| Abstract | Librarians frequently express their reluctance to get involved in international lending. This can perhaps be attributed to a feeling that their interests lie closer to home. As a result, they tend to view requests from libraries in other countries as an exceptional problem to be solved rather than part of the regular workflow. A few bad experiences with international lending can forever color the feeling of interlibrary loan offices about requests from abroad. The general feeling is a dismissive “Why bother?” CISTI has taken a more optimistic view of international resource sharing. CISTI has, in fact, taken up the challenge of supplying to libraries outside of North America, realizing that as the world shrinks, along with library budgets, we must be prepared to look beyond our own borders. This article provides a review of CISTI's experiences and some practical advice for dealing with particular issues, such as lending across long distances, language barriers, messaging and ordering systems, international mail and Customs controls and billing issues. |
|---|
