– The aim is to provide a review of the literature concerning interlending and document supply and related matters.
– The paper is based on the reading of over 150 journals, as well as monographs, reports and websites.
– It is found that open access (OA) continues to grow in importance and may well be approaching a tipping point where it becomes the norm rather than a minority and patronised channel. The UK government has signalled support for author mandates to publish in open access journals. However in the US – the publishers are once again attempting to block OA mandates. Patron driven acquisition has clearly arrived and is deeply embedded in the US although less so elsewhere in the world. Significant resistance to Big Deals has resulted in an excellent settlement by UK universities.
– The paper represents a useful source for librarians and others interested in interlending and document supply as well as such related matters as resource sharing and open access.
