Academic

A 1974 study over a 4-month period (January-April) of free MEDLINE use at Oakland University (Rochester, Michigan), a university without a medical school, involving 21 faculty and students for a total of 36 searches, showed that, although 54% of the citations considered relevant by the user were not available in the university library, only 4.1% of the citations were requested through ILL.                   (Source)

A survey reported in 1977 concerning online searching at the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory library (Champaign, Illinois), involving both users of the service (sample size: 27; responding: 26 or 96.3%) and nonusers of the service (sample size: 19; responding: 13 or 68.4%), showed that, of 25 user respondents, 11 (44%) reported ordering “many” of the documents for the citations from the online search through the library; 9 (36%) reported ordering “a few”; and 5 (20%) reported ordering “none.”                (Source)

A 1978 survey of North American health sciences libraries that were users of the National Library of Medicine search services in November 1977 (survey size: 708 libraries; responding: 376; usable: 345 or 48.7%) showed that, of 337 respondents, 316 (93.8%) libraries “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that online searching had made it possible to serve more users, while of 330 respondents, 311 (94.2%) libraries “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that online searching had caused an increase in interlibrary loan borrowing.                       (Source)

A study reported in 1978 of LEXIS subscribers in 4 different cities (Cleveland, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.) (sample size: 62; responding: 39; usable: 38 or 61.3%), involving 35 law firms, 2 law schools, and 1 government agency, showed that6 (15.8%) respondents reported an increase in interlibrary loan borrowing since they began to use LEXIS, 1 (2.6%) reported that interlibrary loan borrowing decreased after they began to use LEXIS, 30 (79.0%) reported no change in interlibrary loan borrowing, and 1 did not reply to this question.                      (Source)

Special

 A 1974 study over a 4-month period (January-April) of free MEDLINE use at Oakland University (Rochester, Michigan), a university without a medical school, involving 21 faculty and students for a total of 36 searches, showed that, although 54% of the citations considered relevant by the user were not available in the university library, only 4.1% of the citations were requested through ILL.               (Source)

A 1976-77 study at the Russell Research Center Library (USDA, Athens, Georgia) of the relationship between online literature searches and interlibrary loan activity showed thatduring the 18-month period in which retrospective online seaching was initiated (314 searches) interlibrary loan requests compared to the 6-month period just prior to the online searching (858 requests) increased 167.7% (2,297 requests) during the first 6 months, 85.5% (1,592 requests) during the second 6 months, and 120.0% (1,888 requests) during the last 6 months.            (Source)

A survey reported in 1977 concerning online searching at the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory library (Champaign, Illinois), involving both users of the service (sample size: 27; j responding: 26 or 96.3%) and nonusers of the service (sample size: 19; responding: 13 or 68.4%), showed that, of 25 user respondents, 11 (44%) reported ordering “many” of the documents for the citations from the online search through the library; 9 (36%) reported ordering “a few”; and 5 (20%) reported ordering “none.”                (Source)

A 1978 survey of North American health sciences libraries that were users of the National Library of Medicine search services in November 1977 (survey size: 708 libraries; responding: 376; usable: 345 or 48.7%) showed that, of 337 respondents, 316 (93.8%) libraries “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that online searching had made it possible to serve more users, while of 330 respondents, 311 (94.2%) libraries “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that online searching had caused an increase in interlibrary loan borrowing.                       (Source)

A study reported in 1978 of LEXIS subscribers in 4 different cities (Cleveland, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.) (sample size: 62; responding: 39; usable: 38 or 61.3%), involving 35 law firms, 2 law schools, and 1 government agency, showed that6 (15.8%) respondents reported an increase in interlibrary loan borrowing since they began to use LEXIS, 1 (2.6%) reported that interlibrary loan borrowing decreased after they began to use LEXIS, 30 (79.0%) reported no change in interlibrary loan borrowing, and 1 did not reply to this question.                      (Source)

Dr. David Kohl

 "Libraries in the digital age are experiencing the most profound transformation since ancient Mesopotamian scribes first began gathering and organizing cuneiform tablets."

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