Archive - Historical Material

At present there are numerous services which deliver documents, with different modes of access, methods of costing, service and provision, each vying for a market share. At one end of the spectrum are the traditional services that provide a paper copy in response to either an electronic or a paper request from a library intermediary on behalf of a user. At the other end are services that enable users to search a database electronically and provide an electronic copy of a specific request immediately. Which works best, and do some types of systems empower users more than others?

The eLib funded FIDDO (Focussed Investigation of Document Delivery options) project has been evaluating different electronic document access systems in trials with academics using them in their own workplaces. Over 70 academics and researchers from three disciplines (Business, Manufacturing Engineering, and Geography) and five UK Midlands Universities took part in the trials which evaluated four systems and compared them to their traditional methods of obtaining documents. The academics and researchers were interviewed before and after each trial, which normally lasted about three months. They also completed report forms for each online session and transaction logs from vendors were obtained where possible. The results showed that although users liked the idea of electronic document delivery, particularly in the early stages of research, in reality there were many problems associated with using current systems that enable this.