall include those held in cultural institutions of all sorts:
libraries, archives, museums, and the expertise of those employed in such places

6.
• Reference services are a vital component to resource sharing and delivery and
shall be made readily accessible from any initial “can’t supply this” response.
No material that is findable should be totally unattainable
• Libraries should offer service at a fair price rather than refuse but should strive
to achieve services that are not more expensive than commercial services, e.g.,
bookshops
• Library registration should be as easy as signing up for commercial web based
services. Everyone can be a library user

7.
To learn more and join us, please visit
our website at
www.rethinkingresourcesharing.org

8.
Q47 Library loans non-returnable items to libraries outside of
home country.
m We do this now (2)
m We plan to implement in the next 12 months (1)
m We do not do this (0)
Q79 Library makes every effort to serve local borrowers who are short-term guests of the
institution or community.
m We do this now (2)
m We plan to implement in the next 12 months (1)
m We do not do this (0)
Q52 Lending library loans A/V materials. Examples: CDs,
DVDs, VHS tapes.
m We do this now (2)
m We plan to implement in the next 12 months (1)
m We do not do this (0)
Q66 Lending library allows free sharing of materials
whenever possible
m We do this now (2)
m We plan to implement in the next 12 months (1)
m We do not do this (0)

9.
Sue Kaler
Chair, Steering Commi/ee
Rethinking Resource Sharing Ini6a6ve
Beth Posner
Chair, Policies Commi/ee
ALA RUSA STARS
For your use of best prac6ces in library resource sharing
DATE
LIBRARY NAME
The Rethinking Resource Sharing Ini6a6ve ALA RUSA STARS Policies Commi/ee
STAR Cer4ficate

10.
Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States
Prepared by the Interlibrary Loan Committee, Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), 1994, revised 2001. Revised by the Codes,
Guidelines, and Technical Standards Committee, Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section (STARS) 2008 and 2015. Approved by
RUSA Board January 11, 2016.
Download ALA Interlibrary Loan Request Form (Fillable PDF).
The Interlibrary Loan Code below is accompanied by clarifying text from the Explanatory Supplement in the box insets. The supplementary material is
intended to amplify specific sections of the official Code, providing fuller explanation and specific examples for text that is intentionally general and
prescriptive. Libraries are expected to comply with the Code, using the Supplement as a source for general direction.
Introduction
The Reference and User Services Association, acting for the American
Library Association in its adoption of this code, recognizes that the sharing
of material between libraries is a core library service and believes it to be in
the public interest to encourage such an exchange.
In the interest of providing quality service, libraries have an obligation to
obtain material to meet the informational needs of users when local
resources do not meet those needs. Interlibrary loan (ILL), a mechanism
for obtaining material, is essential to the vitality of all libraries.
The effectiveness of the national interlibrary loan system depends upon
participation of libraries of all types and sizes.
This code establishes principles that facilitate the requesting of material by
a library and the provision of loans or copies in response to those requests.
2.0 Purpose
2.1 The purpose of interlibrary loan as defined by this code is to obtain,
upon request of a library user, material not available in the user's local
library. Interlibrary loan is primarily intended to provide a requesting
individual with a physical loan of a defined duration or a non-returnable
copy or scan from another library.
3.0 Scope
3.1 This code regulates the exchange of material between libraries in the
United States.
From the Explanatory Supplement:
The U.S. Interlibrary Loan Code, first published in 1916 and
adopted by The American Library Association in 1917, is
designed to provide a code of behavior for requesting and
supplying material within the United States. The code is
intended to be adopted voluntarily by U.S. libraries and is not
enforced by an oversight body. However, as indicated below,
supplying libraries may suspend service to requesting libraries
that fail to comply with the provisions of this code.
This interlibrary loan code describes the responsibilities of
libraries to each other when requesting material for users.
From the Explanatory Supplement:
Interlibrary loan (ILL) is intended to complement rather than to
substitute for good library collections built and managed to meet
the routine needs of local library users. ILL is based on a tradition
of sharing resources between various types and sizes of libraries
and the belief that no library, regardless of its size or budget, is
completely self-sufficient. When policy and circumstances
warrant, interlibrary loan may also be used to obtain materials
that are owned by the local library but which are not available
because they are damaged, missing, or checked out. Though
some libraries are net borrowers (borrow more than they lend)
and others are net lenders (lend more than they borrow), the
system of interlibrary loan rests on the belief that all libraries
have something to contribute and should be willing to lend if they
are willing to borrow.
From the Explanatory Supplement:

11.
North American STAR Libraries

12.
The Checklist in Europe and Australasia
Poul Erlandsen

13.
STAR Libraries in Europe and the Middle East

14.
Kronborg Castle, Elsinore – Denmark Photo: Thomas Rahbek

15.
”Through participation in the general interlibrary loan service,
public libraries must endeavour to provide users with such
material as the library itself does not possess.”

16.
Principper og retningslinjer for
interurbant lånesamarbejde i Danmark

17.
”No library can be expected to hold every item needed by a
user in its own collection. Also the number of copies of a
title held by a library may prove to be insufficient to meet
the demand of the users.”

18.
STAR Libraries in Australasia

19.
Special thanks to…
• Lars Leon (for our maps)
• The writers of our original
Manifesto
• All the ALA RUSA STARS
Policy Committee members
• All our STAR libraries

20.
Margaret Ellingson
margaret.ellingson@emory.edu
Poul Erlandsen
poer@kb.dk
Sue Kaler
sue@masslibsystem.org
Beth Posner
bposner@gc.cuny.edu