Interlibrary loan

[ted.smith@cdmg.uucp.netcom.com (Ted Smith)]

To: DINOSAUR@LEPOMIS.PSYCH.UPENN.EDU
Subject: Interlibrary loan

To: dinosaur@lepomis.psych.upenn.edu

 >>>"Trundle on down to your local library and ask them to request the article
 >>>for you via Interlibrary Loan."

L>>>This is another case of urban people taking for granted services that just
 >>>aren't available in the country.  There isn't a public library within 35
 >>>miles of here that has any interlibrary loan access.  In the sticks,
 >>> libraries are usually little more than lending collections of donated old
 >>>novels,  maintained by elderly volunteers on a part-time basis.

L>The problem is not just with rural libraries. I live in a town of
 >15,000 on the edge of a metropolitan area of 2.5 million. Our town
 >is very prosperous and has a brand-new library. We are "supposed"
 >to have interlibrary loan.

L>The first time I used it (to order a thesis from an out-of-state
 >university), the librarian who handles I.L.L. was very nice and
 >cooperative. The second time, I requested a vertebrate paleo text
 >I didn't own, which was on long-term check-out at the nearby
 >university. She hassled me for a month about this one, including
 >a phone call to me at work during which she asked for justification
 >for the request. I got the book after 6 weeks. She refused to process
 >my third request on the grounds that the book was "most likely a
 >reference" and she would have to search for it "all over the
 >country on OCLC."

L>I empathize with people who live in isolated, rural areas. There
 >ought to be a solution to this problem, but I don't know what it is.

Yeah, I know there are problems with ILL.  Some universities here in
California won't lend theses to us, so we occassionally have to travel
to view the documents that we need.  And some libraries won't lend
out-of-state.  And ILL isn't everywhere available.  But it never hurts
to ask.  Some folks may not even be aware that there is such a thing
(that's why I suggested it in the first place). [As for being 35 miles
from the nearest library, I've experienced that. It just meant that I
had to adjust my schedule and stop by the library when I went to town
for groceries.]

  -- Ted Smith

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