Interlibrary Loans (ILL)

SASKATCHEWAN RESOURCE SHARING

Mandate for interlibrary loans Goal of interlibrary loans Interlibrary Loan Policies Responsibilities of Borrowing Libraries Responsibilities of Provincial Library Responsibilities of Lending Libraries Appendices – Resource Types Alternate Formats Compact Discs (CD ROM / Music) DVDs Large Print Microform (Fiche/Film) Multimedia Kits Music Audiotapes Spoken Word Audiotapes (non-restricted) Talking Books Audiotape (restricted) Talking books CDs (restricted) Talking books CDs (non-restricted) Videotapes Basic Reference Materials Bestsellers & Popular Material Current Year Genealogical Materials Juvenile Materials Local History Multilingual Materials Paperbacks Periodicals Rare/Fragile Books Textbooks MANDATE: These policies and standards for interlibrary loans are prepared under the authority of The Public Libraries Act, 1996. Part II Section 2 (b) ii and iii Purposes 3 (2) The purposes of the provincial public library system are: (b) to ensure the existence and availability of: (ii) interlibrary loans; (iii) reciprocal borrowing; Part II Section 6(1) Use of public libraries to be free 6 (1) Every resident of Saskatchewan is entitled to borrow, directly or by interlibrary loan, library materials held by any public library in Saskatchewan, subject to any reasonable conditions, other than the payment of a fee, that may be imposed by the responsible public library board. This means that for a Saskatchewan citizen, interlibrary loans from any public library within Saskatchewan is a right as outlined in The Public Library Act, 1996. For materials outside of Saskatchewan, citizens have a right to request items, but filling the request from outside of Saskatchewan is determined by the local library policy. This is based on the Interlibrary Loan Code principles as outlined below. GOAL: To ensure equity of access to information for Saskatchewan residents by co-ordinating and facilitating interlibrary loans among public libraries and between public libraries and other libraries within Saskatchewan and outside the province. Interlibrary Loan Policies SCOPE: A borrowing library may request a loan or copy of any available material from another library in accordance with the lending policy of that library, the established interlending protocol for that library and the laws of copyright. The lending library will then determine whether the particular item or items requested should be provided to the borrowing library. POLICIES: The policies for interlibrary loans within Saskatchewan are based on the principles articulated in the CLA/ASTED Interlibrary Loan Code revised in 1995 by the Resource Sharing Committee of the Canadian Library Association. The policies cited here outline the criteria for the eligibility to obtain service and for the responsibilities of libraries engaging in the interlibrary loan process. The decision to lend individual items out-of-province is absolutely at the discretion of the lending library. Requests, even if they conform to the Interlibrary Loan Code, may be refused if they are considered detrimental to the interest of the lending library's primary clientele. Within Saskatchewan, interlibrary loans from any public library is a rights as outlined in The Public Library Act, 1996. LIBRARIES ELIGIBLE FOR SERVICE: Those who make their catalogues accessible via the Internet, including the Gateway, and who are willing to lend through interlibrary loan service are eligible. PUBLIC LIBRARY POLICIES: The Directors of the public library systems have all agreed to a standard six week loan period for loans. The Directors have also agreed to serving requests based on a “first come, first served” model if a hold has been placed on the item. RESPONSIBILITIES OF BORROWING LIBRARIES Each library is to provide the resources to meet the ordinary needs and interests of its primary clientele. Material requested from another library should be limited to those items that do not conform to the library's collection development policy or for which there is no recurring demand. Libraries are expected to develop resource sharing methods to link collection development processes and purchaseds with patron requests. Borrowing libraries must exhaust local resources before resorting to interlibrary loans. This includes resources beyond the local library such as any authority within the community or region that could provide information relevant to the request. This could be a knowledgeable organization or business such as a genealogical society, local newspaper, licensing authority, law society, or agricultural representative. Libraries will verify or identify the correctness of the information requested Saskatchewan networks and any other relevant location/bibliographic resources within Saskatchewan should also be searched including other online catalogues from Regional or Multitype libraries, before forwarding to other in-province libraries or the Provincial Library. If an item cannot be verified, information about the original source of citation is to be included along with the statement "cannot verify". Any other information the patron may have such