Study Notes on Collection Development and Interlibrary Loan Collaboration

Authors:
- Megan Allen, Suzanne M. Ward, Tanner Wray, Karl E. Debus-López.
Affiliations:
- Purdue University Libraries, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Publication: December 12, 2003, Purdue e-Pubs Libraries Research Publications.

Collaboration in Libraries: Libraries are exploring collaboration models between interlibrary loan (ILL), collection development, and acquisitions.
On-Demand Acquisition Models: Overview of two models:
- Set aside acquisitions funds for purchasing books requested via ILL.
- Describes workflows, scope criteria, and departmental relationships.
Effectiveness Metrics: Reports include:
- Turnaround time (comparable to traditional ILL).
- Average cost per book: $37.00$ .
- Patron satisfaction: very high.
Related Topics: Subsequent circulation of titles and analysis of relevance to library collections.

Keywords:
- Interlibrary Loan
- Acquisitions
- Collection Development
- Collaboration

Traditional Interlibrary Loan:
- Library borrows books from another library to fill patron requests, returning items after use.
- Costs associated with each transaction include:
- Staff time
- Supplies
- Shipping
- Equipment
- Network fees
- Cost Study (1996, Association of Research Libraries): Average cost is $27.83$ per ILL transaction.
Library-to-Library Borrowing Costs: Borrowing library incurs about two-thirds of total ILL costs.
Direct Purchase: Some ILL operations enable direct purchasing of specific materials like:
- Dissertations from Dissertation Express.
- Government research reports from NTIS.
Time Constraints: Purchasing outside traditional channels can be time-consuming and cost-intensive.
Policies: Each library sets policies regarding:
- How far to fulfill requests for unavailable materials.
- Patron cost-sharing for acquiring materials.
- Collection integration of purchased items.

Definition: An approach where collaboration between access services, interlibrary loan departments, bibliographers, and collection development officers guide purchasing decisions over borrowing.
Implementation Process:
- Establish guidelines.
- Designate funds for purchasing.
- Track titles for analysis.
Local Variations:
- Differences in funding amounts, selection criteria, and the role of technical services.
Bucknell University Case Study:
- First reported example of on-demand ILL/acquisitions partnership:
- Began in 1990.
- Implemented rush orders for all ILL requests of in-print titles.
- Observed cost-effectiveness in purchasing versus borrowing.
- Increased customer satisfaction and circulation for purchased titles.

Focus Institutions: University of Wisconsin-Madison & Purdue University Libraries.
Comparison: Both institutions have fundamentally similar student enrollments and are part of the CIC consortium, which facilitates resource sharing.

Library System: 41,000 students, 19,000 faculty/staff.
ILL Transactions:
- Total ILL requests: 38,000 (2001/02) from Memorial Library.
- Success rate from off-campus sources: 31,434 fulfilled.
Collection Funding:
- Total spent: $1.8 ext{ million}$
- Total new volumes: 80,000 volumes added.
Criteria for Selection:
- In scope items for UW-Madison (excludes practical education materials, law, medicine).
- Published within the last three years (adjusted to five years).
- Maximum cost: $250$ .
- Foreign language titles permitted.
Rush Acquisition Procedures:
- Patron requests are evaluated, and a rush process is initiated based on need.
- Multiple web-based sources prioritized for expediency (e.g., Amazon.com).
Effectiveness Metrics:
- 135 titles purchased for $4,976$ in two years; average cost per title: $36.86$ with an average shipping cost of $3.85$ .
- Patron request breakdown: 48% graduate students, 9% undergraduates, 43% faculty/staff.
- Circulation for purchased titles averaged 3.5 times per title, much higher than the general collection.

Library System: 38,000 students, 14 collections.
ILL Transactions: 50,912 requests (2001/02), 29,503 fulfilled from off-campus.
Budget:
- Total monograph budget: $1,000,000$
- 16,000 new books added.
Initial Observations: 1999 proposal for a pilot project due to high demand for recently published scholarly titles originally held elsewhere.
Criteria for Selection:
- Scholarly works in English.
- Published in the last five years.
- Available for shipping within one week.
- Maximum price of $150$ (later raised to $100$ ).
Effective Workflow:
- Use of Amazon.com for procurement of orders.
- Handling of requests through ILL with minimal disruption to staff workloads.
Overall Impact:
- Collaboration improves efficiency and patron service, prompting greater usage of on-demand books than those acquired through traditional methods.
Circulation Patterns: Shows increased frequency for on-demand titles than those from the broader collection, reflecting student needs and preferences.

Evaluation Criteria:
- Patron department status.
- Subsequent circulation of acquired items.
- Patron feedback through collected questionnaires.
- Bibliographers’ analysis to assess title relevance.
Key Findings:
- Most patrons found titles relevant.
- Positive feedback on the turnaround time and quality of titles.
- Majority of bibliographers indicated titles should have been acquired through traditional collection efforts.

Viability of On-Demand Purchasing: A successful approach to integrating immediate patron needs into collection development.
Budget Insights: On-demand acquisitions represented approximately 3% of annual monograph budgets, indicating effective traditional processes still meet the bulk of user needs.
Future Improvement: Each library may customize factors of the program (selection criteria, suppliers, etc.) to fit local needs while maintaining effective service.