The power of sharing: over 30,000 inter-library loans in just two years!
Since switching to a new library management system two years ago, the ANU Library has reached a remarkable milestone of over 30,000 inter-library loans! This includes 20,000 borrowing requests fulfilled for ANU staff and students from other libraries, and 10,000 loans distributed from our collections to external borrowers.
This achievement is particularly remarkable considering the challenges of the last two years, including disrupted access to collections due to major hail remediation works, and the relocation of the print repository.
We are proud to have continued providing the ANU community with access to collections and information throughout these challenging times.
The way in which it secured material for me – both articles and books, originating from many different countries – has been extraordinary... I could not have done without the service
Enabling students and researchers to borrow from collections held outside the Library greatly enriches the pool of materials from which they can draw for their research. Providing access to the ANU Library’s extensive collections for external library users allows us to support scholarly debate and progress far beyond the boundaries of the University.
ANU is proud to be a global leader in breaking down obstacles to knowledge and ensuring open access to information wherever possible. We do this by making millions of resources freely available via the ANU Library catalogue, the Open Research Repository, the free download option on the ANU Press website, in addition to offering inter-library loans.
The new platform has simplified the process of accessing materials not at ANU which are vital for research.
Feedback from academics
Thank you to the academics and students who have provided us valuable feedback:
“As a regular user of Document Delivery, I can only praise the team for their unfailingly cheerful support and willingness to source materials nationally and internationally to support my research and teaching... My research simply would not be possible without their generosity and I’m very grateful to the team. The new Resource Sharing Library platform has simplified the process of accessing materials not at ANU which are vital for research. In particular, the breadth of access across national and international collections has helped me to access niche materials which don’t fit neatly into the university’s collections but which are directly pertinent to my work. In addition, the quick turnaround for delivery of chapters/articles is much appreciated… I’m pleased to have this opportunity to thank the team for its great support of ANU members.”
Dr Tania M. Colwell, Honorary Lecturer, School of History
“In 2011 I published Good Living Street: The Fortunes of my Viennese Family. Over the past few years, I have been working on a new book about my family which, like much of my writing, ranges across art and law and many other disciplines. One of the great differences in working on the two books has been the new document supply service at the ANU. The way in which it has secured material for me – both articles and books, originating from many different countries – has been extraordinary. The speed with which it obtains most material means that it arrives while I am working on a particular section, without requiring me to go back to it. It has also, with what has been considerable labour, secured material which is held by few libraries and has been very difficult to obtain. While I have made research trips to Europe, I could not have done without the document service.”
Emeritus Professor Timothy Bonyhady, ANU College of Law
"Document Supply Service has exceptionally assisted me in finding archives or literatures. I am grateful that ANU has this service."
Azhar Syahida, Master of International and Development Economics
