Borrow or Buy? The Convergence of Interlibrary Loan and

Collection Development

Kristen N. HindesInterlibrary Loan and Instruction LibrarianLibrary and Information ServicesSaint Michael’s College

Vermont Library Conference, May 2011

ILL will purchase rather than borrow materials that meet set criteria.

ILL Select Program

Durick Library serves:2200 FTE students 150 Faculty

Durick Library owns: 275,000 book and periodical volumes130,000 microforms125 research databasesAccess to over 60,000 print and electronic

journal titles

OCLC symbol: SMD

ILL transactions (borrowing and lending) FY10 = 10,353

• Affiliations: VALS, LYRASIS, LVIS

• Management software: Clio • Document delivery: Ariel 4.1

& Odyssey (sending only)

ILL at SMC

• Bucknell University• University of Wisconsin• Purdue University

Collection Development Based on Patron Requests: Collaboration between Interlibrary Loan and Acquisitionsby S. Ward, T. Wray & K. Debus-López. Library Collections,

Acquisitions, & Technical Services 27 (2003): 203.

Project History

• Fall 2003– Borrowing = 680 books– Average turnaround = 7.8 days

• Of the 680 titles, 68 were published in English in the previous 5 years.

• Of the 68, only 41 were available 24-hour ship in Amazon.com

• Total cost = $1800 – $44/title; not including shipping

• Annual cost: $4000

Collection Analysis

• Published in the last 5 years• English• Scholarly, nonfiction publication• Delivery within a week• Maximum cost $50• Curriculum-centered• Undergraduate audience

Criteria

• Associate Director for Collection Services• Library Director• Head of Acquisitions• Associate Director for Bibliographic Services

Buy-in

• ILL will identify requests that meet the criteria

• ILL will order the book through Amazon.com using the SMC Library account

• Both ILL and Acquisitions will receive an order confirmation via email from Amazon.com– Upon receiving order confirmation,

Acquisitions will import a bibliographic record and create an Acquisitions Order Record using ILL Select as the fund code and enter ILL in the requestor field

Process

• ILL will receive the book and give the invoice to Acquisitions. – ILL will property stamp the book and process

it as a regular ILL with a 60 day due date

• When the book is returned by the patron, ILL will deliver it to Acquisitions for it to be checked in as received and processed to Cataloging.

Process

• Added DVDs and Fiction• Choose Hardcover• Forward “Your order has been

shipped” emails• Ordering ILL Select and ILL

– University Press titles– Delay in shipping

• Amazon Prime• Published in the last 10 years• Increased max cost to $100

Tweaks

• Published in the last 10 years• English• Hardcover• Scholarly nonfiction publications,

Fiction, Children’s Literature & DVDs• Delivery within a week• Maximum cost $100• Curriculum-centered• Undergraduate audience

Current Criteria

FY05 allocation: $4000FY05 spent: $173655 titles, average cost per title: $33

FY06 allocation: $1800FY06 spent: $317099 titles, average cost per title: $31

FY07 allocation: $3000FY07 spent: $4275103 titles, average cost per title: $41

Allocations & Expenditures

FY08 allocation: $3500FY08 spent: $5231134 titles, average cost per title: $39

FY09 allocation: $5000FY09 spent: $292981 titles, average cost per title: $36

FY10 allocation: $4000FY10 spent to date: $4723134 titles, average cost per title: $35

Allocations & Expenditures

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10

Allocated

Spent

Allocations & Expenditures

FY05 20 responses/55 titles1. Did the book arrive in time to meet your

needs? 20=yes0=no

2. In your opinion, what is the usefulness of this book as a permanent addition to the Library’s collection?

19=very useful1=moderately useful0=marginally useful

Patron Feedback

Circulation History

#Circs ILL Select603 titles

0 -

1 41%

2 24%

3 12%

4 8%

5+ 14%

Circulation History

#Circs New Books39,175

ILL Select603

0 59% -

1 20% 41%

2 9% 24%

3 4% 12%

4 2% 8%

5+ 5% 14%

What are we buying?

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

RC HQ PS LB BF PZ

# TitlesCircs

Undergraduates & Graduates

81%

Faculty & Staff 19%

Who is requesting?

• Student-centered• Cost-effective• Easy• High impact way to complement

traditional collection development

Benefits

Borrow or Buy? The Convergence of Interlibrary Loan and

Collection Development

Kristen N. HindesInterlibrary Loan and Instruction LibrarianLibrary and Information ServicesSaint Michael’s College

Vermont Library Conference, May 2011