Both examples are intrinsically linked to the issue of the cost of interlibrary loan operations. Since lost books represent additional costs, libraries grow more and more hesitant to lend if the books get lost. Second, libraries may also want to know more about a potential lost book before paying the invoice. First, libraries may not be willing to share items, especially costly ones, if they fear it will get lost in the mail. The large numbers of shipping and the costs associated with shipping items, can serve as a potential barrier for libraries sharing items through ILL. Such a large amount of shipping means libraries could benefit from investing more in monitoring shipments. Tolppanen and Derr found that up to 38% of all borrowing requests at their library were considered loans or items that required shipping. Even if the percentage of total physical items shipped is going down, shipping costs will remain one of the biggest expenses any library engaging in interlibrary loan. The shipping costs for interlibrary loan and the cost for the operations of the unit in general cannot be separated. Before getting into the discussion of how and what the system does, it is important to look at some of the arguments that other practitioners have made concerning cost and shipping. ![]() Resource sharing is all about collaboration and cooperation through the OBILLSK Shipment Tracking system, libraries can experience a new level of integration that has not been seen before. It also provides the library with new functionality that helps them to understand the whole picture for shipping. The OBILLSK Shipment Tracking system allows a consolidated picture of all ILL shipping across any platform. ![]() The challenge with these options is that they only provide data concerning shipping with that particular vendor. Libraries have compensated for this by using vendor provided solutions like UPS World Ship. Second, most of the interlibrary loan systems that libraries use to process and manage requests do not track or analyze the library shipping. These costs are usually staff, equipment or resource related. First, much of the cost analysis consists of factors that are directly controlled and analyzed by the researcher. The reason this is not addressed in detail is twofold. ![]() While these articles are helpful for those looking to improve their resource sharing services, very few of them examine one of the core functions of a resource sharing unit, that being the shipping of books from the home library to the borrowing library. This is illustrated by the literature surrounding resource sharing. However, along with the increase in usage, comes the increase in cost. There are numerous articles discussing the potential for resource sharing to supplement the activities of the research library. Interlibrary loan, or resource sharing, has emerged in the past decade to become one of the premier academic library processes. It is through the development of innovative technologies that libraries can continue to serve as incubators for practical solutions that can help the discipline and practice of librarianship.īy Ryan Litsey & Scott Luker Introduction It is actively in use at 15 academic libraries nationwide and has over 190,000 items scanned since October of 2016. The system is now available for all libraries. ![]() Client-side frameworks include Bootstrap and jQuery for responsive design, Shield UI for data visualizations, and jVectorMap for geographical representation of shipments. This system takes advantage of several web-based technologies that makes it easy to use for students, staff and library administrators. The system is unique because not only does it offer an interface for consolidating the items being shipped out of an ILL office, it also provides real time statistical data of global geographic shipping patterns, tracking of packages across all major couriers, and customized date range reporting for ILL shipment activity. The OBILLSK Shipment Tracking system is the first consolidated and comprehensive shipment information system for interlibrary loan.
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