I don't know when universities started implementing interlibrary loans, but I can now say that, in my experience, the system works. I put in an order for a book that is not available at the University of Saskatchewan, and about 10 days later, I've got a copy from the University of Alberta. Excellent.
One small problem with this text, independent of the loan system, is that it is written in German.
I don't know any German. Fortunately, my supervisor has provided me with some useful dicitonaries (dealing with general, scientific and mathematical terminology respectively) to help decipher this beast. Fortunately the math is the same. Unfortunately, I am more interested in the descriptions of the physics behind the math in this case.
There are also a number of German-speakers floating around the department. I suppose techinally they are Germans, not just people who know how to speak German.
This type of situation is the reason that math degrees have a language requirement. In addition to English (assuming you are taking your degree in English), you are expected to have a working knowledge of at least one of French, German or Russian, as those three comprise the other major languages of publication. I've actually put my French to a bit of use in this regard, but fortunately the bulk of my research has involved English or translated publications.
Posted by warcode at February 10, 2003 05:04 PM