Monday, January 29, 2007

Inter-Library Loan (ILL) charges to NHS users of the Medical Library

The Medical Library regrets that it is no longer able to sustain its current pricing structure for Inter-Library Loans supplied to NHS staff and external members of the library. This decision follows a cut in the funding we receive from the NHS.

The Medical Library will charge the full unsubsidised rate for all ILL requests received from 1 February 2007 onwards that are requested by NHS staff. The basic rate for a photocopy will rise from £3.00 to £6.00. Charges for requests made by University and MRC library users will remain unchanged. Full details of charges are available at http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/documentsupply.htm

We obviously regret the need for this and other cost-cutting measures we are introducing at the present time. At the same time, we are continuing to seek ways of improving our service in a cost-effective manner, and in this respect are about to trial a new electronic document delivery process which, if successful, will significantly reduce the time required to supply a standard article request. We hope that this will help to offset the negative effects of our new ILL charges.

If you are on an NHS departmental account and have any questions, please contact Ann Mallows (Univ. ext. 63905).

If you have any comments or questions in general, please direct them to Peter Morgan, Medical Librarian at library@medschl.cam.ac.uk

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