The purpose of this article is to examine the trend of interlibrary loans (ILLs) through the experiences of Edinburgh University Library (EUL). A preliminary study aims to consider how the purchase of one e‐journal package impacted on the number of ILL requests processed.
The article describes the experience of EUL.
The article finds that total ILLs, both returnables and non‐returnables, rose to a peak in 1998 and have declined significantly since then. Full desk‐top delivery has not yet been achieved, but this is in the forefront of the library's strategy.
The paper gives a detailed insight into the impact of e‐journals and other factors on the use of the document supply service for both returnables and non‐returnables in a large UK university.
