19th ILDS, Rome, Italy, September 28-30

The IFLA Document Delivery and Resource Sharing Section (DDRS) Standing Committee is delighted to announce the Call for Papers and Posters for the 19th Interlending and Document Supply (ILDS) Conference, which will be held in Rome, Italy, from 28 to 30 September 2026.

Conference Website: iflailds2026.org

Conference Theme: Knowledge Without Walls: Sharing in Times of Change

Resource sharing—the supply of loans and copies between libraries regionally, nationally, and globally—is the foundation of international library cooperation, ensuring access to diverse ideas and research materials. Today, this essential mission faces profound global challenges that threaten to build new walls around knowledge and access.

The DDRS Standing Committee challenges the resource sharing community to examine strategies, technologies, and partnerships that dismantle these emerging walls and ensure knowledge equity in this rapidly shifting world.

Key Questions We Wish to Examine

We particularly encourage proposals that address the following core questions:

  • How can our community ensure that resource sharing networks remain open and resilient in the face of economic recession, restrictive customs policy, and instability?
  • How can we best redesign our services to support the changing needs of researchers, students, and displaced communities in an increasingly digital and politically volatile environment?
  • How can our community responsibly harness the innovation of AI, machine learning, and data analytics to expand resource sharing efficiency, while proactively developing new policies and models to address associated privacy, copyright, and ethical concerns?

Suggested Topics for Submission

If you have experiences, research, or innovative ideas to share, the Conference Planning Committee is accepting conference paper and poster proposals. Possible topics may include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:

  1. Policy, Legal, and Geographical Barriers
  • Strategies for maintaining resource sharing services across borders.
  • Advocacy for global resource sharing to support scholars and researchers in restricted regions and conflict zones.
  • Navigating complex international licensing and digital rights management in a time of increased content restriction- e.g., thoughts on Controlled Digital Lending (CDL).
  • Copyright, licensing, and digital resource sharing (data sets, ebooks, etc.)
  • Case studies of successful and resilient international communities’ models.
  1. Economic and Sustainable Models
  • Data-driven approaches and metrics for demonstrating the essential economic and academic value of resource sharing services.
  • Innovative financing or cooperative collection development strategies to cope with rising costs.
  • The role of resource sharing in supporting Open Access (OA) initiatives and institutional repository access.
  1. AI, Technology, and Workflow
  • Ethical and practical integration of AI tools to enhance resource discovery and document delivery.
  • New digital tools and platforms for interlibrary loan (ILL) and document supply automation.
  • Discovering, borrowing, and lending ebooks at scale.
  • Addressing privacy and data security concerns in resource sharing systems.
  • The impact of AI on academic integrity and the library’s role as a trusted intermediary.

Submission Details and Key Dates

Proposals for papers and posters should be submitted at iflailds2026.org no later than 2 March 2026.

Proposals may be submitted in English and Italian.

Your submission must include the following details:

  1. Author(s) Name, Title, Institution, and Contact Information
  2. Brief Biographical Sketch (2-3 sentences for each author)
  3. Title of Paper or Poster
  4. Abstract:
  • Paper: 300 to 400 words describing the paper’s central argument, methodology (if applicable), and key findings or conclusions.
  • Poster: 100 to 250 words summary of content and relevance for Resource Sharing.
    • Poster size Maximum and recommended poster size is ISO paper size A0 (900 mm (high) x 700 mm (width).

*Please note: If the proposal is accepted, the authors are expected to submit a completed paper by the final manuscript deadline. Additionally, authors are expected to attend the ILDS Conference on-site to present their work.

We look forward to receiving your proposals and to a dynamic and impactful conference in Rome!