Actions to Ensure the Integrity and Continuity of the Scholarly Record
ILL librarian as Bibliographic Detective; dealing with“difficult” ILL requests
1. ILL librarian as Bibliographic
Detective;
dealing with
“difficult” ILL requests
Jan. 26th 2013
SEANG-ILL ‘Peter’ Bae
Columbia University Library
2. What is a “DIFFICULT” ILL request?
Difficult to find an OCLC record.
Difficult to find a lender.
A request from a “difficult” patron.
* Combination of all three above *
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3. What our patrons request?
Books, Journals, E-Books, Book
Chapters, Journal
Articles, Dissertations, Proceedings, P
atents, Newspapers
microfilms, microfiches, micro-
cards, CD, DVD, LP, Cassette
Tapes, Laser
Disks, Ephemeras, Patents, Papers, Re
ports, Archival
Materials, Software, Dataset, Data
Base, Pictures and Sculptures.
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6. Some examples….
Pasquino. Carmina Apposita Pasquillo Anno M. D. Xiij.
[Rome: Étienne Guillery & Ercole Nani, 1513.
Gosden, Chris, and Chantal Knowles. Possessing Culture:
Museums, Anthropology And German New Guinea. Berg
Publishers, 2006.
Hakim, Taufiq al-. Praksa au muskilat al-hukm. [Kairo]:
Maktabat al-Adab, 1980.
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7. Why such demand ?
New types of researches.
More Information available through the Internet : i.e. ever-growing
Worldcat, Google and other search engines.
Because we are good at finding and getting things ; they trust us.
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9. After six month of search, we received the article from Iraq via Australia.
However, the surprise was….
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10. Lessons and Question
Internet is a growing organism.
Do not underestimate traditional ways of communication.
Never underestimate person sitting another side of the network.
But, can we do this for every “difficult” request?
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11. ILL Librarians’ Dilemma
We do not have staff trained well enough to handle those difficult
requests. No library school teaches ILL.
We do not have enough time to spend on all those difficult requests.
All patrons are equal but those with difficult request may need more
attention and will appreciate more our efforts.
How to use our limited resources effectively to get fast and successful
results?
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12. How to find more time?(1)
Use every possible time saving tools and automation features
i.e. Direct Request, Worldcat Knowledge base, Purchase on Demand
Analyze the workflow to see if you can squeeze;
IDS Work Flow Toolkit is a great place to find new ideas.
http:// toolkit.idsproject.org
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13. How to find more time?(II)
Positive Cancellation; “we are cancelling now but …”
Do not afraid of cancellation. “Cancel” is not a TABU word in ILL.
Cancelling a request, we can also see how much they need the item.
If they need, they will contact you with more information.
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14. How to get more skills and knowledge(I)
Updates on new technology and trends; Twitter, listserv, RSS
Staff training and ILL wiki to share the information.
Every difficult request provides a chance to learn.
“Weekly/Monthly Stumper Contest”
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15. How to get more skills and knowledge(II)
Get Help from outside ILL office and outside your institution.
The Slavic Reference Service - University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign http://www.library.illinois.edu/spx/srs.htm
East Asian Gateway Service - University of Pittsburgh
http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/eal/Gateway-Home.htm
Von Berg, Dana. “Collaborative Approaches to Resolving Difficult ILL Borrowing
Requests: Using a Working Group and a Wiki for Knowledge Sharing.” Journal of
Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve 20, no. 5 (2010): 337–345.
Bean, Margaret H., and Miriam Rigby. “Interlibrary Loan—Reference Collaboration:
Filling Hard-to-Find Faculty Requests.” Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document
Delivery & Electronic Reserve 21, no. 1–2 (2011): 1–7.
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16. Inside ILL Librarian’s Toolbox
Citation Verification Check List or Guideline.
In-house Language Expert list.
Language tools; Foreign alphabet/number/Library glossary chart.
ShareILL Wiki ; http://www.shareill.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
Multilingual Glossary database—New South Wales State Library
http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/multicultural/glossary/
, 館際互借, 図書館相互貸
借, Fjernlån, Διαδανεισμοί, Kütüphaneler Arası Ödünç Verme,
Multilingual Glossary of Terms —ACRL
http://www.ala.org/acrl/aboutacrl/directoryofleadership/sections/is/iswebsite
/projpubs/multilingual
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17. More Help ?
Extending the human network through your lending service;
“I scratch your back and you will scratch mine.”
Volunteer ILL Stumper-Solver Group? Monitoring the
questions from colleagues and answer within a limited amount
of time.
Can we embed some of the tools into the common ILL
management system such as ILLiad or Worldshare Platform?
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18. It is a cliché but still...
Crisis (difficult request) is a chance to
confirm the role of ILL in the library.
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“You empower us so much, and I think many people take that
empowerment you give to us for granted. Thank you, forever and a
day, for expanding my knowledge.” – from a Happy ILL patron.
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