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1. Introduction
The main function of libraries is to provide services to users through collections. Libraries strive to cover the changing needs of their users by constantly updating their collections. However, due to limited budgets and the increasing number of materials available, libraries are often unable to fulfill all the requests for new resources from their users. Libraries, which are responsible for meeting the information needs of the users, cooperate with other libraries and information centers for economical and fast material sharing to overcome this situation. American Library Association (ALA) Adult Services Division emphasized the importance of cooperative resource sharing, stating that the library can meet the information needs of users with its own collection and local, regional or national collaborations for resource sharing among libraries (Bustos, 1993, p. 25). Although interlibrary cooperation cannot completely solve problems in an environment where many different external factors are in question, it is one of the most effective ways to alleviate the difficulties experienced in providing materials.
Libraries can cooperate for cataloging, collection development and interlibrary loan (ILL) (Britannica, 2022). Since the early 1900s, cooperative cataloging has allowed for contributions to the bibliographic information of materials using a set of standards. OCLC WorldCat stands out as a prominent example in this regard, with Ohio University’s Alden Library being the first to use WorldCat to catalog a book online in 1971, marking the launch of the OCLC Online Union Catalog and Shared Cataloging System (Seaman, 2016). During the same period, the Library of Congress (LC) also began its cooperative cataloging efforts (Library of Congress, 2023). The national cooperative cataloging system of Türkiye, TO-KAT, is another example of cooperative cataloging at the national level (TO-KAT, 2022). Cooperative collection development, which emerged in the 1940s, prevents the same material from being purchased by different libraries and provides benefits both in terms of storage and economy. Another form of cooperation between libraries is ILL. ALA defines ILL as the “process by which a library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library.” In this definition, material refers to “books, audiovisual materials, and other returnable items as well as copies of journal articles, book chapters, excerpts, and other non-returnable items” (ALA RUSA, 2020). The concept of ILL was first introduced by Samuel...