It does not impact another library that may already be a net lender. Many ILL units were already buying documents from commercial suppliers, in addition to borrowing from other libraries. While perfect solutions were not at hand, workable experiments and pilot projects were in order. Interlibrary loan departments had demonstrated leadership, initiative and ingenuity in streamlining, automating and enhancing ILL services in order to absorb staggering increases in requests and to improve turnaround time. Many of these units had already moved beyond interlibrary loan services to be come mediated document delivery services.
Many challenges remain before a total integrated document delivery system becomes a reality.
Cancellations and decreased purchasing power are causing research collections to look more and more alike as libraries are reduced to buying essential materials that support core programs. Vendors are in business for a profit and what they make available for document delivery will be driven by the marke tplace, not by the needs of individual scholars for esoteric, rare or foreign publications. This collective responsibility for our published heritage encompasses not just ownership, but also bibliographic control, preservation, archiving and delivery. Standards will make it easier for users to gain a reasonable level of competence in searching with a minimal level of training. Currently libraries are funding mediated delivery and onsite collections.