Personally I'd say that as long as the reader knows that you can't get
the book in the UK and that BL are trying to buy a copy (and taking ages
about it) then as long as the reader is prepared to wait then I don't
see any harm in leaving the request on the system and chasing BL every
3-4 months. I have a couple of lecturers or students doing long term
work who are after obscure things which the BL are trying to get and its
a case of they'll read it if and when it turns up. Its little effort on
my behalf to chase it now and again - the main thing is that the reader
knows about the delay.
If you think that the request has been on long enough then send the
reader a letter asking them to confirm that they still want you to
continue to search (I normally have a header saying failure to reply
within 4 weeks will result in cancellation of the request). This thins
out all but the most enthusiastic readers!
If the reader is happy to wait long term for a book then I send a
standard letter to them each time I've chased the book and BL sends the
reply to rechase in 12 weeks (just so that the reader doesn't forget
about it). Eventually the book will either turn up, be declared NPUR by
BL or the reader will give up. The only down-side is that it rather
mucks up your average arrival time if it should turn up! In a way I'm
lucky enough to work in a University library where we are less caught up
with performance indicators, if they were more important then you might
have to work out whether to keep your stats in good order or provide a
service.
Judith Walton,
ILL Dept,
University of Durham.
Emma Jones wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have had afew inter-library loan requests in my pending folder for almost a year now. They are requests that The BL have ordered and are still awaiting, unfortunately I am unable to locate any other UK libraries that are willing to lend.
>
> How do you decide when to cancel a request that a student or member of staff has been waiting for. I'm thinking along the lines of six months, giving us a fair amount of time for searching or ordering in. I would be grateful for any input.
>
> Many thanks
> Emma Jones
> Materials Assistant
> Purchasing Team
> Learning Resources
> University of Lincoln
> Brayford Pool
> Lincoln
> LN6 7TS
>
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