Slightly more than half of lending requests were filled. Turnaround time indicated that ILL and DD are slow service forms. To borrow a book took on the average 16,9 days and to get a copy of a document on ILL 14.9 days. High-performing operations are the ones in which efficient workflow and procedures have been established and are reviewed on a regular basis. Fill rate showed that borrowing may be slightly less efficient in Finland than in the USA but lending is much more efficient.
Finnish libraries seem to be very interested in sharing.
Compared with the situation ten years ago, it looks as if there is a clear improvement in lending whereas in USA there seem to be no measurable development. Turnaround time in Finland gives a different picture of the performance in interlending. The comparisons between the performance in the USA and in Finland have raised questions on Nordic performance within this area, and we believe that a Nordic study is very desirable and could be of great use. The need for the study was identified long ago and it became topical during the previous ILL study tour of NVBF to USA in 2000. The possibility to compare Nordic information with the study from USA gives also an international perspective that can be useful.