In this column, new Director General Wilma van Wezenbeek is getting to know the KB. Behind the scenes, she meets colleagues who do important work that not everyone is aware of. This work is often done on an impressive scale. Today: the Inter Library Loan process (ILL).
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ILL is one example of the many abbreviations I come across at the KB. Even though I was already familiar with this particular abbreviation, I want to learn more about how the Inter Library Loan process works at the KB. The ILL is a service for KB members by which they can request publications from other libraries, as well as a way for members of other libraries to request publications from the KB collection. Does the KB receive a lot of these types of requests?
"We get an average of 781 per month", Karijn Dillmann from the Services team tells me during my visit. "We can often provide books and magazine articles from our own physical or digital collection. If we don't have an item, we can request it from other libraries, at home and abroad. And vice versa; we also supply libraries worldwide. The service is all about national and international cooperation."
But ILL these days is about more than just the exchange of books, Karijn explains. "It often involves providing scans for people who only need to see one page or one chapter. So instead of having to visit in person, they can pay a fee to have a digital scan made. This could be a simple scan or a high-quality reproduction from our special collection. This can sometimes be of great help to people. And you do not have to be a member in order to request scans and reproductions."
Special requests
Do you also get special requests? "Absolutely. In addition to requests for academic literature, we also receive some very personal requests", says Karijn. "For example, a gentleman met his wife through a personals ad in the magazine Hitkrant. They were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and he was looking for that specific issue of Hitkrant. Our scan showing that ad was then displayed on a big screen during their anniversary party. Another time, we looked for a specific photograph that ended up being shown at a funeral. These are just a couple of examples to show our work can really make a heartwarming difference."
Knitting patterns
781 requests is quite a lot. How long does the team spend working on a request? "That varies a lot", says Karijn. "We sometimes receive incomplete information, which then involves doing some bibliographic research first. Sometimes it’s immediately clear that we will not be able to help. This can be the case when the book or article cannot be found in our network, or when people ask us to scan an entire book- which is not permitted under copyright law. But we always go the extra mile. For example, an article might already be online somewhere and we can provide a link. And, as I said, it's always nice to be of help. The other day, someone was looking for a particular knitting pattern for a jumper with the children's song character Berend Botje on it. It was quite a quest but we were successful in our search. Needless to say, that lady was extremely happy."
Collaboration
This cannot be done by the Services team alone I assume. "No, it involves collaboration between several KB departments", says Karijn. "Colleagues from the depository, photographers from the Image Studio for the high-quality reproductions, staff from the mailroom and from Functional Management, they all work together to help with a request. And we of course also interact with colleagues in the Dutch library network."
What a fantastic service. "Yes, and it’s convenient because the ILL means that not every library has to buy every publication. Thanks to this service, we can also make our - often unique - collection available to those who cannot visit the KB in person. And we can supply the KB members with materials that we cannot provide from our own collection. So, we're really here for everyone."
Want to know more about ILL? Or about requesting scans or reproductions? The procedures for this are described on our site. Check it out!
