International interlending and document supply: the African perspective

Abstract

This paper attempts to review the literature of international interlending and document supply as it applies to the situations in Africa. Guidelines for international interlending and the basic criteria for an effective interlending system are discussed. Various barriers to international interlending in Africa such as inadequate library collections, lack of coordination of resources, poor communications network, poor bibliographic organizations, inadequate funding for libraries and lack of library manpower are also analyzed. The writer concludes that African countries are becoming aware of the seriousness of these problems and are therefore making efforts to solve them. As the situations improves, more promising results will be forthcoming.