III. Access to Information in a Statewide Resource Sharing Environment
III. Access to Information in a Statewide Resource Sharing Environment
In the past decade, all libraries, including the Ronald Williams Library, have experienced continually rising costs for library materials. Simultaneously, they have experienced collections budgets which do not keep pace with those rising costs. Such an environment causes libraries to experience very real declines in their ability to serve their users in traditional areas such as printed journals and monographs. With the availability of new electronic technologies and the development of the electronic bibliographic networks of OCLC and the ILLINET Online Network, Illinois libraries have strengthened their ability to serve their users by sharing resources between participating libraries. Such technological advances now prompt the Library to reevaluate what the collection should contain, how it should be organized, and how it should access information for its users. In addition, the Library can rely on the several Illinois academic libraries with research and comprehensive collections to provide access to rare or infrequently used resources.
Access to Materials in the Ronald Williams Library
Members of the Northeastern Illinois University have access
to all materials housed in the Ronald Williams Library. As a member
of the Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization (ILCSO),
the Ronald Williams Library provides access to its collections
through its public access catalog, ILLINET Online. This catalog
provides availability information on monographs and serials located
in the Ronald Williams Library and in each of the 45 academic
libraries that
belong to ILCSO. For a current list of members see ILLINET Online (Web) from the Ronald Williams Library Home Page and click on ILCSO Info (http://pac.ilcso.uiuc.edu/web2/tramp2.exe/goto/G1mne3k6.000?screen=IlcsoInfo.html) .
Remote Access to Materials
Because the Ronald Williams Library is a member of ILCSO, users with valid Northeastern Illinois University identification cards can borrow library materials from any of the 45 participating academic libraries. Users may go directly to another library or they may request that a book be delivered to NEIU through the delivery service, ILDS (Illinois Library Delivery Service). Remote borrowing is based on state resource sharing codes that govern the procedures. Gaining access to such materials and borrowing them for our community carries an obligation to honor lending to the users of the other participating libraries.
Research Materials
The Library provides direct access for its faculty and students to the research collections at the University of Chicago through a membership in the John Crerar Library. In addition, the Library relies on the several Illinois academic libraries with research and comprehensive collections to provide access to rare or infrequently used resources at their libraries or through Interlibrary Loan.
Internet Resources
With the establishment of the University's fiberoptic backbone
and data network, faculty, students, and staff have access to
a wealth of information through the Internet. This information
may be free or may be by subscription. The Library staff provide
Internet navigation support and training for its community to
overcome the lack of authority control; the existence of multiple
protocols, formats, and hardware and software configurations;
and the variety of navigation tools to locate appropriate information.
Balancing access to electronic resources with traditional ownership
activities increasingly occupies bibliographers' time.
Go to Section IV - Collaborative Collection Management Among Illinois Libraries
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