The Collection and Service Optimization of China's Academic Library ILL Based on Bipartite Matching: A Case Study of Soochow University

Introduction

Interlibrary loan is viewed as a service platform that combines libraries in different geographical locations. Readers of member libraries all have access to all of the resources in the library network. Access channels are either on site or by telephone and internet application services. Self-service book borrowing and returning can be done in the nearest library, and door-to-door book service is available as well (Li, 2016).

China experienced a tide of universities merging in 1990s and a large-scale construction of university towns in the early 21^st century. To optimize the resource allocation of university libraries and facilitate proximity utilization for readers, branch building, resource reorganization, multi-point service and interlibrary loan have become part of the new normal state. Not only facing university libraries, interlibrary loan also plays an important role in urban library service. In particular, with the improvement of library sharing systems (such as one card solution), the standardization of public culture services and the promotion of a nationwide reading movement in recent years, interlibrary loan has become one of the basic public culture services. Meanwhile it is also the premise of the formation of a library resources and service network. In this case, university library interlibrary loan services should attach more importance to integrating dispersed teaching and research resources and services according to the subject setting of each campus. Additionally, the adjustment of collection structure and layout is also in urgent need, so as to satisfy relatively stable knowledge preferences in different campuses. Moreover, book circulation networks between central libraries and service nodes has been further promoted with the prevalence of community library, subway library and self-check. Data generated from this interlibrary circulation network provides with a dynamic collection optimization scheme. This study is to analyze the interlibrary loan data of campuses in Soochow University and to find out and adapt to the diverse needs of readers, so as to achieve an accurate prediction of readers’ needs and a dynamic collection structure system. As a result, time and space costs due to collection division by campuses will be minimized, and circulation efficiency and service quality will be improved.