International Lending and Document Delivery: Principles and Guidelines for Procedure

The shared use of individual library collections is a necessary element of international co-operation by libraries. Just as no library can be self-sufficient in meeting all the information needs of its users, so no country can be self-sufficient. The supply of loans and copies between libraries in different countries is a valuable and necessary part of the ILL process.

Since every country must determine the ways in which it conducts interlending and document supply, the following principles and guidelines have no mandatory force. However individual countries and libraries are strongly encouraged to use these guidelines as a basis for the conduct of international lending. The principles protect the interests of all libraries, and set out the recommended practice by individual nations for document provision.

There are eight major principles, each of which is supported by a number of guidelines.

_{The terms lending, interlending and interlibrary loan, and the terms document supply and document delivery, have been used interchangeably throughout this document.}

Principles and Guidelines for Procedure

1.1. Each country has a special responsibility to supply its own national imprints to libraries in other countries. The concept of universal availability of published material (UAP) relies on this principle, and this responsibility should be accepted readily by all countries.
1.2. No country or library is under an obligation to supply a work that has been requested, but all reasonable efforts should be made to satisfy international requests.
1.3. Particular effort should be made to satisfy requests received from libraries in less developed countries, in support of the concept of UAP.
1.4. All communication should be in clear and simple language in order to avoid misunderstanding across linguistic barriers.

2.1. Recommendations on developing efficient national lending systems are outside the scope of these guidelines, but users are referred to the Model National Interlibrary Loan Code, also produced by IFLA, which sets out the basic requirements of a national system.

3.1. Where a country has a national centre for interlibrary loan and document delivery, this centre should be the main focus for the development of a national policy. Where there is no national centre, responsibility should rest clearly with the national library, a national interlending co-ordinating body, or major lending institutions.
3.2. All libraries in the country involved in international lending or document delivery should be aware of, and work within, the national policy.
3.3. The national policy for international lending should be made available to all libraries outside the country, via the national library or other lending institutions, or by other individual libraries that receive international interlending requests. Similarly, all major libraries should make available to requesting libraries their own policy on handling international requests.
3.4. The national policy should indicate whether outgoing requests should be sent via the national centre where one exists, and whether individual libraries may send requests direct to supplying libraries outside the country.
3.5. Similarly, the national policy should make clear whether incoming requests should go via the national centre (where one exists), and to what extent individual libraries should accept and satisfy international requests. The IFLA publications Guide to Centres of International Lending and Guide to Centres of International Document Delivery list institutions to be contacted in the first instance if in doubt.
3.6. All libraries within the country should aim to handle requests from other countries in a consistent manner, in order to offer a clear and effective service for international requests.

4.1. The requesting library should endeavour to use electronic ILL request facilities whenever these are provided.
4.2. Requests submitted by e-mail, fax, or other fast methods should conform to agreed standards, such as the IFLA Guidelines for Email Requests the IFLA Fax Guidelines, or the ISO ILL Protocol, if appropriate..
4.3. Requests using paper forms should be on IFLA Request Forms, or on other forms authorised by IFLA.
4.4. Where the loan of an original or a specific type of copy is essential, this should be stated on the request.
4.5. Where the loan of an original is required, reasonable effort should be made to ensure that no copy is available in the requesting library's own country before a request is sent abroad.
4.6. Incomplete or inaccurate requests cause delays and may have to be returned for further checking. It is the responsibility of the requesting library to verify, and where necessary complete the bibliographic details of the item requested to the best of its ability.

5.1. The supplying library should send the item or provide a response as quickly as possible and by the fastest available method.
5.2. Items should be sent direct to the requesting library, except where it is specifically stated that they must be sent to a national centre.
5.3. All items lent should be clearly marked with the name of the owning library.
5.4. The supplying library should be as generous as possible in setting the due date for the return of loaned items, taking into account the time required for postal delivery and return of the item.
5.5. Where an item cannot be supplied, the reason for non-supply should be given as clearly and as fully as possible. The IFLA multilingual list of ILL Response Codes should be used for this purpose.

