INTERLIBRARY LOANS IN NEW DEMOCRATIC-SOCIETIES - SOUTH-AFRICAN EXPERIENCES

South Africa, as a new democracy, is currently driven by a vision of r econstruction and development. In the South African library environmen t, the focus is on rectifying serious inequalities in access to librar ies and information and to address the demand for a more equitable dis tribution of library resources. These aspects, as well as economic fac tors, compel South African librarians to rethink the traditional ways of resource sharing and the development of library collections. The sh ift is towards an innovative resource-sharing policy and subsequent fo rmation of strategic alliances and the delivery of articles on demand as an alternative to the purchasing of journals. This involves the est ablishment of a library catalogue accessible to all and effective requ est and delivery mechanisms to meet the requirements posed by conditio ns in South Africa. The capabilities of advanced technology offer powe rful means to meet these new challenges faced by libraries in South Af rica.