New support for the research process: Desktop delivery of microform content

Abstract

While trying to access microform content, patrons at the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources at Valparaiso University were often hampered by unfamiliar equipment, temperamental software, and a puzzling file management system. In an effort to address these problems, the Access Services Department launched a pilot program for the electronic delivery of microform content. It was decided to discontinue the self-service model and design a system in which patrons could request specific items from the microform collection, which would then be retrieved and scanned by the staff and made available electronically through the interlibrary loan client. After describing the problems a typical user might encounter with the existing system, the author explains the solution piloted by the library, outlines the policies and procedures, reviews the outcomes, and finally draws attention to the considerable potential of such a service.