Dear Colleagues,
Thank you SO much for all your helpful and thoughtful responses concerning Interlibrary Loans in museum libraries. Following is a summary how museum librarians deal with this question:
Many museum libraries have similar policies as ours -i.e. we search the item that is requested, and if it is available in the city, we very much encourage the staff member to go to the library and get it.
Two librarians mentioned that they sometimes take a quick trip to the nearby university or public library and personally check out materials for curators (the problem would be that if you do this, you are responsible for the book, not the curator).
Museum libraries in large metropolitan areas borrow materials for curators, even if the item is available in the city. However, they also suggest to the curators to send their research assistants or interns.
Some museum libraries are part of a consortium that also has a delivery service either paid for by the state or no extra charges.
So, our staff members know that we are very flexible and often make exceptions (but you have to have rules and policies). We had a discussion about this issue in the curatorial meeting. All curators agreed (except 1). I suggested that if a staff wants an ILL that is available locally, we would charge $50.00 to cover costs. Everybody thought that this was a good solution.
Thank you again for your great input.
Best regards,
Ursula
Ursula Kolmstetter
Head Librarian, Stout Library
Indianapolis Museum of Art
4000 Michigan Road
Indianapolis, IN 46208-3326
USA
Tel.: 317-920-2662, ext. 225
Fax: 317-926-8931
e-mail:
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