as a website address or bibliography from a book or conference paper should also be listed. Material requested must be described as completely and accurately as possible following accepted bibliographic practice and include publisher, date, ISBN and price, if known. For photocopy and microform requests, the maximum amount the patron is willing to pay must be indicated or a statement saying the patron is not willing to pay. Public libraries will, on a monthly/yearly basis, report statistics on the volume of lending, to the Saskatchewan Provincial Library using prescribed forms. The borrowing library and its users must comply with the conditions of loan established by the lending library. It is the responsibility of the borrowing library to inform the lending library: If an extended loan period is required, to account for lengthy delivery times in remote areas. If an item should be shipped directly to a patron in areas requiring lengthy delivery times. It is the responsibility of the borrowing library to avoid any action where damage to the original material would result (e.g. avoid photocopying fragile item with tight spine which would crack under pressure.) The borrowing library is responsible for any charges they authorize for courier service (i.e.: UPS) or for parcels being sent to a customs broker. Borrowing libraries are responsible for all photocopy and microform charges and are to indicate a maximum amount they are willing to pay on the request. For the purpose of properly advising their clients, borrowing libraries will also keep themselves informed about current amounts being charged by lending libraries. Borrowing libraries must familiarize themselves with copyright laws and their licence to ensure requests are in accordance with their stipulations. It is the responsibility of the borrowing library to maintain all records for their interlibrary loan requests including location reports from possible lending libraries. The borrowing library may ask the lending library for status on requests only for those on which no information has been reported and on which 30 days have elapsed. The safety of borrowed materials is the responsibility of the borrowing library from the time the material leaves the lending library until it is received back. The borrowing library is responsible for packaging the material so as to ensure its return in good condition. If damage or loss occurs, the borrowing library must meet all costs of repair or replacement, in accordance with the policies of the lending library. It is the responsibility of the borrowing library to include a copy of the request (i.e. packing slip or printout enclosed when received) with the item when it is returned. This document will identify the material as an interlibrary loan for the lending library and improve processing. Requests for Renewal: It is the responsibility of the Borrowing Library to make requests for renewal directly to the Lending Library regardless of the method of communication (i.e.: interlibrary loan software, e-mail or Canada Post) or of the intermediary institution that initiated the request. B. RESPONSIBILITIES OF PROVINCIAL LIBRARY Provincial Library will establish protocols, standards, guidelines and procedures for interlibrary loans within the province. Provincial Library will handle interlibrary loan requests for out-of-province locations with the following conditions and exceptions: Saskatchewan locations – These titles will be returned to the requesting library. Reference works -- Photocopies of specified portions of reference books may be requested as long as it conforms to copyright law. Additional requests of photocopies of specific information are acceptable, what the information is, and the amount willing to pay, but must be made in a separate request. Genealogical materials -- Microfilm copies are often available for loan as are photocopies of specific information from specific titles (e.g. family name). This tends to be a fee based service. (Recommendation: this would be good for libraries to go direct to request microfilm because of the extra work involved with a “middle person” – and lending libraries prefer to work directly with the borrowing library. Periodical and serials -- Provincial Library will accept requests for whole issues of periodicals from its own collection, and for photocopies of specified portions of such materials for out-of-province location, as long as the request adheres to the copyright laws. Popular/high-demand titles -- Any book which is in circulation or too popular at Saskatchewan locations, should not be requested on interlibrary loan and should be considered for purchase by the requesting library. Recently published books -- Books published within the last twelve months may not be available due to high demand by the lending (owner) library’s primary clientele. Rare books . Requests for such material must indicate that the borrowing institution meets specified criteria for handling and care. Provincial Library will try to locate or verify and provide information about conditions of loan or location to the borrowing library. Ephemeral or bulky materials , including