Video Interlibrary Loan: Challenges Facing the Small College Library

Finding film resources

“…Though the circulation model for print resources has moved toward one of open stacks and accessibility, in many libraries the video collection remains a ''limited access special collection'' where interlibrary loan (ILL) is not considered, though ALA's Guidelines for media resources in academic libraries (2006) encourages resource sharing, including media items. Bergman suggests reevaluating media collections policies and cites survey data from Albitz and Bolger (2000), who comment that ''despite a long history of sharing resources to advance scholarship and teaching, many libraries have yet to fully embrace the idea that information is information, whatever form it takes.'' This prevailing attitude can be especially frustrating for researchers of foreign films that are not archival materials, yet not readily available in all markets.…”

“…Of these, 36 percent (1340) ''auto deflect'' media titles, meaning they do not even consider the loan requests. In a regional survey conducted by Albitz and Bolger (2000), more than half (67 percent) of respondents were willing to request video titles for their patrons, less than half were willing to lend their holdings, and many had additional restrictions based on patron status. For example, a library may lend a title, but will require that the patron watch it in the ILL department, which may not be equipped with a viewing station.…”