EFFECTIVENESS OF A LOCAL INTER‐LOAN SYSTEM FOR FIVE ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: AN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH APPROACH
| Pages | 353-358 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026865 |
| Published date | 01 April 1990 |
| Date | 01 April 1990 |
| Author | A.F.H. MacDOUGALLWHEELHOUSE,J.M. WILSON |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
DOCUMENTATION NOTE
EFFECTIVENESS OF A LOCAL INTER-LOAN SYSTEM
FOR FIVE ACADEMIC LIBRARIES:
AN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH APPROACH
A. F. MacDOUGALL, H. WHEELHOUSE
Pilkington
Library,
Loughborough University
of
Technology
J. M. WILSON
Department
of
Management
Studies
Loughborough University
of
Technology,
Loughborough,
LE11
3TU
This note considers the alternative of satisfying inter-loan items emanating
from five academic libraries locally, compared to the existing approach of
satisfying such items from a national central store. A model was developed to
evaluate different
scenarios.
At current prices it
was
found that the local option
was not efficient, except in certain limited circumstances. The relative costs of
the options might change markedly in the future.
INTRODUCTION
IN THE PAST, OPERATIONAL RESEARCH has made a contribution to
studies of operational effectiveness in libraries. From early work by Morse [1]
and in work by Ritchie and Hindle
[2]
and by Beilby and Mott
[3],
modelling
techniques have been used in the library area. Such studies note that many
problems encountered by libraries are amenable to a modelling approach as
there is generally an abundance of data available that is ready for structured
analysis.
This note will describe part of a project funded by the British Library
Research and Development Department to investigate possible co-operation
on loans of items wanted by one library and only available at another (inter-
loans) among a group of
five
libraries in academic institutions.
Not all features of the project
will be
described in detail here but they can be
found in MacDougall
et
al.
[4],
and there
is
a discussion of aspects of the work
in MacDougall
et
al.
[5].
This note
will
concentrate on the modelling
aspects
of
the study. The project established that although a percentage of inter-loan
traffic could be handled on
a
co-operative basis it
was
more expensive to do so,
except in one particular form. However, if present service costs were to rise it
would become appropriate
to
reconsider
the way in
which such loan traffic was
handled.
Journal
of
Documentation,
Vol.
46,
No. 4, December
1990,
pp. 353-358.
353
To continue reading
Request your trial