Survey findings indicate that inclusion, even partial inclusion, of holdings of academic libraries in an online union catalog significantly accelerates interlibrary lending by those libraries; e.g., six years after initial participation in OCLC, 37 Ohio libraries were lending 75 percent more material. (Author/JVP)

Discusses concerns of librarians entering field of library automation emphasizing issues surrounding automated circulation control systems and online catalogs. Factors which have contributed to dramatic growth in these areas are enumerated: MARC II format, reduced computer costs, commercial vendors, scarce resources, and turnkey systems. (EJS)