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Third-party integration and Tipasa fulfillment integration

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Find a comparison between Tipasa third-party circulation integration and fulfillment integration to determine which service would work best for your institution.

Tipasa fulfillment integration with Alma ILS streamlines the interlibrary loan circulation process and workflow. Librarians and staff who process ILL loans will no longer have to update their ILS manually to create temporary items and patron holds. They can charge patron ILL fees, check out items that your library is lending, or check in items at the end of the loan period.

Unlike circulation integration, fulfillment integration enables loan borrowing requests started in Ex Libris Alma or Primo to be fulfilled in Tipasa, allowing a single view of library interactions for your patrons. In addition, staff no longer need to manually enter requests from the local system (Alma) into Tipasa, as this will happen automatically, and they can maintain request forms and notifications in a single system (Alma).

Category NCIP Circulation Integration NCIP Fulfillment Integration
Purpose Syncs ILL and circulation systems by automating item creation and check-in/out. Automates item handling and enables requests initiated in Alma/Primo to be fulfilled in Tipasa.
Patron Experience Requires login to two portals (Primo & My Account). Unified experience in Primo for ILL requests, tracking, and returns.
ILL Staff Benefits
  • Auto-creates temp records and holds
  • Auto-updates due dates on renewals
  • Alma-only notifications
  • No manual entry from Alma
  • Single system for forms and notifications (Alma)
Additional workflows
  • Manual entry for unfilled Alma requests
  • Maintain forms in both Tipasa & Alma
  • Manual renewal initiation in Tipasa; auto-update after lender approval
  • Must disable request forms in Tipasa
  • Manual renewal initiation in Tipasa; auto-update after lender approval

Patron Management
  • Configure authentication in Tipasa
  • Patron loads recommended (note: if using provision on demand, patrons will need to enter their barcode on each request they submit.)
  • No patron data loads or authentication setup in Tipasa (managed in Alma)
System Maintenance Dual maintenance of patron data and forms. Centralized in Alma; minimal Tipasa configuration.