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Transition to OCLC:
Proposal to use OCLC for all SCLS ILL Requests

Interlibrary loan is an important and valuable service. Libraries and library patrons who use and support their community libraries have come to depend upon this service to obtain materials that are otherwise not available. Whether for an out-of-print book, a reel of microfilm, or a CD of an opera with a particular conductor, Madison Public Library's Interlibrary Loan Department has acted as the South Central Library System clearinghouse, assisting libraries with their out-of-system requests.

Madison Public Library ILL staff has been using both OCLC and WISCAT ILL for interlibrary loan. We are constantly reviewing our department’s methods and procedures for both the borrowing and lending of materials. In determining which methods work best we have asked many questions. In fairness, a number of different combinations and compromise solutions were proposed, researched and tested, but results always indicated one indisputable fact: OCLC is the best, most efficient product available to us for both sending and receiving interlibrary loan requests.

After thoroughly evaluating both systems, Madison Public Library staff recommend switching to OCLC to best serve our customers. This recommendation is based on the following points:

1. We can continue to provide quality interlibrary loan service to our primary customers (e.g. the libraries and people who live within the counties that make up the SCLS).
   

• Most Wisconsin public and academic libraries are accessible through OCLC and there is no delay or stop at the Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library (RLL) to access academic or out-of-state libraries as there is through WISCAT ILL. For libraries not on OCLC an ALA Request form is an option.
  
  
• OCLC WorldCat is a cleaner, more extensive database, making it easier to locate the best record from which to request an item. With the new Open WorldCat project, users are beginning to see OCLC WorldCat records included in results from Google searches.
  
  
• Requests get a response much more quickly, averaging 3.25 days on OCLC versus WISCAT's 6.73 days.
  
  
• SCLS member libraries could initiate their own ILL requests directly using Patron FirstSearch WorldCat to OCLC ILL, if they wished. Responses from the 3 libraries in the pilot project using this method (Poynette, Prairie du Sac, Sun Prairie) have been very positive.
  
  
  

2. OCLC makes better use of staff time (including sending and receiving interlibrary loan requests and reporting). Example: In a time study done last fall, it took 15 minutes to send 7 requests on WISCAT ILL whereas in the same time period 17 requests were sent on OCLC.
   
   
   
   
   • OCLC is easy to use with fewer steps to complete each procedure.
     
     
   • The system itself runs much faster (less time waiting for computer response).
     
     
   • Current reports are available online in downloadable Excel or Access format.
     
     
   • Custom holdings paths can be created, increasing efficiency in sending requests, (e.g. requests that can be filled by Wisconsin libraries could go directly from the requesting SCLS library to the in-state owning library).
     
     
     
3. The state’s current shift away from policies governing ILL along with the current pilot and impending implementation of Patron Initiated Requests using WISCAT ILL has already had an impact on our ability to serve libraries outside of our system.
   
   
   
   
   • There is a 20% year-to-date (January through May) increase from 2003 to 2004.
     
     
   • The number of requests is up but the fill rate is down due to the increased number of inappropriate requests such as those for high demand titles with waiting lists (like The Da Vinci Code and The Five People You Meet in Heaven.) Responding to these requests involves staff time and effort. (April 2004’s fill rate for Wisconsin Library Requests was 44% compared to 63% in April 2001).
     
     
   • The increase in total volume, and the increase of inappropriate requests, coupled with the initiation of WISCAT patron initiated requests, causes serious concerns about the volume and quality of requests we can handle. Although we don't have extensive data about the effect of the WISCAT patron-initiated requests, based on our LINK experience, we expect the problems we have identified to increase in the future.
     
     
   • Though OCLC is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, requests don't expire over weekends or holidays as they do with WISCAT.
     
     
   • It is easy to set lending parameters. OCLC has a policy directory that borrowing libraries can access. Lending libraries can determine their own lending policies and modify them if the need arises in a web-based format.
     
     
   • Non-OCLC libraries would have access to the collections of SCLS libraries collections through Reference & Loan.

OCLC is a reputable company with an excellent product whose pricing is now competitive. Madison Public Library ILL staff is confident that using OCLC will streamline the workflow, improve our ability to provide quality service to customers, and still allow us to cooperate with other libraries in the state and move in the direction of improving ILL options in the future.

Pam Wittig,
Madison Public Library ILL Department

Carol Froistad
Reference and User Services Supervisor
Madison Public Library

For more information about Interlibrary Loan, contact Cheryl Becker.

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