INTERLIBRARY LOAN CHARGES: THE ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST

Information transfer involves several agents and costs are incurred at various stages of the process. Although interlibrary loan practices were established on the basis of reciprocity among institutions, the imbalance between net lenders and net borrowers has been causing concern about the costs of such a service and who should bear them. Interlibrary loan charges are one means of distributing among libraries the actual costs of the information transfer process. On the other hand, it is in the public interest to allow access to appropriate information banks and interlibrary loan facilitates resource sharing schemes and therefore better use of those resources. Charging can be seen as a rationing mechanism: negative in effect and against the public good.