INTERLIBRARY BORROWING: COSTS AND BENEFITS

An assessment is needed of the factors that contribute to the cost of obtaining material on interlibrary loan. The main internal library resource involved is staff time, which must be used effectively as well as efficiently. The internal costs per loan at the British Library Lending Division are less than at other libraries, which would not benefit from competing with the Lending Division, though groups of libraries might supply ‘easier’ requests among themselves, through on‐line union lists or core collections of periodicals. Interlibrary loan systems should also be able to provide an urgent service for special cases, but it is not easy to reconcile the demands and the actual needs of users. Despite economic arguments for free distribution of information, some level of charging is a useful means of regulating interloan demand. Document delivery can be effected by acquisition for stock, referral to another library, or interlibrary loan, and costs and benefits vary for each method. It is concluded that libraries should be able to operate a cost‐effective interlending service by concentrating on items that users really need and by assessing carefully when interloans are most beneficial. At the same time, it is necessary to assess the effects of new procedures and technologies at local level on the scholarly and scientific communication system as a whole.