The Ohio University Libraries system is in the top 15 nationally ranked institutions in regard to the number of materials provided to other libraries, as well as materials received, a recent study by the Chronicle of Higher Education showed.
The interlibrary loan data, from the 2014-15 academic year, showed that Ohio University Libraries shared 52,889 items with other libraries, ranking OHIO the 14th-highest in the country, and took in 40,660, with a 15th ranking in the nation. In both cases, the number is the second-highest in the state of Ohio, behind only Ohio State University.
“Those numbers demonstrate OHIO’s commitment to resource sharing and keeping our access to information high—and [keeping] our costs as low as possible,” said Janet Hulm, assistant dean for collections and digitization strategies.
The number of interlibrary loans jumped in 2014-15 in part due to an expansion by OhioLINK, a statewide funded consortium, which added another group of libraries a few months before the academic year began.
“The jump is a direct result of the University’s commitment to sharing in OhioLINK and to interlibrary loans nationwide,” Ohio University Libraries Dean Scott Seaman said. “Our goal is to provide the best service possible to our primary users, and the interlibrary loans program plays a role in fulfilling that goal.”
Due to its size, OHIO routinely maintains a high availability setting with OhioLINK, the state’s inter-library sharing network, making the University more likely to get called when an item is needed. Similar numbers were maintained in the 2015-16 academic year.