Interlibrary Loans in the Arabian Gulf: Issues and Requisites

Abstract

Interlibrary loaning as a resource‐sharing mechanism is underdeveloped in the Arabian Gulf. Notwithstanding the existence of a regional ILL agreement since the mid‐1980s, and despite recommendations and proposals made at several conferences and symposia over the last decade, the achievement in practical terms has been less than satisfactory. Convulsive events centring on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 also contributed to pushing the ILL process into the background. The basic requisites of the ILL operations, especially, include effective local catalogues, a union catalogue of the co‐operating libraries, the establishment of an ILL unit in each university library, and an appropriate document delivery mechanism. The Muscat conference (9‐11 May 1992), the first regional ILL move after the Gulf conflagration, picked up the thread of earlier moves but much will depend on the implementation of oftrepeated proposals. The institutions involved must act in a determined way to make up for the lost years.

Citation

Al Ibrahim, B. (1993), "Interlibrary Loans in the Arabian Gulf: Issues and Requisites", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 21-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/02641619310154368