NATIONAL INTERLENDING SYSTEMS: EXISTING SYSTEMS AND POSSIBLE MODELS

Interlending practices and procedures have grown up as the need for interlending has grown, but the importance of interlending and the need to approach the problem systematically have not been generally recognised. Few attempts have been made to create a coherent and effective system. Most efforts to improve interlending have consisted of the development of union catalogues, which in many cases are produced without any clear plan, consuming a great deal of effort and money and often making matters more difficult for libraries rather than easier. Almost no information on the performance of interlending systems — in terms of the three main criteria of satisfaction rates, speed of supply and costs — could be found. Four basic models of national interlending systems are identified, relating to one of several major factors — the degree of centralisation or concentration — though other relevant factors are also taken into account. The models are of concentration on a single library; concentration on a few libraries; planned decentralisation; and unplanned decentralisation. This last is by definition not a system at all, but it is what happens in most countries at present. None of the first three does or can exist in pure form, and solutions will consist of combinations of them appropriate to countries of different sizes, types and stages of development.