Inter Library Loan Charges End

The Hannon Library

“I never used it [Inter Library Loan] because I didn’t feel like paying two dollars,” said Christopher Black, a junior Political Science major at Southern Oregon University (SOU). Last month on Sept. 25, the SOU Hannon Library reduced the cost of Inter Library Loan (ILL) articles for students from $2 to free for the first five articles they request. The library hopes that this cost reduction will aid students in their research by allowing them access to quality articles.

According to Melissa Anderson, the Campus Engagement and Research Services Librarian, and Kate Jones, the head of Resource Sharing and Fulfillment Services, ILL is a partnership with other libraries around the world that lets the Hannon obtain articles that SOU’s database does not have, allowing easier access for students to access those articles. 

Each ILL article a student requests costs the library $30 to acquire the article in order to give it to the student. The library charged students $2 for the articles they requested in order to help with the cost. However, Jones felt that, “Students were being deterred from sources because of the cost.” Anderson agreed, “[The cost was] deterring students from quality research.” Anderson continued, “Not only does this help students financially but it helps them in school as well.”

The goal is to help students become better researchers. “It’s exciting to connect people with the resources they need,” Jones said. “The cost is no longer a roadblock for students.” Anderson agreed that the new change, “Has encouraged students to use the database more.”

Kelsie Mattingly, a junior Biology major at SOU stated, “It’s great to have them [ILL] as free. It allows those who don’t have extra cash still be able to read them.”

The current plan is to keep the ILL articles free for the remainder of the 2017-2018 academic school year and potentially for the years to come. So far, Jones has helped students recover 131 articles successfully, 79 of which were found at the local library or online. Both Melissa and Kate encourage students to use the SOU library database and ILL database as much as they can while they are here at SOU since they will not have access to them once they graduate.

 

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