6.1. These guidelines relating to copyright and international lending support the IFLA Position Statement on Copyright in the Digital Environment. Libraries should be aware of this position statement.
6.2. Each supplying library should be aware of, and work within, the copyright laws of its own country. In addition, the supplying library should ensure that any relevant copyright information is made available and communicated to requesting libraries.
6.3. Lending, and limited copying for purposes such as research or private study, are usually exceptions within national copyright legislation.
6.4. The requesting library should pay due regard to the copyright laws of the supplying library's country.
6.5. Each supplying library must abide by any licenses agreed to by their organisation, which may have some restrictions on the use of electronic resources for ILL transactions.
6.6. Libraries should be aware of the IFLA Licensing Principles when considering ILL from licensed sources.
6.7. The supplying library is not obliged to participate in services which enable copyright fee-paid copies to be supplied.

7.1. Loans should be packaged and labelled by both the supplying and requesting libraries to ensure that they conform to customs requirements. It is the responsibility of both the requesting and supplying libraries to ensure they are aware of current customs regulations with respect to the international loan of items.
7.2. Original documents, when received by the requesting library, must be used in accordance with its normal regulations unless the supplying library stipulates certain conditions.
7.3. It is the responsibility of the requesting library to ensure that the item is securely packaged, clearly labelled and adequately insured for its return.
7.4. Items should be returned by the fastest service reasonably available to the requester. Airmail should be used whenever possible.
7.5. From the moment a library despatches an item to a requesting library until it returns, the requesting library is responsible for any loss or damage incurred. The requesting library is responsible for replacing the item, or for paying the supplying library the full estimated cost of any such loss or damage, including where requested, any administrative costs involved.
7.6. The requesting library should request renewal of the loan period well before the due date. Where no response is received, the renewal may be assumed to have been granted. If renewal is known to be unavailable on an item loaned abroad, this should be communicated to the requesting library at the time of delivery of the item.

8.1. Transaction charges may be made or waived according to agreements between the two libraries involved.
8.2. Requesting libraries should indicate their willingness (or otherwise) to pay a fee (and the maximum amount they are willing to pay) at the time of making the request. If the charges are greater than the maximum cost, the supplying library is not required to fill the request.
8.3. Both supplying and requesting libraries must be aware of possible requirements under national copyright law which relate to making a charge for copies supplied.
8.4. Suggested simplified payment methods include:
· Prepaid systems such as the IFLA Voucher Scheme where libraries buy numbers of vouchers in advance and send an agreed number of vouchers with each request.
· Deposit accounts whereby the supplying library holds a sum deposited by a requesting library and deducts an amount from it according to each item supplied.
· Flat rate payments where an average or unit cost per item is determined. This method may be combined with prepayment or deposit accounts.

• Guide to Centres of International Document Delivery, compiled and edited by Margaret Barwick and Pauline Connolly. Boston Spa, IFLA Office for International Lending, 1996. 5th Ed. ISBN 01712321454.
• Guide to Centres of International Lending, compiled and edited by Margaret Barwick and Pauline Connolly. Boston Spa, IFLA Office for International Lending, 1995. 5th Ed. ISBN 0712321128.
• IFLA Fax Guidelines, IFLA Office for International Lending, 1995. Leaflet available from IFLA Office for International Lending, also available on IFLANET at http://archive.ifla.org/VI/2/p3/g-fax.htm
• IFLA Guidelines for Email Requests, IFLA Office for International Lending, 2000. Leaflet available from IFLA Office for International Lending, also available on IFLANET at http://archive.ifla.org/VI/2/p3/g-ill.htm.
• IFLA International Loan/Photocopy Request Form, available for purchase from British Library Document Supply Centre in packs of 100. Order forms and further information available from IFLA Office for International Lending, or on IFLANET at http://archive.ifla.org/VI/2/intro.htm. A web image of the request form is also available at this location.
• IFLA Licensing Principles
• IFLA Multilingual List of ILL Response Codes, IFLA Office for International Lending, 2000. Leaflet available from IFLA Office for International Lending, also available on IFLANET at http://archive.ifla.org/VI/2/p3/rcodes.htm
• IFLA Position Statement on Copyright in the Digital Environment. A copy of the statement is available from IFLA Office for International Lending, or on IFLANET at http://archive.ifla.org/V/press/copydig.htm.
• IFLA Voucher Scheme. Further details about this payment system are available from IFLA Office for International Lending or on IFLANET at http://archive.ifla.org/VI/2/p1/vouchers.htm
• Model National Interlibrary Loan Code, IFLA Office for International Lending and IFLA Section on Document Delivery & Interlending. Major revision, 2000. Also available on IFLANET at http://archive.ifla.org/VI/2/p3/model.htm

March 2001