Conarls

 / Resource discovery

• Non-English Language Fiction database
• Fiction in English
• Music
• Locating Theses
• Alternative format materials
• Backup Libraries for Serials

/ Non-English Language Fiction database

The Non-English language fiction collections database has been compiled to help library staff quickly identify sources of material available for inter-lending within and beyond their own regions. The database describes collections not individual titles held.

The database includes over 1400 entries for collections in 65 languages from Afrikaans to Yoruba.

Where has this information come from?

These collections have been identified in libraries across England and Scotland. The East of England, East Midlands, London, North West, Scotland, South West, Yorkshire and Humberside regions have all contributed information about holdings and indicated whether the material is available for interlending to other libraries in their region and beyond.

What's not included?

There are currently no entries for libraries in the North East, South East, West Midlands, Wales and Ireland.

How can I include my library's collection holdings information?

Information about non-English language fiction collections not already included is always welcome. A template for gathering the data is available from Lynn Hodgkins, Regional Librarian, Libraries and Information East Midlands. Lynn will be happy to organise the input of any new or revised information for the database.

What types of libraries have provided details of their collections?

The database mainly includes holdings of public libraries however the Scottish entries include University, National, Public, Education, College and specialist libraries such as the Goethe Institute and the Library of the French Institute.

How big are the collections of material?

Many of the collections are small. Over 500 have less than 50 titles, 130 collections have between 50 and 100 titles and 350 collections have more than 100 titles.

Material available for interlending

Many of the collections listed are available to other libraries within and beyond the organisation's own region. A small number of collections are not available for loan, however their information has been included to help build up a picture of the range of non-English language fiction resources held in libraries across the country.

/ Fiction in English

The Joint Fiction Reserves (JFRs) exist to preserve and make available for public library borrowers out-of-print works of fiction.

Three Joint Fiction Reserves exist in the UK and Ireland: the Regional JFR, the London and South Eastern Regional Joint Fiction Reserve (LASER JFR), and the Irish JFR. A similar but distinct Scottish Fiction Reserve is also in operation.

• The Regional JFR, operating in England outside the former London and South East Region, dates from 1962 and has 57 participating libraries.
• The LASER JFR was set up in 1946, revised in 1988, and has 39 participating libraries.
• The Irish JFR, established in 1965 and covering the Republic and the North, has 24 participating libraries.

These three schemes all operate in a similar way. Participating libraries aim to acquire all new fiction published within a particular alphabetical allocation and to make this available for interlibrary loan.

The Scottish Fiction Reserve, set up in 1955 to ensure the systematic collection and preservation of the works of Scottish novelists, major and minor, operates in a different way from the other schemes. All 32 Scottish public library authorities participate and collect on a basis of local association, each library making itself responsible for authors born in its area or closely associated with it. A Directory of Authors, available from the National Library of Scotland, aims to be a comprehensive list of Scottish fiction writers, and lists the libraries in which their work is collected and made available through interlibrary loan.

/ Music

Resources and information regarding music and drama material are available on the following sites:

• The Encore Catalogue of Performance Music Sets
• IAML (UK & Ireland), the UK and Ireland branch of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML). The organisation exists to represent and promote the interests of music librarians and libraries, music-related archives and music information providers throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. IAML (UK & Ireland) also administer the Cecilia database, which provides information on music collections in archives, libraries and museums across the British Isles.
• The National Library of Scotland pages, Inter-lending of Music in the UK are intended as a guide to assist Inter-Library Loan (ILL) staff to identify, locate and obtain music material for their readers.

Information on obtaining performance sets can also be found on the Wakefield Library Services site.

Please contact your regional representative if you would like to suggest additional resources to be made to this section.

/ Locating Theses

Theses and Dissertations are the written documents produced by students for a higher degree or as part of their undergraduate studies. British theses are not usually published documents so the author holds the copyright.

There are 3 main groups of theses and dissertations.

1. Undergraduate Dissertations

Many undergraduate students write a dissertation but these are not normally held in university libraries. They may be held in the appropriate university department but most are not available for consultation or loan. The only way of acquiring a copy may be through direct contact with the student.

