A REVIEW OF RECENT LITERATURE: XI

Abstract

The review begins with a look at the interlending of audiovisual materials. The main obstacles in this area are fear of damage in transit and packaging problems, costs of transportation, copyright and contractual restrictions, the lending/reference conflict, and problems of incompatibility of technical equipment. The general problems are discussed and also the situation in the United Kingdom and Australia. The interlending of music is examined with a critical look at an ambitious scheme for combining ILL and publication on demand by using telefacsimile. A continued growth in the volume of interlending traffic is detected by analysing figures from Canada, the USA, the German Democratic Republic, and the UK. The administration of ILL systems is critical for their efficiency and the questions of staffing and finance are examined. The nature of ILL work has changed so as to require more qualified staff and it is necessary to look at all the components of interlending work to estimate what elements, if any, should be charged to the system itself and what are overheads for general library use. Finally the value of grandiose networking schemes in Third World countries is questioned in the light of experiences from the Arab World, India, and Brazil.