A. Objective
The adoption of consistent and effective procedures that address special collections units’ needs, that do not require borrowing or lending special collections units to bear the direct costs of ILL transactions, and that facilitate use of normal ILL channels for processing special collections requests, will greatly facilitate loaning of special collections materials among UC libraries.
B. Basic requirements
B.1. Procedures must be sufficient to guarantee security and safe handling of all special collections during loans.
B.2. Many special collections materials are literally unique or are extremely fragile, valuable, or bulky and cannot be loaned under any circumstances.
B.3. Somewhat different procedures are necessary for boxed archival materials than those used for books.
B.4. The needs articulated in C below must be met if normal ILL channels are to be used for processing requests for loan of special collections
materials.
C. Needs statement
C.1. The borrowing library should attempt to locate a circulating copy before requesting loan of a special collections copy.
C.2. All loan decisions are made by the loaning curator on a case-by-case basis based on the nature and condition of the requested material. The curator has the right to refuse any loan.
C.3. More time may be necessary for decision making than is the case for routine ILL transactions due to the need for curatorial input.
C.4. Loans are made only for use in a secure, well-managed special collections unit.
C.5. A default loan period should be established (such as 2 weeks) that can be altered as appropriate by the loaning curator.
C.6. A standard methodology for packing of materials should be established that can be enhanced as appropriate by the loaning curator. The borrowing unit is obligated to return the item packed according to the curator’s specifications.
C.7. Each special collections unit will designate contact person(s) for curatorial decision making and shipping/receipt of ILL shipments, as well as for communicating with the local ILL unit.
C.8. Each campus ILL unit will designate contact person(s) for communicating with the local special collections unit about loan requests to ensure clear and consistent communications.
C.9. All official ILL paperwork is handled by the campus ILL unit, not by special collections.
C.10. Each item or box must be adequately identified, such as by attaching an appropriate band in a non-damaging fashion.
C.11. The same agreed-upon secure, insured, trackable means of shipping, such as FedEx or 2-day UPS, will be used for loan of books and other mailable items by all loaning/borrowing units. Insurance values must be adequate to cover replacement.
C.12. The same agreed-upon secure, insured, trackable means of shipping, such as a courier service, will be used for loan of boxed archival
materials and other non-mailable items by all loaning/borrowing units.
C.13. In some cases the same needs articulated above (C.11-C.12) exist for shipping materials stored at SRLF and NRLF as for materials stored on a campus. This could include -RLF items being paged back to the owning campus. (This item will require discussion with the storage facilities.)
C.14. All postage charges are billed to centralized campus ILL accounts, not to special collections units.
C.15. All pickups and deliveries are made directly to/from the loaning/borrowing special collections unit, not to/from a centralized ILL unit. In other words, all packing/unpacking is done within special collections units.
C.16. In case of damage or loss, the cost of replacement will be determined by the loaning special collections unit and paid by either the shipper or the borrowing ILL unit, as appropriate. Replacement costs will be paid whether or not an acceptable replacement copy can be found for purchase.
C.17. In selected cases in which loan of the original is not feasible, reproduction of the original by microfilming, photocopying, or digitization will be funded by the ILL budget to provide a surrogate for loan.