INTERLIBRARY LENDING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND 1980–81

Interlending in the past year has evidently been affected by the financial climate. The overall traffic has dropped slightly as has the number of requests received direct by the British Library Lending Division. It is not surprising therefore that a lot of consideration has been given to the possible pattern of interlending in the future and in particular the role of the National Committee on Regional Library Co‐operation as well as that of the regional bureaux. Discussion on a national scale has been initiated on the future role of union catalogues and how they may affect the mechanism for interlending.