Message-Id: <199602051943.NAA11277@library.wustl.edu> Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 13:39:00 -0600 From: Ken McMullen <mailto:kmcmulle@MAIL.WIN.ORG> Subject: Re: Loose Ends To: Multiple recipients of list WEBCAT-L <mailto:WEBCAT-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU>
On Mon, 5 Feb 1996, Jerry Caswell wrote: [snip] > One corollary to this is that the ILL request would then be
> sent to the library where the item was located. However, in actual
> practice, interlibrary loan requests are governed by a series of
> inter-institutional relationships that are quite removed from the
> navigational paths that users may take on the Internet. The ILL
> people that I know are insisting that those relationships still
> govern borrowing transactions irrespective of the source of the
> user's request.
It would be nice if it were that easy to initiate the ILL process, but since it is an institution-based process rather than an individual process it would be next to impossible. ILL requests have to be initiated from the *requesting* institution, so a script would have to be able to locate the code for that institution in order to generate the request (along with including the information from the holding institution). Another wrinkle is that the person searching for this item may have found it several states away because their neighboring sources do not have web accessible catalogs; it is common practice to seek sources closest to the requesting institution. The only way around these problems would be for requests to be sent to a sort-of "ILL clearing house" (maybe they could start a sweepstakes) that could route all of these requests appropriately. Any volunteers??? (Right now ILL people are on the floor either from fainting or because they are laughing...).
********************************************************* Ken McMullen, MDiv, MLS * St. Charles City-County Library District, MO * mailto:kmcmulle@mail.win.org * (314)327-4010 * http://www.win.org/library/staff/kmcmulle/kmcmulle.htm * *********************************************************