Interlibrary loans (ILL) are essential to any library since it can not satisfy all information needs of all patrons. Even when I worked at the big New York Public Library people were always asking for materials that we didn't own. It is very easy to request an ILL by using an electronic form. The collection at NJIT is weak since the library did not grow as the research interests of the university expanded. Several years ago a graduate student in information systems complained that every book she needed had to be ordered from another university.
It bothers me when a patron sends an ILL for an item that the library owns. Certainly, one make an honest mistake, but most of the time I feel that the patron is just too lazy to check the library's online catalog before submitting a request. This causes an unnecessary delay in the researcher's having the information needed. Is it laziness or is the information literacy training not effective?
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