Benefit and Cost Analysis of Resource Sharing

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23974/ijol.2025.vol10.4.564

Abstract

Libraries are not exempt from rising costs. The situation presented is how libraries can continue to provide services while also finding efficiencies in labor and operational expenditures. Libraries must examine where budgets are currently being allocated and then evaluate what further steps can be taken to ensure prompt and reliable service while also remaining efficient. For libraries who participate in interlibrary loan or consortial resource sharing, it may be beneficial to use OCLC’s Interlibrary Loan Cost Calculator or to determine what the return on investment is for being part of a consortium. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign used the ILL Cost Calculator and the return on investment provided by the statewide consortium to evaluate current operations and determine what further steps could be taken to provide materials in a timely manner.

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Author Biographies

  • Cherie Weible, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Cherié L. Weible is currently the Head of Central Access Services at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she began working with Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery in 1998.  She was the recipient of the ALA / RUSA Virginia Boucher OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award in 2010.  She has delivered over twenty-five presentations and published numerous articles in the area of Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery, including co-editing the Interlibrary Loan Practices Handbook, 3rd edition.

  • Janelle Sander, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Janelle Sander is Patron Services Manager for Central Access Services at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Illinois), overseeing the operations of the main stacks at Illinois. She has previously worked as a school library media specialist at a K-12 school, supervised interlibrary loan at a small private university, and managed the loanable equipment program at Illinois. She is co-author of a book about loaning equipment, Going Beyond Loaning Books to Loaning Technology.

References

Atlas Systems. (n.d.). ILLiad. https://www.atlas-sys.com/illiad

Big Ten Academic Alliance. (n.d.). https://btaa.org/

Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI). (n.d.-a). https://www.carli.illinois.edu/

Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI). (n.d.-b). History & Governance. https://www.carli.illinois.edu/about/histgov

Consortium of Academic and Researach Libraries in Illinois (CARLI). (n.d.-c). Membership Value. https://www.carli.illinois.edu/membervalue.html

Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI). (n.d.-d). Products & Services / I-Share Overview. https://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/i-share

Jackson, M. E., Kingma, B. R., Delaney, T., & Association of Research Libraries. (2004). Assessing ILL/DD services: New cost-effective alternatives. Association of Research Libraries. https://archive.org/details/assessingillddse00jackrich

Leon, L., & Kress, N. (2012). Looking at resource sharing costs. Interlending & Document Supply, 40(2), 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1108/02641611211239542

OCLC. (n.d.-a). https://www.oclc.org/en/home.html

OCLC. (n.d.-b). OCLC Interlibrary Loan Cost Calculator. https://www.oclc.org/research/areas/systemwide-library/interlibrary-cost-calculator.html

OCLC. (n.d.-c). WorldShare Interlibrary Loan. https://www.oclc.org/en/worldshare-ill.html

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024, April 3). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes254022.htm

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Published

2025-12-16

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 4 (2025): Assessment in Libraries

Section

Reports From the Field

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How to Cite

Benefit and Cost Analysis of Resource Sharing. (2025). International Journal of Librarianship, 10(4), 110-116. https://doi.org/10.23974/ijol.2025.vol10.4.564