Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Interlending & Document Supply, Volume 40, Issue 1

Welcome to 40:1

It was less than a year ago from this printing that the two of us began to consider the possibility of assuming editorship of Interlending & Document Supply. The idea was exciting, and more than a little humbling. Who were we – two Midwestern cat-owning librarians – to take on stewardship of what has been perhaps the most influential journal for resource sharing? Gradually the idea became less terrifying and more intriguing. Who we were, were librarians from respected programs – Mary from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Collette from the University of Michigan – with a combined resource sharing experience of over a half century and from a variety of institutions. Collette has worked in academic libraries in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana, in a library consortium, and in library automation. Many of you will remember her as the product manager for OCLC Resource Sharing. Mary has worked at both large and small academic libraries, as well an academic law library, and the National Library of Medicine. Mary was the driving force behind the creation of ALA’s STARS section and Collette established an annual no-charge ILL education program offered by STARS in conjunction with the ALA Midwinter Meeting. Mary has been active in IFLA and ALA and participated in resource sharing meetings around the globe, while Collettehas analyzed local resource sharing patterns and established the first in a series of Discovery to Delivery conferences in Indiana. In short, between the two of us we have experience in a variety of institutions with a variety of practices. While that does not make us expert in all aspects of resource sharing, it does give us a familiarity with the broad spectrum of services and methodologies. More importantly, between the two of us we know a lot of resource sharing librarians who are expert in those areas.

As we go forward we will be soliciting articles that encompass all aspects of today’s resource sharing environment. We plan to expand this journal’s scope to include all forms of resource sharing and related subjects in all types of libraries. We will be adding book reviews, additional columns, and guest editorials.

Over the next year we will be recruiting new members for the editorial board who share our view that while interlending and interlibrary loan are the terms we use, the ways in which we meet that demand are global, collaborative, and mission-critical. The new board will continue to provide global coverage and guidance.

As we go forward we also want to look back. Part of what made editorship of ILDS daunting was that we would be following in the footsteps of Mike McGrath, who has steered this journal for a decade with an unerring sense of direction, integrity, and patience. The profession as a whole, not just ILDS,benefited from his work and dedication.

12th ILDS Conference Chicago

This issue is not just our first as editors, but it is also the first of two issues dedicated to the proceedings of the 12th IFLA Interlending & Document Supply Conference held in Chicago, September 19-21, 2011. That conference has special meaning for both of us: Mary was co-chair of the conference planning committee and Collette was a member of the planning committee as well as a presenter. This was the first time the ILDS conference was held in the USA and,as proud Midwesterners, we both enjoyed showcasing Chicago and its iconic skyline.

The conference itself was exciting and brought together interlending professionals from 20 countries, literally from Australia to Zimbabwe. The topics were just as far ranging, with papers on ILL systems, international ILL,open access, sources for Russian and Chinese language materials and, of course copyright and intellectual property. We heard presentations on the impact of copyright on Canadian interlending and German document delivery services, which underscored the need for IFLA’s important work on the copyright treaty. We discovered new sources and techniques for locating Russian and Chinese language materials, and learned the current state of affairs in Zimbabwean and Turkish interlending.

Judging from the presentations we heard in Chicago, the days when interlending and commercial document delivery were sufficient to meet the needs of our users is past, if indeed they ever were enough. Our presenters described modern day interlending operations which typically include remote circulation services, incorporate purchase on demand practices, attempt to obtain all forms of media for our users, borrow and lend materials from archives and special collections, manage intellectual property rights, coordinate memberships in multiple consortia, and provide a degree of responsiveness to our users impossible to imagine even ten years ago. The expectations for service are no longer set by libraries, but by the larger, online, commercial market.

Those of us who attended the conference experienced a level of energy and enthusiasm that has stayed with us long after we unpacked our suitcases. It gives us great pleasure to offer some degree of that experience to you through the next few issues of this journal.

Collette Mak, Mary Hollerich