Interlibrary loan

[lbowlds@geosociety.org (Larry Bowlds)]

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>In <950425080202_95429781@aol.com> AnmlPeople@aol.com writes:
>>"Trundle on down to your local library and ask them to request the article
>>for you via Interlibrary Loan."

>>This is another case of urban people taking for granted services that just
>>aren't available in the country.  There isn't a public library within 35
>>miles of here that has any interlibrary loan access.  In the sticks,
>> libraries are usually little more than lending collections of donated old
>>novels,  maintained by elderly volunteers on a part-time basis.

>>--Merritt Clifton,  editor,  ANIMAL PEOPLE.

The problem is not just with rural libraries. I live in a town of
15,000 on the edge of a metropolitan area of 2.5 million. Our town
is very prosperous and has a brand-new library. We are "supposed"
to have interlibrary loan.

The first time I used it (to order a thesis from an out-of-state
university), the librarian who handles I.L.L. was very nice and
cooperative. The second time, I requested a vertebrate paleo text
I didn't own, which was on long-term check-out at the nearby 
university. She hassled me for a month about this one, including
a phone call to me at work during which she asked for justification
for the request. I got the book after 6 weeks. She refused to process
my third request on the grounds that the book was "most likely a
reference" and she would have to search for it "all over the
country on OCLC."

I empathize with people who live in isolated, rural areas. There
ought to be a solution to this problem, but I don't know what it is.

Larry

-- 
*---------------------------------------------
*Larry S. Bowlds        lbowlds@geosociety.org
*Geological Society of America
*Bulletin Managing Editor
*(303) 447-2020, ext. 147        
*---------------------------------------------




-- 
*---------------------------------------------
*Larry S. Bowlds        lbowlds@geosociety.org
*Geological Society of America
*Bulletin Managing Editor
*(303) 447-2020, ext. 147        
*---------------------------------------------