WorldShare Interlibrary Loan release notes, October 2023

Administrative actions

These items require immediate action or decisions.

Action
For best performance, it's very important to clear your browser's cache before starting to work with WorldShare ILL!
If you haven't already, enable the OpenURL-based request form for your library's users: Configure and customize the elements of the form to meet your library's needs  Utilize OCLC/WMS identity management or IP authorization Provide access to the form from any discovery service  Receive and process requests in WorldShare ILL – without having to rekey them Automatically route requests submitted via the form to the automated request manager (ARM) For more information, see the WorldShare ILL release notes, May 2023.
Be sure to utilize Smart fulfillment functionality, including: Real-time availability for ILL, which significantly reduces the number of times you respond “no” and “In use, on loan” Automated Request Manager, which enables you to save time by automating routine ILL workflows Smart lender strings through the Automated Request Manager, which helps you improve fill rates and turnaround times Turnaround Time dashboards and tips to Improve turnaround time
Have your contact information or lending policies changed? If so, please make the appropriate updates in the OCLC Policies Directory.

Follow-up actions

In an effort to keep your staff informed of new features and changes, you may also want to consider these items.

Action
Share these release notes with your colleagues.
If you haven't already, visit the new OCLC Community Center for new ways to connect with OCLC and other community members. To make the most of the new community structure:  Use your existing Community Center account to sign in. Just click “Sign in” in the upper right corner of the screen. All accounts and subscriptions have been migrated, so when you sign in, you will have access to all your existing posts and continue receiving notifications.  Read and agree to the Code of Conduct and Terms of Use. As part of launch, you will be prompted the first time you sign in to read and agree to the new OCLC Online Engagement Code of Conduct and Terms of Use. Visit the WorldShare ILL product community and click Manage subscriptions. We recommend that you subscribe to all boards to be notified of updates in all spaces – new options include Events, Recordings, and Ideas.  Visit the new Resource Sharing knowledge community and click Manage subscriptions. We recommend that you subscribe to all boards in this space also to be notified of updates – including newly scheduled Product Insights sessions and general resource sharing news.

Utilize the enhanced service for circulation integration to keep your circulation and ILL requests in sync

For libraries with WorldShare Management Services (WMS)

With this release, all WorldShare ILL libraries will be automatically migrated to the newly developed and enhanced circulation integration service. 

If your library is not currently using circulation integration, setting it up will streamline the ILL-circulation process. Staff who process ILL loans will no longer need to update WorldShare Circulation manually to create temporary items and patron holds, charge patron ILL fees, check out items that your library is lending, or check in items at the end of the loan period.

If your library is already using circulation integration, you don't need to make any changes to your setup but you will experience the following changes:

• Previously, the temporary circulation item and hold were created when the request was submitted. Going forward, the temp circ item and hold will be created when the item is received. This will alleviate your need to manually delete the circ temp item later if the request is not filled..
• If your patrons use My Account for WorldShare Circulation, the hold for a temporary circulation item previously would display as soon as the request was submitted. Now, patrons will see the hold in My Account only after the requested item is received - and is sure to be filled. 

In OCLC Service Configuration, all WorldShare ILL libraries will now see several new options for circulation integration, including lending integration and the ability to charge ILL costs back to patrons. For details on setting up these new options, see WorldShare Circulation release notes, October 22, 2023.

Previously, circulation integration was enabled for WorldShare ILL in OCLC Service Configuration > WorldShare ILL > Interlibrary Loan Options. This setting is no longer displayed in the Interlibrary Loan Options.

Instead, circulation integration now has its own setup page at OCLC Service Configuration > WorldShare ILL > Circulation Integration. 

For more information, see WorldShare Circulation Integration.

Post-release session

To help you become familiar with the new features, enhancements, and improvements included in this release, please attend the upcoming webinar Product Insights: Resource Sharing.

Date: Thursday, October 26, 2:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC -04:00)
Registration: https://community.oclc.org/t5/resource-sharing-events/product-insights-resource-sharing/ec-p/44129#M4

Please note the session time zones when registering. The sessions will be recorded and archived for future viewing on the OCLC Community Center. Please register, even if you cannot attend, to receive a link to the recorded session.

OCLC Resource Sharing Conference web series 

OCLC invites you to view recordings and slides in the community center from the 2023 OCLC Resource Sharing Conference (RSC23) web series. The free, virtual session from RSC23 included:

• Some changes are here to stay: Managing resource sharing in the 21st century | Recording and slides
• RSC23 Lightning sessions - Conducting interlibrary loan user surveys and Training student employees on ILL processing | Recording and slides
• Law, not guidelines: Moving beyond CONTU | Recording and slides
• Exceed your library users’ expectations with your ILL services | Recording and slides
• Lightning sessions- Resource sharing: an Italian perspective, Resource share the love, and Resource sharing trends survey | Recording and slides
• Workshop - Tips to improve staff workflows and users’ experience | Recording and slides

Also, ILL 101 sessions hosted by IDS Project are available at the Online Learning Institute.

Virtual Workshop Series: Learn how to fine-tune your ILL setup

Were you able to join us for all of our Virtual Workshops where we showed how you can optimize your library’s ILL setup and workflows, and save time?

The series included the following topics: 

• Part 1: Fine-tune your policies and deflections (recording, slides, and checklist available)
• Part 2: Construct your custom holdings (recording, slides, and checklist available)
• Part 3: Automate your request process (recording, slides, and checklist available)
• Part 4: Curate and care for your constant data (recording, slides, and checklist available)
• Part 5: Make your usage statistics count (recording, slides, and checklist available)