LIBRARY HOME | FIND BOOKS | FIND ARTICLES | SEARCH BY SUBJECT | LIBRARY SERVICES | SEARCH THE WEB | HELP

APPENDIX H.

Interlibrary Library Loan Turnaround Time

Performance Measurement 1999 – 2001

Submitted By Shirley B. Cavanagh

Interlibrary Loan’s primary service goal is to ensure fast delivery of loan materials to our library patrons.  Buley Library patrons now have immediate access to our numerous electronic full-text databases and receive most material from the Connecticut State University Library consortium within 3 to 5 days.

ILL services have been using the latest technology to find journals not owned by our library. We are currently using a Fax machine and Ariel software to obtain quickly journal articles available from other libraries.  Ariel software directly scans articles and documents and then transmits these full-text journal articles, saving time, postal costs and long distance phone charges.

Our patrons’ needs for research material have increased substantially and Interlibrary Loan Services must provide fast and cost-effective delivery of material from a variety of sources. To meet our library patrons’ expectations, ILL services process most loan requests submitted by SCSU faculty and students within 24 hours from receipt of request. Last year, we decided to review the turnaround time for our ILL requests to see how quickly material was processed and delivered to our library users. Turnaround time is defined as the amount of time between the acceptance of the ILL request by Interlibrary Loan staff and when the material is finally delivered to Interlibrary Loan.

A literature review was conducted to determine the average turnaround times reported in various articles and studies. An article entitled Interlibrary Loan Turnaround Time by Linda Phillips gave us statistical information on the supply times for academic libraries. This article reported that the average time for research libraries to send and receive material ranged from 10 to 22 calendar days.  While the turnaround time for college libraries ranged from 6 to 16 calendar days¹. A 1996 study of fill time for libraries using the WLN ILL system reported an average of 11 days from the day the request is routed to the library that supplied the item until the item is received².  An analysis of our library’s statistics could now be benchmarked against the standards already established by other academic libraries.

All of our ILL transactions are available from the OCLC monthly reports sent to our library. Interlibrary Loan used these statistical reports to evaluate and compare the turnaround time of our ILL transactions, covering a 6-month period (July to December) for the years 1999 and 2000.  Our analysis concluded that from July to December 1999 the mean turnaround time for ILL loans was 14.9 days.  During the 6-month period in 2000, the mean turnaround times was further reduced to 7.8 days.  Comparing these two 6-month periods, Interlibrary Loan was able to reduce the average turnaround time in 2000 by 7.1 days or by 47.5 percent.  Since library patrons are concerned primarily with how fast their requests are received, the results  have encouraged us to provide faster and higher quality service for our students and faculty.

Since last year was the first time that our interlibrary loan statistics were reviewed, we decided to evaluate again the turnaround time for two full years. This evaluation covered two full fiscal years, 1999/2000 and 2000/2001. In 1999/2000, ILL turnaround time was 17 days.  In 2000/2001, the time was reduced to 12 days, a 29.4 percent improvement. Our turnaround time continues to improve and we will strive to maintain or even reduce the time needed to actually receive loan material. A copy of the statistics for the two years is provided in the appendix of this report.

Interlibrary Loan Services should expand its services and ability to deliver library material quickly to our patrons.  For example, interlibrary loan forms should be put online in order to reduce the amount of paperwork handled by the staff.  Students and faculty could then send electronically their loan requests, saving time in the ILL process.  Our Connecticut State University Library courier service should be studied to determine the fill rate within the consortium.  We receive most material from three to five days but have never actually analyzed the turnaround time of this courier system. Finally, an analysis of Fax and Ariel transmissions should be conducted to review the effectiveness of using these technologies.  Library research shows that using Ariel significantly improves the transit time for receiving articles. Our library should continue to emphasis timely service to our borrowers through studies and implementation of new technologies.  

1.   Linda L. Phillips et al., “Interlibrary Loan Turnaround Time: Measuring the Component Parts" Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply. Vol. 9, No. 3(1999): 97-115.

2. Kathy Forsythe, “WLN Online System… How It Works for You,” WLN Participant 15 (Winter 1996): 7.

Interlibrary Loan Statistics

1999/2000

2000/2001 Data

Interlibrary Loan Turnaround Statistics