Is there a role for ILL in an open access world – a British Library perspective

Abstract

• The 2017 UUK report on the transition to open access reported that 54% of UK-authored articles in 2016 were accessible within 12 months of publication. This is compared to 32% of articles authored in 2014. Over the past five years, open access research has flourished in an environment of funding mandates and intensive advocacy within the higher education sector. While this phenomenal rate of growth has not been matched globally, there has still been a 7% rise from 2014 to 2016, bringing the global proportion of OA articles authored in 2016 to 32% after 12 months from publication. If this pace of change continues, it does beg the question as to what the future will look like for resource discoverability and access. While green OA can sometimes remain hidden from users, more tools continue to enter the market to improve OA discoverability, reducing some of the need to use ILL services. If ILL is no longer the answer to content access in the 21st century, how can libraries facilitate improved access in the future? As requests through the British Library’s document supply service decline, the BL has realised that future is already upon us.