Why are Patron Requests for articles and chapters not matching with the parent's journal or book record?
Applies to
- WorldShare ILL
- Tipasa
Answer
OCLCs interlibrary loan systems primarily use the OCLC number of a record to match onto an item. Only items cataloged in WorldCat are assigned OCLC numbers.
Articles and chapters are not typically cataloged in WorldCat, but rather are pulled in from a vendor databases. Their unique identifiers are therefore not OCLC numbers. When a patron creates a request for an article or chapter using the WorldShare ILL Request Form, the unique identifier may be pulled into the request from the Discovery record rather than a valid OCLC number.
The standard processing of the Patron's request will attempt to find a matching WorldCat record for the parent journal or book based on the OCLC number in the request. If this is a unique identifier and not a valid OCLC number, it will then try to match on an ISBN or ISSN. The results of this matching are recorded in the WorldShare ILL request record under Automation History. Having found a match on ISBN/ISSN, the unique identifier is replaced with a valid OCLC number of the parent journal or book in the WorldShare ILL Request record and a View Holdings link displayed.
If you cannot see a View Holdings link against the OCLC number field in the WorldShare ILL record or the Automation History is blank, then it is likely that the matching did not take place as the WorldShare ILL request form did not contain an ISBN or ISSN.
To correct this, you will need to update the WorldCat ILL Request form in OCLC Service Configuration - WorldShare ILL - Request Forms. You will need to add an ISBN and an ISSN field to the form. It is recommended that the editable and required boxes are not ticked, so that the ISBN or ISSN in the original Discovery record is taken across into the WorldShare ILL Request form but cannot be amended by the Patron. For further information on updating these settings, go to Request Forms.
Additional information
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