Whenever I hear a powerful story about the impact of library services, I save it. Real-life stories bring richness to the information experience that is impossible to create with facts and figures. At the ILL Conference in 2004, two library users at the University of Colorado in Boulder spoke about their experiences with the library; specifically, with interlibrary loan services. Both speakers were totally engaging. Here are my memories of their stories.

William (Ned) Friedman spoke first. Friedman leads the University of Colorado Friedman Lab as well as being a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. His primary research interests are the origin and early evolution of flowering plants; heterochrony and plant developmental evolution; cell cycle activity during gametogenesis and fertilization; evolution of multicellularity; and anatomical complexity and symbioses in early land plants. Friedman has requested hundreds, if not thousands, of interlibrary loans; indeed, he has blown through any library rules and regulations about the number of ILLs one may request. He is very particular, too. Since he is collecting and converting to electronic format the earliest works on evolution, he specifically borrows the original copies of some of the most important works in the field. He exhorts the ILL department of the CU library to borrow the original copies of Charles Darwin's books and notes, original lab books from the earliest scientists, and irreplaceable pages of hand-drawn flowers. He challenges these librarians to convince major research libraries and rare book collections to let him see and scan these precious works.

As Friedman discussed his research needs and goals, you could easily imagine the librarians' groans when they saw him coming: the ILL requestor from hell. But Friedman delivered the kicker when he asked his audience to think about why his research is important. This is not just the history of science, nor is it the capricious actions of a passionate collector. He told the audience that over 70 percent of global human nutritional intake today comes directly from flowers, one of the last items to appear in the biological record. If we can understand how flowers have evolved, we have a greater chance of improving the nutritional standards and capacity of the world. Each ILL Friedman requests contributes to that goal.

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A lively discussion followed on whether a library should impose limits on the number of ILLs (e.g., three per day per user) and the unique challenges in acquiring access to original copies and rare manuscripts. However, what really hit everyone between the eyes was the large role that simple ILL transactions play in the overall research life of a scientist.

The next speaker that day was Erin Robertson from the Center for Native Ecosystems. She spoke on the topic of "Doing Research Outside the Academy: How ILL Helps the Center for Native Ecosystems Protect Endangered Plants and Animals." Her story involved the complexities of getting information to support research and lobbying efforts to save precious biological resources. Ecologists and plant and animal biologists keep the location of rare plant and animal species secret to protect their lives and ecological viability. However, fellow scientists need notes and background papers. When scientists request the "real" background papers, they need a trusted conduit to acquire and return the works, so as not to endanger these living resources. ILL services are just such a trusted conduit. Robertson told a number of heart-tugging stories about protecting rare pants and animals with the support of ILL. This is another example of how an ILL transaction can be imbued with meaning beyond the simple delivery of an item. The respect for privacy and confidentiality and the fine hand required to protect secrets without damaging the research process are all exemplified here.

I was reminded of these two stories when I went to a presentation at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies Research Day. Linda Quirk (MISt) gave highlights of her thesis research in "The Remarkable Bibliographic Record and Publishing History of Canada's Mohawk Poetess: E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake)." Pauline Johnson is a famous Canadian poet. For her research, Quirk depended on ILL to view copies of almost every extant edition of Johnson's works from libraries around the world. She challenged ILL clerks and librarians to find specific editions, specific covers, and new versions of Johnson's work. She found some catalogs sorely lacking in key metadata to describe the work. She also found unique Canadian folk art (such as Boy Scout book covers for merit badges) in the discovery process. Highlights of Quirk's discoveries are included in the major work History of the Book in Canada, a three-volume set published in French and English. Volume I was released in August 2004 to much fanfare at an event at the Library and Archives Canada. We can see the role ILLs and libraries played in capturing information about this poet and Canada's cultural history.