We take cash or cheques for requests (£3 for each request) and refund cash
only.
Readers have to come to our ILL enquiry desk to collect refund (and also to
place requests in the first place). We do not operate remote access to ILL
services for our readers. We will refund either if we are unable to obtain
or if reader cancels (usually await cancellation confirmation from BL first
- this is usually for something beyond readers time limit or they have
obtained themselves.)
NB: We also refund readers if we find that we hold in library here or other
Departmental library within Cambridge and reader has missed it in our
catalogue or it is an uncatalogued item.
Alison Zammer
Inter-Library Loans
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge
CB3 9DR
Tel: ++44 1223 333039
On Mar 30 2007, Document Delivery Service Durham University wrote:
>Dear All,
> I just wanted to ask how other libraries deal with refunding users
>for cancelled ILL requests? At Durham University we use a voucher system
>for paying for ILL requests and if we cancel requests because the item
>isn't available, or because the user asks then I return the voucher to
>use against their next request. Our policy is not to refund cash and
>this is generally fine right up until the point when users have no
>further ILL requests to make and then the complaints just roll in. I
>just wondered what do other libraries do? Does anyone accept ILL
>vouchers against fines, which would be one of the more obvious things,
>however I wondered how much difficulty would arise from mixing and
>matching funds? We do advertise our policies far and wide but the
>message is difficult to get across to users who can't appreciate the
>staff time involved and just argue that they haven't received what they
>paid for. If anyone has any ideas how to improve this I would be very
>interested.
>
>Yours,
>
>Judith Walton,
>Document Delivery Service,
>Durham University Library
>
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