What's Remote Got To Do With It? Document Delivery 21^st Century Style

Alice Witkowski and Kellie Chang
Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Services, Hawaii Medical Library

The Hawaiian Islands are among the most isolated places on earth. Did you know that Hawaii is farther from another landmass than any other place in the world? The Islands are about 4,000 kilometers from the nearest continent and 3,200 kilometers from the nearest high-island group (the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia). Remote or not, 21^st century technology has given the library staff an opportunity to provide and receive documents from anywhere with just a mouse click or two. Even time constraints melt away with Ariel, email, DocMorph, and a strong commitment to customer service!

Document Delivery: Lending to Libraries and Individuals

Being anywhere from 2-6 hours behind the mainland libraries gives Hawaii Medical Library the opportunity to provide documents to libraries that get that late afternoon "rush" request. As distance is non-existent on the WEB, a six pm rush from NYC can be received, scanned and emailed to the library or the patron before HML closes in the evening or before the requesting library opens the next morning. For Loansome Doc users, Kellie Chang, HML Interlibrary Loan Coordinator, will convert the photocopied or "TIFF" article into PDF format (via DocMorph) prior to emailing it to the user. We have found that most users want the PDF format and are reluctant to convert the files themselves. Note: Aloha "RUSH" Spirit = Do it now!

Bye Bye Miss American Smail: Getting Materials for our Users

"Sure we can get you an article from a mainland library, but it will take anywhere from 2-3 weeks to receive it." This phrase is almost gone from our collective ILL memory now. Using DOCLINE or OCLC, we only order from libraries that supply materials via Ariel or Email. Even fax has now become a second delivery choice. As part of the Hawaii consortia of libraries, we will also use CISTI or BRI in Canada at discounted rates. Both deliver by Ariel or fax within 24 hours and are good sources for difficult to find journal articles. As our resident Internet sleuth, Kellie will search the web for direct access to authors or publishers when traditional ILL routes come up empty. Recently, she received an article faxed directly from an email request to India within 12 hours. While mail is passé, the telephone is sometimes our only hope for extreme emergencies. The kind folks at UC Davis answered our late night call and faxed an article within thirty minutes for a very grateful user.

Actions and Results

To encourage our patrons to request articles through Loansome Doc, we routinely provide email delivery. We now have well over 100 satisfied Loansome Doc users. The results and responses to our new improved services continue to be rewarding. With the latest version of Ariel, we are planning to post all ILL documents to our website which will streamline delivery operations plus get more users to our website (hml.org).

Technology has helped our department to streamline operations, provide faster services, feel more connected to our mainland colleagues, and reach out to our customers with personalized services.

For more information contact:

Alice Witkowski or Kellie Chang
Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Services
Hawaii Medical Library
1221 Punchbowl Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
Ill2@hml.org
Phone: 808-536-9302
Fax: 808-524-6956

(Editor's Note: Information about free use of DocMorph is available at http://docmorph.nlm.nih.gov/docmorph)

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September/October 2001 volume 10, issue 5

What's Remote Got To Do With It? Document Delivery 21st Century Style

Alice Witkowski and Kellie Chang Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Services, Hawaii Medical Library

September/October 2001
volume 10, issue 5

What's Remote Got To Do With It? Document Delivery 21^st Century Style

Alice Witkowski and Kellie Chang
Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Services, Hawaii Medical Library