SHOULD ACADEMIC-LIBRARIES LEND LIS JOURNALS

The practice, in some academic libraries, of lending periodicals to st aff and students can frequently lead to frustration and disappointment on the part of other users pursuing the same articles. Reports result s of a survey of periodicals lending policies in university libraries, focusing on library and information science periodicals which are uni que in that they have an additional user group in academic libraries, namely professional library staff. Explores the views of users, level of complaints about these policies, and compares loan periods, recall policies, photocopying charges and other related issues. Questionnaire s were sent by electronic mail and post to academic departments and li braries in the UK, Ireland, North America, Australasia, and Scandinavi a. Concludes that: the lending of periodicals causes problems for acad emic staff, library staff and, especially, for students; only a minori ty of academic libraries lend periodicals, with lending being more pop ular in the UK than the USA; and there is a clear difference of percep tion between librarians and their users about the difficulties involve d. Suggests possible solutions, including: electronic access; duplicat e copies of key periodicals for circulation among library staff; study packs and short loan arrangements; lending of older, bound volumes; a nd the making of loose issues reference only.