Using the Web of Science^® for unmediated document delivery

Abstract

Due to the significant cost of interlibrary loan services and the pressure to provide better access to journal articles, a pilot project on unmediated document delivery was designed as an option for interlibrary loan requests at Texas A&M University (TAMU). Graduate students and faculty members of the Educational Psychology and Psychology Departments were given access, at no cost, to the electronic document delivery service of the Institute of Scientific Information’s (ISI) Web of Science®. Participants were asked to order only items not owned by the TAMU General Libraries. Data gathered included the item(s) ordered, the cost of each item, and the users’ experience level with electronic systems. Key factors examined were the patron’s inclination to check the catalogue, total and average costs, ease of use, willingness of patrons to use the system, and the problems incurred.

Unmediated document delivery at Leeds University: from project to operational system

“…In addition, the Library has undergone cultural change in recent years, which has seen the development of outreach activities and put an emphasis on its role in supporting the University's researchers, by providing high quality information, whether available locally or remotely. This approach to providing researchers with access to literature resources unavailable in the University is one currently being investigated by many academic organisations around the world.(For examples, see articles by Crowley (1999), Crowley and Hart (2000) and Houle (2000).The project's evaluation demonstrated that, for the user, ILL is deemed a slow process which is time-consuming and inefficient. It is an expensive service to operate and unlike other library services has not been developed alongside Web technology.…”