Mary Jackson presented on emerging trends in resource sharing at the NELINET 27th Annual Resource Sharing Meeting. She summarized 13 trends, including user-initiated borrowing becoming more common and replacing mediated interlibrary loan, the goal of resource sharing becoming as seamless and convenient for users as popular commercial services, trusting users more with library materials, delivering materials directly to users, and rethinking resource sharing initiatives to make them more global and user-centric. She argued that while numbers of transactions are still important, the focus of resource sharing needs to be on improving the user experience.

1. Trends in Resource Sharing:
More than Just Numbers
Mary E. Jackson
Product Manager, Resource Sharing
Auto-Graphics, Inc.
NELINET 27th Annual Resource Sharing Meeting
June 1, 2007

2. Overview of Presentation
• Summarize a baker’s dozen emerging
resource sharing trends
• Some are being implemented; some are
more long term initiatives
• Comment on the implications for current
workflow, policies, and staffing
• Respond to your questions and
comments
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3. The Key Trend:
Resource Sharing is no longer
about library staff efficiency:
it’s about our users.
It needs to be..
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4. …As Easy as Google
(even with a Swedish interface)
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5. …As Fast as Netflix
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6. …As Free as Music Downloads
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7. …As Self-Sufficient as the
Grocery Store
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8. …As Comfortable as Borders
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9. 1. Emerging Service Model
• Item not held locally, in use, or perhaps
just inconvenient to access – same
user-centered and barrier-free access
and ordering policies apply
• Circ. holds placed in one or more
shared or virtual catalogs
• If unfilled, requests move seamlessly to
mediated RS environment
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10. What do we call this Service?
User-initiated borrowing
Unmediated ILL
Unmediated resource sharing
Direct borrowing
Direct consortial borrowing
Circulation-based sharing
Extended circulation
Remote circulation
Enlightened resource sharing
Not your mother’s ILL?
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11. 2. Seamless to the User:
Search, Find, Get
• Services available where they are
• Single search interface
• Single “I need this” button
• Invisible, reliable suppliers
• Fast, predictable delivery
• Consistent loan periods, no/low fees,
no/few rules
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12. 3: Convenient
• To the user and the library
• RSS feeds, email notifications, cell
phone alerts, and other push
technologies to users
• Users select most convenient options
for delivery, notification, payment, etc.
• Libraries no longer use multiple
messaging systems
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13. 4. Trust our Users
• 80% of Finns have library cards
• 63% of Americans have library cards
– ALA Campaign for America’s Libraries, 2006
• 50% of Australians, Swedes, and Norwegians
are members of a public library
• Loss rate is higher for
local circulation than
for ILL
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14. 5. Ease of Use vs. Privacy
• Cookies to remember basic information
• More detailed information about user to
provide more customized service
– Preferences for delivery, payment, language, etc.
– Volume of ordering
– Tardiness level (average days late)
– Number currently on loan (RS and circ.)
– What user ordered within last 24 months
• User information deleted when requests
are completed
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15. 6. Buy, Borrow, Recommend
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16. Buy, Borrow, Recommend
Purchase
Options
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17. 7. New Suppliers/Partners
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18. 8. Suppliers Bid on Requests
• Libraries, Document Suppliers, and
Online Booksellers
• Ranking/evaluation of service based on
bidding volume, fill rate, and speed of
response
• Less differential between fees
• Better match between staffing and
processing capacity
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19. 9. Material Delivered to the
Home or Office
• OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing Pilot
Project
• National Library of Australia’s project
• Email notification of delivery
• Patron can track delivery
• Material returned in
reply-paid box or
envelope
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20. 10. Standards are Essential,
but Must be Invisible
• Z39.50
• OpenURL
• OpenURL Request Transfer Message
• SIP2
• NCIP
• ISO ILL
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21. 11. Real-Time Updating of
Union Catalogs
• Lender responds “do not own” – record
in OPAC and in union catalog updated
or deleted
• Higher fill
rates
• Higher user
satisfaction
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22. 12. Numbers Still a Driver
• Handles the increasing demands from
local patrons, and from other libraries
From 1986-2005
ARL statistics:
• Borrowing up 265%
• Lending up126%
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23. Numbers Still a Driver
“User-initiated
ILL/DD provides
better services to
users than
mediated
ILL/DD.” 2004
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24. Numbers Still a Driver:
Borrowing
Mediated User-Initiated
– $17.50 unit cost – $2.39 - $14.70
unit cost
– 86% fill rate
– 84 – 90% fill
– 7.6 calendar
rate
days
– 2.5 – 6.6
calendar days
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25. Numbers Still a Driver:
Lending
Mediated User-Initiated
– $9.27 unit cost – $3.27 - $12.06
unit cost
– 58% fill rate
– 82 – 87% fill
– 1.5 calendar
rate
days
– 0.1 – 1.5
calendar days
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26. Numbers Still a Driver
• ILL transactions are small percentage of
circulation
– Lorcan Dempsey: 1.7%
– Jackson, 2004: 3.9%
– Australia: 2003: 0.4%
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27. 13. Rethinking Resource
Sharing Initiative
• Global, user-centric service framework
• Users obtain what they need based on:
– Cost
– Time
– Format
– Delivery
• Practices and procedures no longer
based on library-centric policies and
barriers
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28. RRS’s Get It Browser Plug-In
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29. “Ultimate motivation for using a discovery
service is ‘getting.’ Without efficient
‘getting,’ there is little point in providing
even the best discovery service.”
National Library of Australia
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30. Thank You!
Any Questions?
Mary E. Jackson
Product Manager, Resource Sharing
Auto-Graphics, Inc.
mej@auto-graphics.com
909/569-1507
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