"inter-library loan" vs. "interlibrary loan" Google Books Ngram Viewer data comparing across the full corpus (1870–2019), and it gives a real number: around 1925.
Here's what the data shows:
1870s–1910s: The hyphenated form dominates entirely — this matches Green's 1876 "Inter-Library Loan of Books" and the early ALA-era usage we found in Library Journal.
~1900s–1920: Both forms are climbing in frequency (unsurprising, as ILL practice was growing), with hyphenated still clearly ahead.
1/2
Brewster Kahle
npub1ft…83e6s
2026-07-29 13:34:34 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…hhnx
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npub1ftlrl36zhu09klw5qt75ksjd8z8wafzp37ht2h3d2uzjmnr9eeesu83e6sSeen on
wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2026-07-29 13:34:34 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "\"inter-library loan\" vs. \"interlibrary loan\" Google Books Ngram Viewer data comparing across the full corpus (1870–2019), and it gives a real number: around 1925.\n\nHere's what the data shows:\n\n1870s–1910s: The hyphenated form dominates entirely — this matches Green's 1876 \"Inter-Library Loan of Books\" and the early ALA-era usage we found in Library Journal.\n\n~1900s–1920: Both forms are climbing in frequency (unsurprising, as ILL practice was growing), with hyphenated still clearly ahead.\n\n1/2",
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