"This indispensable guide is armed with concise, easily digestible ratings from an authoritative dream-team of praciticing librarians and information professinals." "E-Reference Ratings test drives 180 resoruces in 14 subject areas, from Arts to Science to Technology and everything in between. Each subject category is matched with an easy-to-understand chart that ranks tools from one to four stars, in seven categories, including Scope, Writing, Design, Bells and Whistles, Ease of Use, Linking, and Value." "In-depth descriptions of each tool are included, and a multitude of added features, including contributor biographies and exhaustive indexes, will earn this guide a spot at every reference desk."--Jacket.

This book contains the results of the first and only multi-institution study of interlibrary loan and document delivery customer satisfaction among academic library patrons. By examining customer perceptions and ILL/DD activities, Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery and Customer Satisfaction: Strategies for Redesigning Services allows library administrators and managers to better understand service needs and shows them where to best allocate resources. The volume includes current reports on workload and staffing in ILL, analysis of current ILL statistical software packages, reports of on-site software development, and suggestions for the future of ILL/DD services. As ILL and DD are the fastest growing services in academic libraries, having a tool that provides so much comparative data on service quality, efficiency, and effectiveness is crucial for librarians in search of solutions to an array of ILL/DD problems.Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery and Customer Satisfaction is a valuable resource for academic librarians, public and special librarians struggling with ILL/DD issues, DD providers (commercial or otherwise), and students in the field of library and information studies. Readers become immersed in the issues as this book: describes the development of local software to reduce the tedious tasks involved in request fulfillment, freeing office personnel to tackle more difficult requests analyzes how important delivery speed is to academic ILL/DD requestors and suggests when investing additional resources in improving delivery speed may be a waste of money provides comparative data on how many requests can be processed by the typical ILL office staff member debunks some long-held assumptions about delivery speed sets guidelines for efficiency and effectiveness proposes two strategies for redesigning ILL services to incorporate new developments in technology and innovative approaches toward long-standing, traditional servicesInterlibrary Loan/Document Delivery and Customer Satisfaction is useful not only to administrators interested in redesigning ILL and DD, but also to other libraries interested in comparing the speed and effectiveness of their service with some positively evaluated services provided by high-volume libraries. The software review helps providers implement the best choice of software for their offices and provides in-depth discussions about the strategies needed to further develop one’s own software to reduce workload. At a time when the tenets of Total Quality Management and customer satisfaction are the focus of many managers, interlibrary loan and document delivery are transforming from peripheral services to primary services in the academic library. Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery and Customer Satisfaction reflects the convergence of these trends and provides a great snapshot of services provided by a representative group of academic libraries.

In this new edition of the definitive Interlibrary Loan Practices Handbook, edited by CheriT Weible and Karen Janke, expert contributors clearly explain the complexities of getting materials for patrons from outside the library. This collection presents a complete view of the interlibrary loan (ILL) process, with contributions from all areas of the technical services community, providing Guidance on how to do ILL efficiently and effectively, with advice on being a considerate borrower and lender Details of preferred staffing and management techniques, showing how best practices can be implemented at any institution Discussion of important issues that can fall between the cracks, such as hidden copyright issues, and the logistics of lending internationally As consortia and other library partnerships share ever larger fractions of their collections, this book gives library staff the tools necessary for a smoothly functioning ILL system.

Covering every essential topic ranging from circulation and literacy instruction to reference and security, this benchmark text provides an up-to-date, broadly based view of library public service and its functions. Supplying essential, foundational reading for students of library public services as well as an up-to-date overview for practitioners who wish to refresh their knowledge or acquaint themselves with a new area of responsibility, this book's broad and solid coverage will benefit anyone concerned with developing or maintaining the public face of the library. A revision and expansion of Libraries Unlimited's Introduction to Library Public Services: Seventh Edition, this edition has new chapters covering such topics as e-resources, collections, print and other media, and facilities and funding. Additionally, every chapter has been substantially updated and reorganized to better reflect the role of technology in library services today. The book begins with background information on public services in libraries and an analysis of the library's public service philosophy. Then, the authors delve into staffing and assessment of services, moving logically to major functional areas of public services—reference, instruction, document delivery, circulation and reserves, collections, programming, safety and security issues, and facilities and funding. Real-life anecdotes from public, academic, and school libraries illustrate principles and concepts throughout the book. For each topic, the authors detail its role and philosophy, and offer key points to remember, references, and lists for further reading.