Association Of Research Libraries Recognizes Colorado State For Outstanding Library Services
Friday, June 5, 1998
FORT COLLINS--The Association of Research Libraries has identified
Colorado
State's Morgan Library as having one the best interlibrary loan services in
North America.
In results of a two-year study that measured loan document delivery
performance, the
Association of Research Libraries reported Colorado State as one of eight
outstanding
interlibrary loan departments of North American research libraries. Colorado
State University
was identified as having a high-performing borrowing operation and was the
only one of the
97 research library participants that ranked in the top 10 percent of all
three borrowing
measures - cost incurred when filling a request, percentage of requests
successfully filled and
request turnaround time.
"We've worked hard to incorporate technology into our service package,"
said Camila
Alire, dean of libraries at Colorado State. "As a result, we've been able to
reduce costs while
offering higher-quality, faster service to our patrons."
The interlibrary loan study identifies a number of best practices in
place at high-
performing libraries. Among these practices is the extensive use of
technology and software
such as the system Colorado State developed to process its interlibrary loan
orders.
Colorado State's system, called ZAP, requires faculty, staff and
students to submit loan
orders electronically. ZAP reduces paperwork and allows for a fast turnaround
time.
According to the Association of Research Libraries, most libraries average
four days to send a
request to a lender. Colorado State's ZAP program sends requests immediately.
Another best practice identified by the Association of Research
Libraries and employed
by Colorado State is the use of Ariel, a high-speed document transfer system.
Ariel allows
articles from cooperating libraries to be scanned, digitized and transmitted
via the Internet to
receiving stations that are used by Colorado State undergraduates, graduate
students and
faculty for research.
The Association of Research Libraries report also includes
recommendations for
improving interlibrary loan operations. "This study really provides an
opportunity for research
libraries to learn from each other," said Alire. "Colorado State's library
will be incorporating
even more innovative practices as a result of the study. We also have been
asked by the
association to share our latest software and technology with other libraries.
Morgan Library
will be serving as the model for other research libraries to replicate."
Other universities identified in the report as having high-performing
borrowing
operations were University of Chicago, University of Cincinnati, Ohio
University and two
interlibrary loan units of the University of Illinois-Chicago. The University
of Alberta and the
University of Wisconsin-Madison were the two research libraries identified as
having
high-performing lending operations.
The Association of Research Libraries is a non-profit organization made
up of 121
libraries of North American research institutions. The interlibrary loan
study was funded by
the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and undertaken in collaboration with the
Council of
Library and Information Resources.
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