THE DUTCH RAPDOC PROJECT - FROM INTERLIBRARY LOAN TO ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT DELIVERY

The aim of the RAPDOC project is to establish a system for the rapid electronic delivery of journal articles in full text to libraries and end-users. Pica is currently co-operating with 19 major libraries in The Netherlands on this project. On the basis of analyses of the existing interlibrary loan system, a core collection of 7,000 journal titles has been determined which is expected to fulfil 85 per cent of all requests for articles. Bibliographic information on all articles in the core collection will be added to the central database, providing an effective, in-depth index to these journals. In addition to central storage, data will be downloaded to relevant local library systems. Speed of delivery is a major goal and at a later stage documents will be imaged electronically and delivered via SURFnet - the Dutch research network.