In this issue

Citation

(2004), "In this issue", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 32 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilds.2004.12232daa.001

In this issue

Keyword: Document delivery

Document supply is on a roller coaster at present. Some countries are experiencing growth, the USA for example and others decline, see in particular Goodier and Dean on their research into the UK academic sector. A positive experience of using CISTI Source at a Canadian university is described by Warner. Users were “given access to unmediated document delivery”; other experiments have been described in earlier issues of ILDS but only now has its time really come with the introduction of secure electronic delivery. The tremendous expansion in colleges of further education world-wide has fuelled the growth in demand for document supply from users whose libraries are not equipped to satisfy the demand. The impact of this development on libraries of higher education is analysed by Porat and Shoham in a careful study of changing patterns of demand in Israel. The profession has blown hot and cold over e-books in the last few years. Sober voices are being heard over the visionaries. The constraints on use often mean that the virtues of print outweigh those of electronic. Garrod gives a measured assessment on current and future developments and the implications for document supply. The British Library has seen some important developments in the last years as significant investment takes effect; Natalie Ceeney writes optimistically about the impact on services for remote users. Mary Jackson distils her vast experience into describing what is needed from a document supplier. Ingenta has been an innovative firm from its inception and has had a rollercoaster of a ride. Doug Wright takes us on a few of the ups and downs. Your editor writes a mammoth literature review. Partly because the review in the last issue had to be held over because of lack of space. Partly because many issues that affect document supply – open access, copyright, unmediated delivery etc. are changing fast. Docdel roundup brings you news that you may not have picked up immediately and, lastly, do not miss the announcement for the ILDS conference in Estonia! European delegates were thin on the ground in Canberra – your editor was the only delegate from the UK! Only a handful came from Western Europe as a whole but the Scandinavians were there in force. Next year European ILDS librarians should find it easier to find the funds to go.