Analysis of interlibrary requests by hospital libraries for photocopied journal articles

A study of the 1975 borrowing requests made by all hospital libraries in central western Massachusetts showed that there were 4,368 requests for articles contained in 1,071 different periodical titles. The numbers of requests per title ranged from eighty-nine for one title to one for each of 123 titles. A graph of the data showed a geometric progression, and the Bradford constants for this dispersion averaged 1.28. The percentage of total requests related to the age of requested issues varied from 62.48% for items not over five years old and 78.15% for issues not over ten years, to 95.57% for materials not over thirty years old. Bradford constants averaged 2.13. Of the thirty most requested periodical titles, sixteen were published in foreign countries, as follows: England--ten; Netherlands--three; Australia--one; Canada--one; and Sweden--one. The study's significance included its total coverage of a relatively large and isolated region, its focus upon the records of requesting rather than lending libraries, and its analysis of interlibrary rather than in-house activities.