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This paper presents the most recent progress and implementation of the Network Inter‐Library Document Exchange (NILDE) system, a web based document delivery (DD) software for libraries and end‐users. NILDE allows libraries to manage the entire workflow of DD activities, both borrowing and lending, through the provision of synthetic and analytical statistics, DD performance indicators such as “fill‐rate” and “turn‐around time”, and support for secure electronic delivery. New technologies, referred to as Web 2.0, have been incorporated into NILDE, making it an even more user‐oriented and friendly tool for document delivery and scholar work.

The paper presents the key factors that have made NILDE a successful tool and a “de facto” standard for document delivery among Italian libraries: the policies, i.e. the rules the community has imposed on itself, and the processes, i.e. the procedures through which the libraries provide DD services using NILDE.

The rise in NILDE users has allowed the building of a cooperative network to promote resource sharing based on a degree of standard quality of service and fair behaviour. It was found how, by adhering to these principles, libraries start up a virtuous cycle within the NILDE network, increasing its own value.

The paper will be of interest to librarians wanting to start a successful cooperative network and all those with an interest in developments in resource sharing in Italy.