Speed of document delivery and quality of information are concerns which have impelled the Northeast Indiana Health Science Libraries Consortium to seek ways to improve the efficiency of its established network of diverse libraries. The Consortium is asking for support to bring all of its members to the same technological level. With the explosion of printed material available in the health sciences field today, the Consortium has identified four areas of need: reduce interlibrary loan turnaround time; promote computerized literature searching; strengthen I communications with the consortium, and build interest in a statewide interlibrary loan network. After consideration of the new technology available, the consortium has developed a plan to use telecommunications to meet these needs. The Consortium proposes to have a computer and modem for each institution to allow members to access electronic mail systems, to access DOCLINE for faster interubrary loan turnaround, and to access the multitude of online databases available. A telefacsimile machine in each institution will result in faster interlibrary loan time and provide rapid material transmission in urgent situations. In addition, electronic linking of this consortium can serve as a telecommunications model for other consortia and facilitate development of a statewide network.
