We probably get around 10-15 requests a week during the academic year.
Things slow in the summer; of course, that's when I'm more willing to
lend items due to lower use by our professors. At any given time, we
usually have between three and five items out through ILL. So I would
say I tend to approve around 30% of requests.
I rarely, if ever, place ILL requests for media items. Our consortium
almost always automatically blocks media ILL requests, so I only handle
those that come in through OCLC. And since I have to go through OCLC to
request, I'll usually only do it if I have some sort of prior experience
borrowing from a library. In fact, the majority of requests we make are
denied. Sometimes, I'll contact a library directly to establish some
sort of special borrowing parameters, but that also happens very rarely.
Actually, when we don't have an item, and it's rentable, we rent from
one of the two remaining university rental systems. (Penn State and
University of Missouri.) We're guaranteed to get the items, and the
charge is always covered here by the department doing the renting, not
by us.
Hope that's informational!
Ang
-- Angela Romano Library Media Services, Elmhurst College Library 190 Prospect Ave. Elmhurst IL 60126 angelar@elmhurst.edu (630)617-3259 fax (630)617-3332
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.