Interlibrary loan economics

["Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@xxxxxxx>]

In an interesting discussion this week, a prominent academic librarian made
a point that was entirely new to me, and I am hopeful that subscribers to
this list may be able to provide some additional background.  The (casual)
topic was the resistance on the part of many publishers to interlibrary
loans for digital works, resistance that is often codified in the licenses
that govern the use of the intellectual property.  I made the point that in
the hardcopy world, many publishers have a grin-and-bear-it attitude to
interlibrary loan:  it is legal (controlled by the "first sale" doctrine)
and is probably of minor economic significance, since it is expensive for
libraries to administer such loans, which discourages widespread use; and
some publishers may feel that interlibrary loan provides an indirect
mareketing benefit, as a book is brought to the attention of new readers
(and the librarians who administer the loan).  To this my informative
librarian noted that it is also costly for a library to administer
interlibrary loans for *digital* works and that if publishers understood the
economics of interlibrary loans better, they would be less concerned about
them--and presumably be more willing to insist on highly restrictive
licenses.

Can anyone share information on the economics of interlibrary loans, both
for hardcopy and digital works?  What are the costs?  How are they
calculated?

Thank you.

Joe

Joseph J. Esposito
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