A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — A p r i l 2 0 0 2

Global Resource Sharing Easy
with International ILL Initiatives

Ann Morrow Schwab

Have you ever needed to borrow an item from a library overseas and not known how to proceed? Are you puzzled by how to pay for an international ILL? OCLC's Global Sharing Program and International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) ILL vouchers can help.

OCLC Global Sharing Program
The OCLC Global Sharing Program was formed to foster international resource sharing initiatives. OCLC established a GAC (Group Access Capability) to make it easy to identify libraries willing to lend internationally and to formalize rules for OCLC ILL borrowing beyond state and national boundaries.

To join the Global Sharing Program (GS#P) GAC, libraries must agree to:

Accept IFM as the only payment method.
Send returnable material by airmail or courier.
Transmit nonreturnable material via fax or Ariel.
Lend to all participants within the GAC.

If a library wants to join GS#P, staff must complete an application and the agreement form available at www.oclc.org/oclc/forms/gac.htm.

IFLA Vouchers
IFLA ILL vouchers make it easy for libraries to pay and be paid for international interlibrary loans. IFLA vouchers eliminate the need for invoices and bank charges. In addition, no money is lost in international exchange rates.

When a lender agrees to accept a voucher as payment, the library keeps the voucher to be reused at a later date when it is a borrower. Vouchers have unlimited validity and can be reused several times. If a library is a net lender, it may redeem excess vouchers for a refund equal to the total purchase price of the vouchers.

The vouchers are laminated and come in two denominations: $8 (full voucher) and $4 (half voucher). Lenders are encouraged to accept a standard payment of one full voucher for supplying one loan or a photocopy of up to 15 pages. Libraries may charge more or less as they see fit.

A complete list of IFLA voucher participants is available at www.ifla.org/VI/2/p1/partcpnt.htm.

While IFLA requires a minimum purchase of $100 worth of vouchers, BCR member libraries may purchase as many or as few vouchers as they need through BCR and have the cost billed to their monthly invoice.

For more information on OCLC's Global Sharing Program or IFLA vouchers, contact BCR's Ann Schwab (aschwab@bcr.org).

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Global Resource Sharing Easy with International ILL Initiatives

Global Resource Sharing Easy
with International ILL Initiatives