Illinois State Library

THE ILLINET INTERLIBRARY LOAN CODE

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The Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Code Committee began the task of the committee January 2007. This newly appointed committee was charged with revising the ILLINET Interlibrary Loan Code. The ILL Code was last revised in 2000.

It may be helpful to review the process of revising the Interlibrary Loan Code over the past year. A committee of practicing librarians evaluated the 2000 version of the ILL Code. The ILL Code Committee members thoughtfully approached this process with big picture thinking and with an eye on current and potential trends ILL activity. The ILL Code has been revised and expanded and shared with librarians across the state in order to gather their thoughts and reactions. Since the review process began, the Code has been

• posted on the Illinois State Library web site
• posted at WebJunction
• shared with regional library system directors at the October 30, 2007 System Presidents and Directors (SP&D) meeting
• discussed at regional library system board meetings
• presented to the Illinois State Library Advisory Committee (ISLAC) and the ILLINET Network Advisory Council (INAC).

Effective immediately, libraries are being asked to keep year-round statistics of interlibrary loan use at any given library.

Many ILLINET libraries have asked why it is important to collect interlibrary loan statistics. Listed below are several reasons why these statistics are important for all of us in the Illinois library community. Please feel free to share this information with your library staff, your board and your library users.

• It is difficult to make legitimate comparisons of activity and involvement when there are no numbers available from year to year
• Statistics can provide data which support the development of new programs (such as the Educate & Automate grant program which is administered by the Illinois State Library).
• Statistics provide hard facts indicating trends, which then provide direction for addressing statewide needs, initiatives and programs.
• Collected statistics will help to detail the level of involvement of individual libraries in regard to resource sharing in the Illinois library community.