2. Taught Course Theses/Dissertations

Many taught postgraduate degrees (masters) with nomenclature of MA, MSc and MBA require the submission of a dissertation in support of their work. Some university libraries hold copies of these and others keep them in their departments. Recording is not systematic but some are listed in the Index to theses. Most are not available for Interlending but some may be consulted in the awarding university's library or appropriate department. Enquires should be made to the awarding university.

3. Research Theses

These are completed for doctoral and some masters degrees. The nomenclature is usually PhD, DPhil, MD or MPhil. They make an original contribution to knowledge and are important sources of primary research. Bibliographical records of these theses are available in the Index to Theses and this also contains a sub collection of theses from Ireland. For more information look at: http://www.theses.com/.

Policy on the lending of theses varies between universities. Some universities require a user to sign a Copyright Declaration Form before consulting a thesis and these vary in accordance with the awarding university's regulations. Most theses may only be borrowed for reference use and there are limitations on how much can be copied or quoted. Many university libraries will make photocopies of their theses for the full cost but there are variations in policy as to whether the author's permission must be sought in advance.

The British Library's Thesis Service gives access to the full text of more than 170,000 doctoral theses, mainly from the 1970s to the present day. Almost all UK universities make their theses available through the service. Theses are microfilmed on demand and libraries may borrow the microfilm or purchase a paper copy. A number of universities require the user to complete and sign a Thesis Declaration Form (TDF) before borrowing the microfilmed thesis. This is reflected in the order number on the record of the British Library's Integrated Catalogue. Those preceded by D require one and those preceded by DX do not.

For more information on the British Library's Thesis Service look at: http://www.bl.uk/services/document/brittheses.html.

Some theses may contain material that is commercially or politically sensitive. These may not be available for loan. Enquiries should be made to the awarding university's library.

International Theses

The British Library collection contains more than 475,000 US doctoral theses acquired from UMI (now ProQuest) in microform and several hundred Canadian doctoral theses. Since September 2001 the British Library stopped acquiring these. Paper copies of many North American theses can be purchased on-line from ProQuest Digital Dissertations with a credit card at: http://www.il.proquest.com/products_umi/dissertations/.

Alternatively, applications for overseas theses not held at the British Library can be made direct to the awarding university, or through the British Library's Worldwide Searches service.

The IFLA Voucher Scheme of reusable plastic cards is widely acceptable for direct international loans and can be used instead of paying by invoice. Costs are at €8 for each full voucher or €4 for each half voucher. More information is available at the IFLA website at: http://www.ifla.org/VI/2/p1/voucher-scheme.htm.

Electronic Theses

At present very few UK theses are available online. More Universities are now looking at developing Institutional Repositories for their academic output including theses. The Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS) project aims to deliver a fully operational, easily scaleable and financially viable prototype UK online electronic thesis service, and supporting infrastructure. More information can be found at: http://www.ethos.ac.uk/.

At International level considerable progress has been made and an example of this is the global 'Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations' (NDLTD). More information can be found at: http://www.ndltd.org/browse.

ADT is the Australasian Digital Thesis Program to establish a distributed database of digital versions of theses produced by the postgraduate research students of Australian universities. For more information look on: http://adt.caul.edu.au/.

/ Alternative format materials

Alternative format material is usually a book or print item that has been produced in another format such as Braille, Moon, Large Print, Giant Print, audio CD or cassette, etc.

The RevealWeb website contains a searchable database of accessible alternative format resources.

The Bee Aware Scheme is a national initiative to promote the inter library loan of alternative format material on behalf of visually impaired and print disabled people. The North West Libraries Interlending Partnership website contains full details of the Bee Aware Scheme, along with further information about alternative format materials and resources.

/ Backup Libraries for Serials

In the summer of 2007 Andy Jack of LSE posted a query on the LIS-ILL mailing list to ask interlending colleagues if any Higher Education institution libraries were prepared to lend serials.

Andy has compiled the list below from the responses he received and has kindly given Conarls permission to make this information available. If any further institutions would like their details to be included we would be pleased to hear from you so we can update the list.