by Peter Collins, Director of Resource Sharing
28 April 2020
As someone who has spent his entire career in librarianship (specifically, overseeing interlibrary loan and delivery initiatives), I want to talk about two crucial components of efficient resource sharing: turnaround times and fill rates.
At OCLC, we’ve been working to improve these factors in several ways, including using availability data to know what's on-hand, from which supplier, in real time; leveraging time-to-fill algorithms to predict processing and shipment time; and automating “buy vs. borrow” decisions.
Progress on strategic matters like these is possible because of the OCLC resource sharing network: the world’s largest, integrated group of resource sharing librarians—thousands-strong, informed by more than 40 years of collaboration. Among other benefits, this network provides comprehensive access through economies of scale, simplified workflows through automation, global visibility and infrastructure, and a foundation of openness and collaboration.
This collaboration and engagement with the community is deeply rooted in the daily work we do, and could encompass long-term studies using precision methodology and control, brief conversations between sessions at a conference, and everything in between. Whatever the method, the size and dedication of the OCLC resource sharing network is a unique asset working on behalf of our community.
With respect to optimizing turnaround times and fill rates, here are several examples of collaborative projects currently underway:
- Virtual Workshop Series on Policies and Configurations
- Automated Request Manager
- Identifying Fastest Lenders
- Reasons For No Task Force
- Availability/Requestability Pilot
- Removing Non-Responsive Suppliers
Additional details on these projects are available for OCLC subscribers within the Community Center.
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