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The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study in China to show whether open access (OA) affects document delivery services.

The authors conduct a statistical analysis and carry out an investigation through a questionnaire.

Compared with the rapid development of OA around the world, China has published a small number of OA journals. At present, the effect of OA on document delivery service in Capital Normal University Library (CNUL) is positive in that librarians can use OA as an extra resource to perform document delivery services. CNUL users know little about document delivery service or OA, but they frequently look for free Internet resources. CNUL should do more promotion of its document delivery services. Considering users’ behavior and the development of OA in future, the volume of document delivery service may be affected. CNUL should redesign its document delivery service.

The paper will be relevant to librarians interested in OA and document delivery services in China.

Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities received funding from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to investigate the collaborative provision of library services between the two institiutions. The investigation was, initially, in the area of engineering. The GAELS Project (Glasgow Allied Electronically with Strathclyde) ran between June 1999 and June 2001. An audit of existing information services which demonstrated that perceived information needs of researchers in both engineering faculties did not match the actual needs. Engineering researchers had low use of traditional library services and preferred electronic services. An overlap study of periodicals holdings between the two institutions found duplication in periodicals holdings of around £70,000 per annum. A series of document delivery trials was initiated, including local document delivery between the two sites, a commerical document delivery service for one research group, and a wholly electronic service to the desktop for bioengineers at Strathclyde University. The trials’ findings are presented along with outcomes, both actual and projected, for future collaboration.

Document supply in Canada presents many challenges because of the relatively small population spread over vast distances but with the majority concentrated along the United States border, There are large distances between many population centres making the timely delivery of library materials to users in these areas problematic. In an attempt to address these issues the National Library of Canada has undertaken a number of studies and initiatives. Describes some of these studies and provides a brief description of potential solutions.

Project HERMES, the proposed electronic document delivery service sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry, is described. HERMES is characterized by the participation of major publishers, industrial and public libraries and national government and by the use of Teletex for both document ordering and delivery. For the first phase of the project, provision of three facilities—electronic document ordering and delivery, automatic document delivery and electronic mail—to a pilot group of some sixty organizations is proposed. The major aim of the project is to promote and gain experience of the use of Teletex within the information and publishing community. [The Department of Trade and Industry announced in December 1984 that it does not intend to proceed with Project HERMES. The Journal of Documentation Editorial Board nevertheless feels that Susan Amy's paper should be published on the grounds that the proposals it details remain one possible approach to the implementation of a demonstration document delivery service based on teletex.]

The aim of this research is to display an applied and descriptive survey, assessing the feasibility of creating an inter‐library loan (ILL) system and document delivery services in public libraries of Fars Province (Iran).

The tool for gathering data in this study is a questionnaire distributed to 254 people from public library managers and librarians in Fars Province. Data analysis was performed with statistical software SPSS (version 16), using descriptive statistics and the Friedman test.

Based on the findings, 69.94 percent of research librarians and 95.9 percent of managers surveyed need to implement an inter‐library loan system. Activity of libraries in Fars Province in the field of ILL and document delivery library services was very low (5.73 percent). Research subjects indicated that the limitations and potential problems in implementation included: no guarantee that prevents damage to resources (97.3 percent), a lack of consistent rules using library services ILL (95 percent), a lack of funding for cooperation among libraries (92/1 percent), a lack of cooperation between public libraries in ILL library (91.3 percent), the high cost of cooperation among libraries, non‐credit provision for main organization (89.4 percent), a lack of equipment such as computers, scanners, copiers, and faxes (89 percent), a lack of librarians familiar with network technologies and databases (83.9 percent), a lack of trust among professionals in the field of librarianship and library document delivery services (80 percent), and a lack of coordination between the center and the library system for implementation (80 percent).

The paper offers recommendations which, if enacted, would lead to a much needed improvement to the ILL and document delivery services of public (and other libraries) in Fars Province.

There has been a proliferation in commercial electronic document delivery services. Over the past few years this consistent growth, combined with enhancements to existing services, has made it difficult for librarians to keep abreast of the latest developments and service availability. This paper presents an overview of document delivery services and suppliers, and provides discussion on the various types currently available. The paper is further divided into non‐collection‐based services, collection‐based services and specialised collection‐based services. Detailed information about particular services has been collated and presented in tabular form: this includes information regarding cost, delivery time, subject field and full contact details.

It is believed that provision of document delivery services should be an integral part of the supply of bibliographic databases. After the implementation of a national agricultural information project funded by the Asian Development Bank, which provided Chinese agricultural research and training institutions with CD‐ROM workstations and databases, CAB International and its Chinese counterpart began to look into the feasibility of establishing a document delivery service in China. The paper presents the results of a survey conducted as a part of the feasibility study and gives a critical overview of China’s document delivery services provided in the agricultural sector.

This paper aims to describe the development and current situation of electronic document delivery by public libraries in Germany, taking into account the impact of the changing regulatory framework of German copyright law and the consequences of law suits against libraries and Subito.

The paper describes the current situation. Also, the new licensing strategy of the Subito delivery service and the national licensing strategy for electronic media of German libraries and the German Research foundation come into focus

The negative development of copyright law posed a new challenge for document delivery services in Germany since the statutory licence in German copyright law no longer covers electronic document delivery provided by Subito and other library document delivery services. Licence agreements with publishers or intermediaries such as copyright clearance centres are now necessary to allow delivery of electronic documents. These negotiations have proven to be very complex and controversial, but now a complicated framework of licence agreements has been concluded and will enable German libraries to generally provide electronic documents in the future. DRM‐systems, however, still are a challenge for customers and the delivery service.

Demand of delivery services has decreased and may decrease even more in the long run due to availability and direct accessibility of electronic documents, together with the national licensing program in Germany.

The paper provides a concise summary and gives an impression of the development of document delivery services of German libraries between 2003 and 2008 with special reference to the legal position and changes to German copyright law.

This paper presents an overview of past and present research projects associated with electronic document delivery. The paper briefly outlines the Follet Report and introduces the UK's Electronics Libraries Programme, including the recently funded Focused Investigation of Document Delivery (FIDDO) project at Loughborough University. Four research areas have been identified as follows: resource sharing projects; network communication projects; electronic scanning projects and electronic document delivery systems. Conclusions highlight the major impact that technological developments are currently having on this area, the need for librarians to reassess their role in the information chain, and the need for delivery systems capable of handling different formats and a wider coverage of material to satisfy requests.

This paper describes the results of a survey conducted by the eLib project FIDDO (Focused Investigation of Document Delivery Options), of Inter‐Library Loan (ILL) and document delivery practices in UK HE libraries. It examines library holdings, access to document delivery services, and the quality and use of such services.