Please post the announcement of this key report to your group, if
appropriate. This message has been sent to several relevant e-lists, so
we apologize for any duplication. Ann Okerson/ARL (ann@cni.org)
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ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES
21 Dupont Circle, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
PRESS RELEASE
June 15, 1993
WHAT DOES RESEARCH LIBRARY INTERLIBRARY LOAN ACTUALLY COST?
NEW ARL-RLG REPORT PROVIDES ANSWERS
The Association of Research Libraries and the Research
Libraries Group have just issued the findings of a joint
project to determine the present costs of interlibrary
lending and borrowing in North American research libraries.
The 64-page report, ARL/RLG Interlibrary Loan Cost Study, is
being distributed by ARL.
Seventy-six U.S. and Canadian research libraries collected
interlibrary loan (ILL) cost data for 1991, which was then
verified, analyzed, and distilled into the published study.
The report provides the data to inform research libraries
when their best option is to buy, catalog, and hold, or to
borrow research materials; whether to use fee-based suppliers
or ILL for obtaining photocopied materials; what are the
relative staffing costs for ILL, by staff level and function;
and cost differences by geographic region and institution
type (public or private).
"With this information, libraries will be better able to
assess the economics of their own borrowing and lending
practices and to evaluate alternative methods of providing
these services," said Duane Webster, ARL executive director.
"It provides the kind of benchmark data we were after."
RLG president James Michalko said: "Individual research
libraries -- twelve more than we'd expected would participate
at the project's start a year ago -- cooperated to benefit
each other and the larger library community. This is the
kind of project where ARL and RLG complement each other."
Some findings, presented in statistical detail in the study:
o The major cost of ILL operations is for staff; less than
one fourth of the total goes to all other elements --
communications, photocopying, supplies, equipment, materials
delivery, etc.
o More than half of all filled ILL transactions are done
through photocopies rather than transmitting the original
item.
o The average cost for a completed ILL transaction (incurred
by both the lender and the borrower) is close to $30 --
nearly $19 for the requester and $11 for the lender.
The ARL/RLG ILL Cost Study project was supported in part by a
grant from the Council on Library Resources. Marilyn M.
Roche, consultant to RLG, played the central role in
coordinating the study, verifying the data, and preparing the
analysis given in the report.
The Association of Research Libraries is a not-for-profit
organization representing 119 research libraries in the
United States and Canada. Its mission is to identify and
influence forces affecting the future of research libraries
in the process of scholarly communication. ARL programs and
services promote equitable access to and effective use of
recorded knowledge in support of teaching, research,
scholarship, and community service.
The Research Libraries Group, Inc., is a not-for-profit
membership corporation of universities, archives, historical
societies, museums, and other institutions devoted to
improving access to information that supports research and
learning. RLG owns and operates databases and software to
serve information access and management needs of its members
and nonmember institutions and individuals worldwide.
The Study is available for $10 per copy, including first
class shipping and handling). (A DISCOUNT SCHEDULE IS
AVAILABLE FOR MULTIPLE COPY ORDERS. PLEASE INQUIRE.)
The complete bibliographical information is:
ARL/RLG Interlibrary Loan Cost Study; A Joint Effort by the
Association of Research Libraries and the Research Libraries
Group, by Marilyn M. Roche, Research Libraries Group.
Washington, DC, Association of Research Libraries, June 1993.
iv, 64 pages. ISBN: 0-918006-70-8
Please send PREPAID orders to:
ARL Publications Department #0692
Washington, DC 20073-0692
For more ordering information, contact:
Gloria Haws, Program Assistant for Customer Services
202-296-2296 telephone
202-872-0884 fax
e-mail to: osap@cni.org
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