| SUNLINK Resource Sharing
(Interlibrary Loan) Code and Protocol
(Updated November 2006)
Code
All SUNLINK schools agree to share resources in return for retrospective conversion services, inclusion in the database, access to downloadable full MARC records, and access to other resources of the project funded by the Florida legislature through the Florida Department of Education.
This code is a voluntary agreement adopted by the SUNLINK Task Force on September 25, 1992, to govern resource sharing among K-12 public school library media centers in the state of Florida. It has been adapted from the Interlibrary Loan Code for the Panhandle Library Access Network (PLAN) that was issued by PLAN on September 10, 1991.
Introduction
Resource sharing, also known as interlibrary loan, is essential to the vitality of school library media centers of all types and sizes as a means of greatly expanding the range of materials available to users. Lending between school library media centers is in the school's best interest and should be encouraged. This code is intended to make resource sharing policies among those school library media centers adopting it as liberal and easy to apply as possible.
Resource sharing should serve as an adjunct to, not a substitute for, collection development. Requests to borrow should be sent to the closest member school library media center, using good judgment and common sense, striving to as equitable a distribution as is fair and practical. When resources within the district have been exhausted, resource sharing requests to more distant school library media centers should conform to the policies of SUNLINK.
Definition
SUNLINK resource sharing, also known as interlibrary loan or ILL, is a transaction in which school library media center materials, or a copy of the material, is made available by one school library media center to another upon request.
Purpose
The purpose of resource sharing, as defined in this code, is to obtain school library media center material not available in the local school library media center.
Scope
Any type of school library media center material may be requested on loan or in photocopy form from another school library media center. However, the lending school library media center has the privilege of deciding in each case whether a particular item should or should not be provided, and whether the original or a copy should be sent.
Under the terms of this agreement, borrow library media centers will not ordinarily request:
- Books in current and recurring demand such as holiday materials and Sunshine State Young Reader's Award materials;
- Materials for the classroom, reserve, or other group use;
- Materials already owned by the borrowing school library media center;
- Subject requests, reference materials or anything that the local library media center would not loan in its own school;
- Any item restricted by local policy from being loaned;
- Any copy that would violate copyright law.
Each participating school and district should prepare a statement of its resource sharing loan guidelines and make it available upon request.
Responsibilities of Borrowing School Library Media Centers
Each school library media center should provide the resources to meet the ordinary needs and interests of its primary clientele. Material requested from another school library media center under this code should generally be limited to those items that do not conform to the school library media center's collection development policy, for which there is no recurring demand, or for which the information is not readily available within the school.
Borrowing school library media centers should make every effort to exhaust their own resources before resorting to resource sharing requests.
Protocol
SUNLINK Resource Sharing should follow this protocol:
Tier One: Local district or other established local reciprocal agreements
In the interest of saving on postage costs, the first effort of the resource sharing should focus on schools within the same district. The use of the district courier mail service and the same resource sharing guidelines make intra-district borrowing the simplest and most cost effective.
Tier Two: Region
The Florida Department of Education has established five geographical regions across the state. To equalize the resource sharing activities and to prevent any one area or district from excessive loan requests, schools should attempt to request resource sharing items from within their own region if items are not available in their district. A map of Florida displaying the five regions can be found on the SUNLINK site: http://sunlink.brodart.com/search/fl/
Tier Three: Statewide
If needed items for resource sharing are not available within the borrowing school's district or region, then that school library media center may request the item from any SUNLINK school in the state. Logic would suggest that the nearest source in the state would be the most appropriate.
Each school library media center is responsible for maintaining the provisions of this code and protocol in good faith.
All school library media centers are responsible for supplying SUNLINK resource sharing statistics, showing monthly requests initiated and monthly requests filled both within and outside the reporting library media center's district. Statistics are to be tracked on the SUNLINK Resource Sharing Form and are due to the SUNLINK project office at the end of each school year. The form may be downloaded from
http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/publications/forms.html.
Interlibrary Loan Policies and Procedures
Specifics of resource sharing can be found at the SUNLINK Interlibrary Loan web page: http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/ill/. These pages contain information about:
- Who does interlibrary loan
- The benefits of interlibrary loan
- What items are shared
- How items are located
- Sending the request
- Receiving the request
- Shipping the ILL item
- Supplies for interlibrary loan
- Interlibrary loan statistics
- Non-compliance suggestions
With the rapid growth of email in schools and districts, SUNLINK introduced email interlibrary loan (e-ILL). Links to information about e-ILL (email interlibrary loan) can also be found on the SUNLINK site:
Schools must apply to be an e-ILL school. e-ILL schools agree to:
- Send and receive interlibrary loan requests by email;
- Check your email account at least once a day;
- Prepare email ILLs yourself or delegate this task to a professional staff member (just as you would never share your personal email password, students and teachers should never be given SUNLINK usernames or passwords--ILL is a professional responsibility);
- Inform the SUNLINK office when you leave a school so that usernames and passwords can be reset if the new media specialist wishes to remain a SUNLINK e-ILL school;
- Observe all SUNLINK interlibrary loan policies and procedures.
Applications for e-ILL can be found online http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/e-ill/apply.html.
Many Florida school districts have implemented their own Interlibrary loan policies and procedures. For district examples of interlibrary loan guidelines, see:
Hillsborough County Schools Interlibrary Loan Guidelines
http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/mediahandbook/Sections/a2ILLGuide.htm
Pasco County Schools Interlibrary Loan Agreement
http://media.pasco.k12.fl.us/Pages/ILL.html
Florida school library media centers are part of the larger community that includes public and academic libraries throughout the state, the nation, and the world. These libraries also have established guidelines and agreements that may serve as models:
CCLA: Resource Sharing for Florida’s Community Colleges
http://www.cclaflorida.org/docs/resourcesharing/rs.asp
The State University System of Florida and the Community College Library System of Florida: Reciprocal Borrowing Privileges Agreement
http://www.fcla.edu/FCLAinfo/sus/borrowing_agreement.html
State Library of Florida: The Florida Library Information Network (FLIN)
http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/flin/flinman.cfm
American Library Association: National Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States
http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaprotools/referenceguide/interlibrary.htm
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA): Model National Interlibrary Loan Code
http://www.ifla.org/VI/2/p3/model.htm
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