A comparative study of interlibrary loan functions and the development of a model interlibrary loan network among academic libraries in Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to survey and analyse the condition of the present system of academic libraries, defined in this study as the seven university libraries, in Saudi Arabia; determine the perceptions of academic libraries in Saudi Arabia toward cooperation and design a model interlibrary loan network (ILLN) for the academic libraries of Saudi Arabia.............A document review, questionnaire survey and structured interview were used for data collection......Major findings are that six out of seven libraries do not meet the ACRL standards in respect of collections....all seven inducated that they cooperated with all other academic libraries but did not borrow / lend materials or only occasionally. ............This study proposed that an ILLN that will both be a distributed and centralized network in which academic libraries will coordinate and communicate directly with each other......