New RUSA online course provides foundation in interlibrary loan practices in public, academic libraries

CHICAGO — The first offering of Interlibrary Loan (ILL) 101, a new online course offered by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), will be held Sept. 17-Oct. 14, 2012; registration is open now!

This online course will provide new ILL managers and practitioners with a broad overview of ILL policies, procedures and practices and a firm foundation in borrowing and lending protocols, best practices, copyright and licensing issues and ILL systems. The course will also cover authoritative resources for continuing professional education beyond the workshop. Topics covered are relevant to all types of libraries, but are of particular interest to public and academic libraries.

This particular RUSA course has synchronous online meetings twice a week during the course on Mondays and Wednesdays at 1 - 2 p.m. Central (Chicago) time. Each of the following topics will be covered in two sessions: interlibrary borrowing practices and protocols; interlibrary lending practices and protocols; copyright and licensing issues; and ILL resources and systems. Outside of these live course meetings, students will spend approximately one hour reading, completing assignments and reviewing/completing policies.

Online registration is open now for this and other upcoming RUSA online courses. Registration rates start at $130 for RUSA members, with additional savings for student and retired members of ALA. Group registration rates are available for two or more members of the same library, library system or network who register for the same course--more information is available on the RUSA online learning page.

Interlibrary Loan 101 is taught by four seasoned ILL practitioners: Megan Gaffney, coordinator of interlibrary loan and document delivery, University of Delaware; Tina Baich, interlibrary loan librarian, IUPUI University Library; Cindy Kristof, head of access services and associate professor, Kent State University; and Collette Mak, head of resource access and delivery, University of Notre Dame, and former resource sharing product manager at OCLC.

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about the association at www.ala.org/rusa.