An overview of the options for document delivery

摘要

Document delivery has always been at the heart of the services offered by libraries, publishers and others in the information industry to their users. In the hybrid information environment, document delivery needs to embrace the delivery of both print and electronic documents. Although mechanisms for print delivery are well established, these have been made more efficient through the introduction of electronic ordering. These developments have been coupled with rapid development in recent years in electronic document delivery, particularly in relation to electronic journals. This paper reviews the developing and sometimes converging roles of the following agents in document delivery: 1. library networks and consortia 2.document delivery on CD-ROM 3. commercial document delivery services 4.Library suppliers, subscription agents and EDI 5.electronic journal suppliers and publishers Document delivery involves the integration of document discovery, the location of a supplier, request and delivery. Both print and electronic document delivery are important, and indeed many of the agencies that are involved in electronic document delivery are major players in print document delivery. Important also, is that the dividing line between print and electronic document delivery is often not clearly defined. The paper reviews a range of different services, many of which are new, and some of which are still undergoing initial technical or market evaluation. The situation is extremely volatile. The nature of documents, and their role in access to information, and the avenues for access to documents is undergoing a fundamental change. Evolution, rather than revolution is to be anticipated, but resource constraints will contain developments in keeping with technological and marketplace opportunities. Significant factors in this revolution will be: the international nature of document delivery, technological developments associated with the use of image files, intellectual property rights, and the economics of journal acquisitions and publishing.