Here is the recording from the May 2023 Interlibrary Loan Round Table. A summary is posted below.
Agenda Topics
ILL Paperwork Survey Results
Adding paperwork to items owned by other libraries
ILL Paperwork Survey Results
The full survey results are included here (Excel format). There were 101 responses, ranging from those who want more paperwork to those who do not want any paperwork included with the loans sent out. Here is a short summary:
Please check off any paperwork that you currently include when you lend an item:
Due date slip (43)
Printout of Clover request (28)
Return label (78)
Other (20)
What is the most useful information to receive with a borrowed item?
Due date (51)
Clover request number (34)
Return label (69)
Other (5)
Please check off if you include any of these with the requests:
Printout of Clover request (14)
Clover bookstrap (18)
Clover shipping label (28)
If you use Clover bookstraps/labels (or other bookstraps you create yourself) do you attach them to the books?
Yes (19)
No (24)
Other (14)
When you receive a requested item and it has a bookstrap or other paperwork, do you include that when the patron has the item?
Yes (47)
No – the library holds the paperwork (35)
Other (17)
Please add any other information/paperwork details you have! – This question had 60 responses, and those can be reviewed in the excel sheet. The discussion following these results really highlights the different ways that libraries use paperwork. There may be some changes made to courier labels to help with sharing information that was rated highly by libraries without creating additional paper (inclusion of a space on the back with due dates, etc.).
Following discussion of the results and the feedback the group agreed to the addition of the following in the ILL Best Practices document: Suggested information to include when lending an item is: due date, request number, borrowing library OR a checkout slip if your ILS prints out this information.
Adding paperwork to items owned by other libraries
It was agreed that you can add your own paperwork to loans from other libraries, but it must follow the ILL Best Practices. This means no paperwork that is taped or stuck to the item, and you need to remove your paperwork and re-attach any that originally came with it when returning to the lending library.
Other topics
A reminder – the due date a lender puts on the item is the date that item is due back to the borrowing library. There is no need to put a different due date for your patrons (unless you want to). This change was made in 2020 when this group updated the Interlibrary Loan Code for Vermont to match the national code.
Some libraries on the same ILS have been checking in books when sending them back to the lending library. Generally this is done in error, it does not seem widespread.