The number of requests Research Services receives from our faculty and students to borrow books or obtain copies of articles from other collections has doubled since 1996-1997. In 2000-2001 staff received 755 more requests than during the previous academic year. (Research Services staff were able to fill 89% of all the requests they received.)
What explains this surge in requests for materials from outside the Brooklyn College Library’s collections?
The ease of accessing other library’s catalogs on the Web The enormous growth in databases in all disciplines An increase in requests from undergraduate students
At the same time, staff received more requests from other libraries for loans of books or photocopies of articles from Brooklyn College’s collections. Perhaps this increase is attributable to these same factors.
The departments with the highest number of requests were (in descending order): Health and Nutrition Sciences, the Library, Biology, Psychology, English, Chemistry, Geology, and Speech. (While the Library subscribes to an enormous amount of electronic full-text in the sciences, faculty in these departments continue to be heavy users of interlibrary loan and document supply.) Faculty requested the largest number of items, followed by graduate students. The average turnaround time from the date a request was placed until the item was in the requester’s hands was seven days. (Brooklyn College students and faculty waited only a week for requested books and articles.) Items that we lend to other libraries are mailed out within one day of our receiving the request, an indication of the efficiency of Research Services staff. (To ensure good service for our faculty and students when we request a loan from another library, we must build a reputation for rapid response to their needs.) The Library spent $4,159 to secure books and photocopies for our faculty and students from libraries that charge to lend. This bought 151 book loans and 223 journal articles, for an average cost of about $11.12 per item. Interlending & Document Supply Request Via the Web
The interlibrary loan and document supply request forms now appear on the Library Web site: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/about_library/illbook.htm http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/about_library/illarticle.htm This represents a significant service improvement.
