Transforming Resource Sharing Services at an Australian Academic Library: The Case of the University of Wollongong

Abstract

In 2011 the University of Wollongong Library undertook a significant review of its Resource Sharing services. This was prompted by constraints in the systems supporting this service, changes to the Library's key suppliers, Infotrieve Australia and the British Library Document Supply Service, and the need to deliver effective library services within a defined physical and budgetary environment.

As a result of the review, the existing Millennium Interlibrary Loan and Ariel software hosting the service were replaced by the Relais ILL system. The most cost-effective and relevant methods for supporting the research needs of the university were achieved through subscriptions with networks characterized by strong unmediated requesting functionalities, including ArticleReach, BONUS+, and RapidILL. To expand the Library's access to international collections, a subscription to OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing was begun.

UOW Library now processes approximately 50% more requests, 76% of which are now processed to some degree without library staff mediation.

KEYWORDS:

• Resource sharing
• interlibrary loan
• document delivery
• academic libraries