Inter-library loans: retrospect and prospect

In the United Kingdom, including to a lesser extent Eire, the last sixty years or so have seen the development of a system of national and regional inter-library lending of which the library service may be justly proud. That is not to say that the system which has already been developed is incapable of improvement, nor that the methods adopted for the furtherance of library cooperation have always been the most efficient and economical. By outlining the main factors in this development, and noting some possible changes for the future, this study seeks to evaluate this complex method by which British libraries seek to make the total bibliographic resources of the country readily available to those who need access to them. In terms of the cost per item handled it could be argued that the methods used are relatively inexpensive; in terms of the total expenditure on duplication of functions throughout the country, it is certainly a costly operation.