[ILL-L] RE: RELAIS

[Ellingson, Margaret W]

Libraries with large collections are almost always going to end up lending more than those with smaller ones (unless they charge high fees and/or have restrictive lending policies).  However, a good load-leveling program to my mind would spread requests equitably (not equally) so that requests for widely-held items would be routed to small libraries with lower request volume before going to large libraries.  This should mean that small libraries are relied upon when they can meet the need,  and large libraries mostly when the breadth & depth of their collections are really needed.  - Margaret Ellingson

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Margaret W. Ellingson                   EMAIL: margaret.ellingson at emory.edu<mailto:margaret.ellingson at emory.edu>
Interlibrary Loan/Reserves            PHONE: 404-727-6893
R. W. Woodruff Library                FAX: 404-727-0052
Emory University                            ARIEL: ariel.library.emory.edu
Atlanta, GA 30322-2870  USA      OCLC: EMU * NUC: GEU
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From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Breedlove, W Stephen
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 5:55 PM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: [ILL-L] RELAIS

Question:

We may be joining  a consortium of over 50 academic libraries within a year or so that will be using the RELAIS system for patron-initiated interlibrary loan.  I am interested in anyone's experience with its load leveling capabilities.  Does it spread the lending workload pretty fairly, or are there libraries, regardless of size of collection, that are always big net lenders?  Thanks for any observations.

W. Stephen Breedlove
Reference Librarian/Interlibrary Loan Coordinator
La Salle University Library
breedlov at lasalle.edu<mailto:breedlov at lasalle.edu>
215-951-1862


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