Interlibrary service requests for locally and electronically available items: Patterns of use, users, and canceled requests

Abstract

As the use of the Ohio State University Libraries interlibrary services has increased, there have been more requests to borrow items that are already available to patrons locally, often in electronic format. Patterns relating to why patrons could not find locally available materials were identified in the record of canceled interlibrary requests for calendar year 2007. These requests originated more frequently from certain academic departments, occurred more often for articles than books, and were most common for items published one to six years earlier. These requests were also associated with problematic OpenURL links to publisher or content provider Web pages.