[ILL-L] BOOK CHAPTERS

[Robyn Clark-Bridges]

I've worked in four private college libraries & one public library.  One of
these five libraries had a policy of only sending books vs. chapters (this
same library has not changed policy almost 30 years later)...part of the
director's rationale three decades ago was copyright; however, he also
believed that the patron might find other sections of the same book helpful
beyond the single chapter requested.  From what I've seen, the libraries who
continue to lend books vs. chapters do so for staffing reasons (limited time
for making/sending copies)...or it's an unintentional mistake...OR they
haven't re-examined an old policy handed down from the past (this  last
seems to happen more frequently if a library is entrenched--i.e., very
little turnover in staffing).

We honor pages vs. book requests; sometimes, our student workers make a
mistake & send the book instead.  When we receive a book from someone after
we've requested only a section, we put a sticky note inside for the patron:
"you requested only xyz pages, but the lender sent the entire book."  MUCH
of the time, the patron is appreciative & DOES use other sections of the
book other than their narrow request.  We figure:  as long as the lender
spent the $ to send a book to us, we'll give our patron a chance to explore
other parts in the hopes they can glean "more" for the same research paper.

We are moving towards a paperless campus, so prefer to send as much in
e-format as possible...this not only reduces our carbon footprint but is
also good stewardship.  So far, $ for postage/physical items has not been an
issue for us in this particular ILL dept....that may change in the immediate
future, given the economy & everyone's budgets being tightened.

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



On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 11:19 AM, Breedlove, W Stephen <breedlov at lasalle.edu
> wrote:

>
> This issue may have been discussed on this list before.  But here goes:
>
> For the life of me, I cannot understand why a library that receives a
> request for a book chapter will send the book rather than scan the chapter
> and send the article through Ariel or Odyssey or email.  This morning, we
> received a book from which we requested a ten or so page chapter.  The
> supplying library paid UPS fees to send the book to us and we will in turn
> have to pay UPS fees to send it back to them after we copy the chapter.  By
> sending the book rather than copying the chapter, the book could get lost or
> damaged in transit.  Plus, supplies such as shippers and tape are needlessly
> used.
>
> I could understand this if a library had no staff to copy or was "swamped,"
> but it seems to me even in these cases they could just say NO and let the
> request go on to the next library who might copy the chapter.
>
> Currently, we are operating on a restrictive budget as far as postage and
> UPS expenses--and supplies--are concerned.  We are using every angle
> possible to keep expenses to a minimum.  We always copy a chapter rather
> than send the book, unless the chapter is very, very long.  Copying a
> chapter is not violating copyright as far as I know.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> W. Stephen Breedlove
> Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian
> La Salle University Library
> breedlov at lasalle.edu
> 215-951-1862
>
>
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>
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