large maps. Provincial Library will try to locate or verify and provide information about conditions of loan or location to the borrowing library. Sound recordings, audio and video tapes, computer games compact disks, computer software, and other audiovisual material except for talking books are often restricted because of the cost of mailing and the fragile nature of the item. Provincial Library will try to locate libraries that are willing to lend such material on interlibrary loan. Any costs incurred will be passed on to the borrowing library. Talking Books – Provincial Library does pay the costs for AV materials for patrons who are certified under the CNIB program. Multi-volume sets -- These sets need to be identified in the request, and there may be some restrictions at the lending library’s request. Theses and dissertations -- are treated like a title request. Provincial Library will facilitate training in interlibrary loan procedures for library staff by providing workshops, written documentation, or other instructional service. Provincial Library will pay interlibrary loan service charges for books borrowed by Saskatchewan public libraries when the interlibrary loan request is submitted to Provincial Library and Provincial Library chooses the location. Exceptions are as follows: All libraries other than public libraries are responsible for payment of their own interlibrary loan charges. Any Saskatchewan public library which, because of its charging policies, incurred reciprocal charges from a library that did not normally charge, must pay those charges. Any Saskatchewan public library receiving overdue charges from any library including out-of-province, is responsible for paying those charges. Any Saskatchewan library authorizing payment of courier charges (i.e.: UPS) or sending a parcel to a brokerage firm or receiving a parcel from a brokerage firm is responsible for paying those charges. Provincial Library will not process requests for photocopies or microfilm that do not state patron’s intention to pay or to not accept charges, with the stated minimum amounts less than $5.00. Provincial Library will within the conditions of copyright, provide from within its own collection of periodicals, photocopies of articles requested through interlibrary loan free of charge. Provincial Library will try to arrange for substitute material only on Library Science and Multilingual requests if so indicated on the request. The maximum turnaround time for requests received at Provincial Library under normal circumstances will be 5 days. This means that within that time-frame, the request will have gone through the search, verification and location process. Provincial Library will continue to work toward improving the fill rate and turnaround time of interlibrary loans in Saskatchewan. This may involve sample surveys and other studies undertaken in cooperation with client libraries. Provincial Library will provide status information only if a period of 30 days has elapsed during which no information has been received on a desired title. This includes urgent requests. Provincial Library will make available for interlibrary loan, materials from its collections which are Last Copy Fiction, Multilingual, and Library Science materials. Provincial Library will provide verification service (bibliographic information) and location information for any Saskatchewan library that requests this service. C. RESPONSIBILITIES OF LENDING LIBRARIES The decision to loan material is at the discretion of the lending library. Each library is encouraged, however, to interpret as generously as possible its own lending policy. Lending libraries must familiarize themselves with copyright laws and their licence to ensure requests are filled in accordance with their conditions. The lending library should process requests promptly. Conditions of loan should be stated clearly and material should be packaged carefully. The lending library must include a copy of the request or other pertinent document (i.e. packing slip) along with the material. The document, which will identify the material as an interlibrary loan, must include the library’s name/region and the request number and may include patron information (i.e. patron number or name). The lending library must provide notification to the borrowing library in the following circumstances: If unable to fill a request. The reason for not filling the request should be stated using standard abbreviations If you are placing a hold on the item in your library. The lending library may use a delivery system of its choice and should take into consideration and interpret as generously as possible the needs of the borrowing library’s patron. The delivery system options include: Canada Post STC (Saskatchewan Transportation Co.) SPM( Saskatchewan Property Management) Commercial courier service Local van delivery Electronic delivery, respecting copyright laws. The lending library when shipping books using Canada Post must use the Library Book Rate and must provide free return-address mailing labels with each package (Note: Canada Post requires this) shipped to requesting libraries.