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SUB Göttingen

Overcome copyright and cost barriers to sharing

Photo of SUB Göttingen

"Since early 2014, the SUB Göttingen has processed all interlibrary loans within the structure of WorldShare Interlibrary Loan, including document delivery through MyBib eDoc. It is largely automated, convenient, and transparent."

Dr. Kerstin Helmkamp
Former Head of Readers' Services, SUB Göttingen

SUB Göttingen is a high-volume interlibrary loan (ILL) institution that has participated in OCLC's global interlibrary loan network since 2000. As an OCLC ILL participant, the library has benefited from borrowing and lending materials within a global network of more than 9,000 libraries.

In the past, manual processes for filling SUB Göttingen's large number of document requests and managing invoices for ILL fees required a lot of staff time and resulted in slower-than-desired turnaround times. Because the European copyright act does not allow libraries to physically deliver electronic copies to patrons, requested items had to be sent by mail or fax, which led to high costs and slow delivery.

Adoption of WorldShare® Interlibrary Loan, connected with the internal document delivery tool MyBib eDoc®, has allowed SUB Göttingen to reduce both staff time and turnaround times on document requests. ILL staff members appreciate how WorldShare ILL works seamlessly with My Bib eDoc to ease the workflow through automation. The integrated system continually synchronizes important ILL information, such as orders and status messages. MyBib eL®— a platform that supports adherence to German copyright law by enabling borrowing libraries to print a single copy of requested documents—completes the ILL service of SUB Göttingen.

"OCLC's Interlibrary Loan Fee Management (IFM) has replaced time-consuming, manual processes for managing individual ILL invoices with a single, monthly billing statement."

Dr. Kerstin Helmkamp
Former Head of Readers' Services, SUB Göttingen

The library's use of OCLC's Interlibrary Loan Fee Management (IFM) has replaced manual invoicing and payments for individual ILL fees with a consolidated statement on their monthly OCLC invoice, saving a significant amount of staff time. There is no longer a need for individual billing or the use of IFLA vouchers for borrowing and lending fees.

Although the library had successfully used OCLC's ILL services since 2000, the recent addition of MyBib eDoc, MyBib eL and the use of IFM has significantly improved the ILL service for library users, has reduced the staff time needed to process requests and has allowed staff to focus on making other improvements at the SUB Göttingen.

Map showing location of SUB Göttingen

Library at a glance

  • Founded in 1734
  • Supports Georg August University of Göttingen and the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
  • Has 7.7 million media units in holdings, among the largest collections in Germany
  • Collection includes manuscripts, hand-drawn maps, rare prints, and a Guttenberg Bible
  • Receives approximately 5,500 visitors in the Central Library every day

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