[ILL-L] conditional & incorrect citations

Tue Oct 27 10:39:57 EDT 2009

I can understand your point, but my point was not that a library should stop and try to verify the information but should Conditional the request with a note such as Check citation or Not found as cited, so the request will not go to the next library in the string.  The burden of verifying the information should fall on the requesting library.  It doesn't take but a few more seconds to Conditional a request than to say No.  Continuously saying No doesn't help anyone when the citation is incorrect.  Saying No because you're "swamped" and assuming that the next library will take the time to help out the requesting library by trying to verify the citation doesn't solve anything.

W. Stephen Breedlove
Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian
La Salle University Library

From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Robyn Clark-Bridges
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 12:00 AM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] conditional & incorrect citations

It depends on how busy I am on any given day w/ ILL requests as to how much time I can devote to correcting an incoming citation.  I'm guessing the libraries who say 'no' & pass it on down the string are swamped & don't have extra time to do the necessary sleuthing.  Also, some ILL colleagues have students filling ILL requests with little professional oversight, which makes it more likely that the request will quickly get passed on with an incorrect citation.

I love challenges & often thrive on finding what nobody else can find...being the 4th or last on a request string can be a red flag indicating an incorrect citation.  Although I take great pride in filling something others before me were unable to,  there are days when I also feel it's better to pass the request on down the string after a superficial hunt to correct an incoming citation than to sit on it & discover the correct source (I do notify the borrowing library what steps I took to find the correct citation--generally in a personal email, but sometimes in a conditional response).

Peace,
Robyn (Clark-Bridges)
ILL Assc. & PM Supervisor
Library, Mount Mercy College (UIW)
Cedar Rapids, IA
work phone:  319-368-6465
fax number:  319-363-9060
work email:  rclark at mtmercy.edu<mailto:rclark at mtmercy.edu>

On Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 11:57 AM, Potapoff,Jason <JPOTAPOF at nait.ca<mailto:JPOTAPOF at nait.ca>> wrote:
I agree.  It is not only inconsiderate for the other libraries that will have to process the request but it is inconsiderate for the ILL person who made the request. I know if I make a request where the citation is wrong I would really appreciate being told that the citation is wrong and not just be given a no without a reason (or an inaccurate reason like No, do not have).  I want to know if the citation I have is wrong so I can try and get a correct citation to avoid continuing to use a bad citation when requesting the item from other libraries.   I may not be able to tell that the citation is wrong when I get it (how would I unless it is incomplete or for articles that do not match the citation when I double check it in a database). Or it could be something as a simple I made a typo when I made the request (I know I should catch those when I double and triple check the request before I send it but sometimes they still slip through).

Knowing that the citation wrong makes it more likely that the correction can be made and result in a successful ILL after all instead of having to tell the patron that there are no libraries that can lend the item.

Jason Potapoff
Interlibrary Loans Technician - NAIT Library
P 471.8780

-----Original Message-----

Message: 16
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:50:55 -0400
From: "Breedlove, W Stephen" <breedlov at lasalle.edu<mailto:breedlov at lasalle.edu>>
Subject: [ILL-L] USING THE CONDITIONAL
To: "ill-l at webjunction.org<mailto:ill-l at webjunction.org>" <ill-l at webjunction.org<mailto:ill-l at webjunction.org>>
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The people that should see this message are probably not on this list.

Please conditional a request that has an incorrect citation.  Don't say NO and let it go to the next library who will spend time on it needlessly.

Yesterday, we processed two requests that had bad citations.  We were the last library in the five-symbol string on both requests.

What appalled me about the above two requests was that the first library must have seen that they were bad citations, said NO, the second library saw they were bad citations, said NO, the third library saw that they were bad citations, said NO, the fourth library saw that they were bad citations, said NO, and they came to us, the fifth library.  We spent time on the requests, saw that they were bad citations and set the requests to CONDITIONAL indicating "check citation."  If the first library had done this, a lot of staff time at four other libraries would not have been wasted.

This happens quite frequently.  It is rude and inconsiderate of your ILL colleagues.

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

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Peace,
Robyn (Clark-Bridges)
ILL Assc. & PM Supervisor
Library, Mount Mercy College (UIW)
Cedar Rapids, IA
work phone:  319-368-6465
fax number:  319-363-9060
work email:  rclark at mtmercy.edu<mailto:rclark at mtmercy.edu>
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