Content Access via Resource Sharing Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Nine Health Science Libraries
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| Title: | Content Access via Resource Sharing Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from Nine Health Science Libraries |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Jenny Pierce (ORCID |
| Source: | Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. 2025 (111). |
| Availability: | Science and Technology Section, Association of College and Research Libraries. 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Web site: https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/istl/index.php/istl/index |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 24 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research Tests/Questionnaires |
| Descriptors: | COVID-19, Pandemics, Library Services, Access to Information, Medical Libraries, Health Sciences, Library Networks, Information Dissemination, Journal Articles, Publications |
| DOI: | 10.29173/istl2829 |
| ISSN: | 1092-1206 |
| Abstract: | Objective: COVID-19 challenged information exchanged globally, including interlibrary loan (ILL) procedures and processes. This research focused on resource-sharing networks used by Health Sciences Libraries (HSL) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify changes in ILL and Document Delivery (DD) processes both in lending and borrowing. Methods: From nine academic and association HSL who had participated in a prior study of DOCLINE usage, researchers requested institutional-level de-identified data on ILL and DD during the early pandemic period March-August 2020 and the comparison period of March-August 2019. We compared the journal article request data with previously reported findings from DOCLINE aggregated data. Results: Regarding the number of requests from the nine institutions, five saw a decrease, while four saw an increase. The average rate of journal borrowing decreased by 67.1% (standard deviation (SD) 31.7%) per library, and lending decreased on average by 44.7% (SD 68.2%) per library. Document delivery, on average, decreased by only 1.9%, though this varied widely (SD 45.5%). ??For the data on monographs loaned during the pandemic, there was a predominance of single request titles unfilled across 2019 and 2020 (n = 1631; 93.5%). Conclusion: The predominance of single request titles unfilled during the pandemic when libraries limited their sharing of physical materials argues for a deeper exploration of controlled digital lending of materials held in print. The findings across this study and its related investigations (Lloyd et al., 2022; Bakker et al., 2023) on the impact of the pandemic on resource sharing can inform and enhance preparedness planning, future resource sharing workflows and messaging, budgeting, evidence-based collection development, and dialog with content copyright holders about digitization priorities. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Notes: | https://doi.org/10.34944/8qrj-bd24 |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1492318 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Objective: COVID-19 challenged information exchanged globally, including interlibrary loan (ILL) procedures and processes. This research focused on resource-sharing networks used by Health Sciences Libraries (HSL) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify changes in ILL and Document Delivery (DD) processes both in lending and borrowing. Methods: From nine academic and association HSL who had participated in a prior study of DOCLINE usage, researchers requested institutional-level de-identified data on ILL and DD during the early pandemic period March-August 2020 and the comparison period of March-August 2019. We compared the journal article request data with previously reported findings from DOCLINE aggregated data. Results: Regarding the number of requests from the nine institutions, five saw a decrease, while four saw an increase. The average rate of journal borrowing decreased by 67.1% (standard deviation (SD) 31.7%) per library, and lending decreased on average by 44.7% (SD 68.2%) per library. Document delivery, on average, decreased by only 1.9%, though this varied widely (SD 45.5%). ??For the data on monographs loaned during the pandemic, there was a predominance of single request titles unfilled across 2019 and 2020 (n = 1631; 93.5%). Conclusion: The predominance of single request titles unfilled during the pandemic when libraries limited their sharing of physical materials argues for a deeper exploration of controlled digital lending of materials held in print. The findings across this study and its related investigations (Lloyd et al., 2022; Bakker et al., 2023) on the impact of the pandemic on resource sharing can inform and enhance preparedness planning, future resource sharing workflows and messaging, budgeting, evidence-based collection development, and dialog with content copyright holders about digitization priorities. |
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| ISSN: | 1092-1206 |
| DOI: | 10.29173/istl2829 |
