Implementing and Surviving a Free Local Document Delivery Service

The University of Iowa Libraries implemented a free document delivery service on July 1, 2007. We combined four separate document delivery services into one free service and used the ILLiad software to process and track all of these requests. All University of Iowa faculty, staff, and students can now request any material held locally through this service and will be provided a scanned PDF copy that is posted on the web via ILLiad. Since the University of Iowa Libraries consists of the Main Library, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, and nine branch libraries, the coordination of staff and resources for this project was daunting. Not only did ILLiad have to be installed at each library, to replace the Ariel software for posting scanned documents on the web, but all the full-time staff and student workers needed to be trained on a brand new software and workflow. Since July 1^st, several incidents have happened that have required an evaluation of the policies for this service and of course the statistics have skyrocketed in the few months the service has been available without charge. While the service will be continued, there are definitely some lessons learned that will make this session invaluable if you are considering implementing this at your own library.