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An assessment is needed of the factors that contribute to the cost of obtaining material on interlibrary loan. The main internal library resource involved is staff time, which must be used effectively as well as efficiently. The internal costs per loan at the British Library Lending Division are less than at other libraries, which would not benefit from competing with the Lending Division, though groups of libraries might supply ‘easier’ requests among themselves, through on‐line union lists or core collections of periodicals. Interlibrary loan systems should also be able to provide an urgent service for special cases, but it is not easy to reconcile the demands and the actual needs of users. Despite economic arguments for free distribution of information, some level of charging is a useful means of regulating interloan demand. Document delivery can be effected by acquisition for stock, referral to another library, or interlibrary loan, and costs and benefits vary for each method. It is concluded that libraries should be able to operate a cost‐effective interlending service by concentrating on items that users really need and by assessing carefully when interloans are most beneficial. At the same time, it is necessary to assess the effects of new procedures and technologies at local level on the scholarly and scientific communication system as a whole.

Advances the idea that interlibrary lending is the Cinderella of the library service. Shows that it is support staff that frequently perform the tasks associated with interlibrary loan. Argues that a professional librarian should guide this service. Explores the varied roles of the professional interlibrary loan librarian within the context of the US library scene, showing that interlibrary loan service, properly carried out, is both a challenge and stimulus to the professional librarian and an important factor in the satisfaction of user needs.

The OCLC Interlibrary Loan Subsystem became available for use 1 April 1979. The advantages and disadvantages of the ILL Subsystem are examined, as well as the composition and use of the OCLC on‐line union catalogue. Library staffing has had to change because of the way some tasks are now accomplished. Library patrons expect and receive better service. OCLC is conspicuously successful in helping libraries to cope with ever‐increasing numbers of interlibrary loan requests.

This paper aims to describe the role of the National Library of Australia in the Australian interlibrary loan environment, not just in terms of providing access to National Library collections through the document supply service, but also in providing infrastructure to support interlibrary loans across Australia.

The paper describes the various roles the National Library plays in the interlibrary loan/document delivery environment in Australia. It covers the document supply service and the Libraries Australia service, which provides the infrastructure that supports interlibrary loans/document delivery in Australia, and briefly reports on the evaluation of services currently being undertaken.

Providing access to library collections is complex and constantly changing. Client expectations are increasing, and libraries need to change traditional practices to meet user needs.

The paper covers the services offered by the National Library of Australia in supporting interlibrary loans/document delivery. Very few papers cover this topic.

The article considers the status of interlibrary co‐operation in Japan in terms of its historical development and future needs. The number of libraries has doubled in the last twenty years. The identification and location of bibliographic information is seen as a particular problem: available tools are discussed and future developments considered. Statistical and background information is provided for a variety of library types: university, public, special, and the major library networks. Special attention is paid to the National Diet Library where a Library Co‐operation Department is seen as addressing some of the major problems. The view of the library in Japan as being an isolated unit with services available to a select group of patrons, is changing, the slow development of interlibrary co‐operation giving way to a growing awareness of the need for increased diffusion and availability of information.

This paper aims to describe and promote the interlibrary loan and document delivery services between North American and Japanese academic libraries. An overview of the overseeing bodies, the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources and the Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Committee, is also described.

A descriptive approach is taken to explain the library‐focused programs supported by the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources.

Access to Japanese language resources is increasingly higher in demand. The National Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources has fully supported libraries by providing interlibrary loan/document services between Japan and North America.

This paper provides step‐by‐step instructions for interlibrary loan practitioners whose libraries participate in the Global ILL Framework (GIF) program.

This paper aims to propose a technical solution to rapidly access and locate the nearest interlibrary loan resources using OpenURL in the services of a local library.

First, the paper creates knowledge bases of “nearest access” services, which can automatically identify the nearest library and rapidly locate the resources in the target library. The knowledge bases consist of information about the nearby libraries and a rapid location rule for resources in these libraries. Second, the paper designs “nearest access” algorithms that allow users to identify and select the nearest interlibrary loan resources from the knowledge bases of “nearest access” services.

Through these steps, the paper establishes an architecture for accessing resources in the nearest library that are based on a combination of knowledge bases and “nearest access” algorithms, providing users with a convenient and rapid method to access interlibrary loan resources.

The innovation of this research lies in the ability of the proposed architecture in providing accurate, agile and personalized access to digital interlibrary loan services. Through this work, users will finally possess a tool to rapidly locate the resources in the nearest library using OpenURL.

This article applies the economic model of interlibrary loan and library journal subscriptions developed by Kingma in 1996 to data from the Library for Natural Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences. The model shows whether a library journal subscription or providing access to journal articles by interlibrary loan is more cost‐effective. The cost of international interlibrary loan including document delivery and the journal subscription policies to foreign periodicals existing in a large academic library in Russia are examined. Results are similar to the results found in the Kingma study of the Library Centres for the State University of New York. The most cost‐effective way to provide access to scientific journal articles within Russia is to provide additional funding for international interlibrary loan rather than increasing the number of journal subscriptions.

Information transfer involves several agents and costs are incurred at various stages of the process. Although interlibrary loan practices were established on the basis of reciprocity among institutions, the imbalance between net lenders and net borrowers has been causing concern about the costs of such a service and who should bear them. Interlibrary loan charges are one means of distributing among libraries the actual costs of the information transfer process. On the other hand, it is in the public interest to allow access to appropriate information banks and interlibrary loan facilitates resource sharing schemes and therefore better use of those resources. Charging can be seen as a rationing mechanism: negative in effect and against the public good.

The purpose of this paper is to review and assess the first five years of BALIS interlibrary loan service and propose directions for future service development.

The authors use a case study approach to review the consortium's service offerings and clientele, assess challenges encountered in the first few years of service, propose service improvements, and make recommendations for the development of future strategic alliances.

There are some shortcomings of the system that limit the expansion of interlibrary loan services such as the low satisfaction rate and the high shipping costs.

This paper updates an earlier study of BALIS ILL services published in 2011.