Automated Request Manager

Use this screen to configure Automations in Automated Request Manager (ARM) to automate ILL workflows.

Overview

As a feature of Smart fulfillment, use the Automated Request Manager (ARM) screen to configure automated ILL workflows. Automations are composed of match criteria you define along with actions you want the system to perform on matched requests.

To access this screen, sign in to OCLC Service Configuration, open the WorldShare ILL module from the left navigation, and then select Automated Request Manager.

The Automated Request Manager is divided into two tabs:

  1. Borrowing (Default)
  2. Lending

Automations are a combination of:

  • Matches: What the request should look like.
  • Actions: What the system should do with the request.
  • Exceptions (Borrowing only): When you do not want these actions to occur.
  • Priority: If a request matches multiple automations, which set of actions should be performed.

 Notes: 

  • Previously configured Direct Request Profiles will appear in the Automated Request Manager as Automations.

Take a self-paced course

Automated Request Manager: Academic Libraries

In this self-paced course, you will learn the benefits of using automations, and what information you should review and update before creating automations for an academic library. The course includes video demonstrations of creating borrowing and lending automations, and you will have opportunities to check your knowledge.

Launch course
Automated Request Manager: Public Libraries

In this self-paced course, you will learn the benefits of using automations, and what information you should review and update before creating automations for a public library. The course includes video demonstrations of creating borrowing and lending automations, and you will have opportunities to check your knowledge.

Launch course

Bibliographic matching

Bibliographic matching helps ensure that the library user receives the item they're expecting and happens automatically with Automation. When a user's request includes only partial bibliographic information, the system uses the information that is provided and applies a series of rules to identify the best-matched items. the best-matched records are cataloged completely and correctly in WorldCat, are widely held by libraries, and closely match the item the user requested. Once it identifies the best items, the system automatically adds or updates bibliographic information in the request.

Bibliographic matching is triggered automatically when a request is submitted via:

  • WorldShare ILL request form
    • with data from OpenURL
    • with data typed into a blank request form
  • FirstSearch

 Note: Bibliographic matching does not occur when ILL staff manually create a request in the WorldShare ILL staff interface unless the request is then sent manually to automation.

For requests that go through an automation that either builds a lender string, or sends directly to lenders from a custom holdings path, the system will select the best-matched records from the libraries in the custom holdings path that hold the requested item. After bibliographic matching identifies all acceptable matches in WorldCat, the system examines your preferred lenders, as dictated by your selected Custom Holdings Path in the matched automation.  The list of acceptable matches will be reduced to only those that are held by lenders in your Custom Holdings Path.  Those records will be retained and recorded.  Each lender can have a different OCN assigned to the request if they have holdings set on different records in WorldCat that represent your requested item.

Bibliographic matching requires at least one of the following: ISSN, ISBN, or OCLC number.

  • If an ISSN is included, the system uses it to identify the best WorldCat record.
  • If an ISSN is not included, the system looks for an OCLC number. If an OCLC number is present, the system uses it to identify the best record.
  • If no ISSN or OCLC number is included, then the system looks for an ISBN. If an ISBN is present, the system uses it to identify the best record.
  • If no ISSN/ISBN or OCLC number is included, then the system sends the request to staff review.

When an ISSN is provided, a title-matching check of 30% is required. For example, a value like "J Clin Psych" would be a match for Journal of Clinical Psychology but not for Journal of Business Economics.

Persistence Setting and Automated Request Manager

We recommend that libraries do not use constant data persistence and toggle the Persistence Setting to Off in the OCLC Service Configuration > WorldShare ILL > Interlibrary Loan Options module.  Instead, apply constant data for both borrowing and lending via automation. 

For borrowing requests:

  • When the Persistence Setting is turned On in the OCLC Service Configuration > WorldShare ILL > Interlibrary Loan Options module, the DEFAULT constant data record overrides other Constant Data applications including through automation. If using automations to apply constant data on borrowing requests, turn off the Persistence Setting. See Interlibrary Loan Options.

For lending requests:

  • Constant data persistence will be blocked on lending requests where automation has taken an action to apply a constant data record.
  • When the Persistence Setting is turned On in the OCLC Service Configuration > WorldShare ILL > Interlibrary Loan Options module, and when an automation has taken an action to apply constant data on a request:
    • Persistence will be disabled on that lending request.
    • A warning message will appear in orange at the top of the screen alerting users that constant data persistence is turned on, but automation has already performed that activity, with a recommendation that constant data persistence be turned off in service configuration.
  • When the Persistence Setting is turned On in the OCLC Service Configuration > WorldShare ILL > Interlibrary Loan Options module, and an automation has not taken an action to apply constant data on a request, constant data persistence will operate as usual.

Borrowing 

Automations allow you to determine how patron-generated requests are processed. OCLC recommends creating at least one borrowing automation for loans and one for copies. Keep the following in mind when you are configuring automations:  

  • Automations are applied based on the Automation Priority setting. A patron-generated request is compared against all automations. Of all the automations that match the request, the automation with the highest priority, or lowest assigned Automation Priority number, will be applied to the request.
    • Each automation must have a unique numerical value for Automation Priority.
    • Assign the highest Priority (lowest number) to your most specific automations.
  • Each automation must have at least one Match, Action, or Exception (not one of each).  
    • If you do not select any match criteria, your automation will apply to all requests.  
    • If you select matches but not actions or exceptions, all requests matching that automation will be routed to review.  

Standard Actions for Borrowing

At the top of the screen is a list of the standard actions the system automatically performs on new borrowing requests.  

  • Bibliographic record matching
    • Requests that are not matched to a WorldCat record will not go through automation and will appear in the Review queue.
  • WorldCat holdings check
  • Knowledge base holdings check
  • Custom Holdings Group check

Configure Main Automations for Borrowing

To add an automation:

  1. Select the Borrowing tab.
  2. Click + Add New.
  3. Enter a Name and assign a Priority.  See Main Automation fields for Borrowing for more information.
  4. Select any desired match criteria from the Matches drop-down menu.  See Automation Match criteria for Borrowing for more information.  
    • If you do not select a match criteria, the automation will apply to all requests.  
    • Click the Add a match button Add a match button to configure additional match criteria.
  5. Select any desired actions from the Actions drop-down menu.  See Automation Actions for Borrowing for more information.
    • Click the Add an Action button Add an Action button to configure additional match criteria.
  6. Click the Add an Exception button Add an Exception option to select any Exceptions.  See Automation Exceptions for Borrowing for more information.
    • If any exceptions are true on a matched automation, only the exception will apply and the rest of the selected actions will not apply.
  7. Click Save.

To edit an automation:

  1. From the Main Automations list, select the Edit button associated with the desired automation.
  2. Edit information, as appropriate.  Remove matches, actions, and exceptions with the remove button Remove button.
  3. Click Save.

To delete an automation:

  1. From the Main Automations list, select the Delete button next to the desired automation.
  2. On the confirmation window, click Delete.

Main Automation fields for Borrowing

Field Description
Name*

The name of this automation (20-character limit, with no special characters) that indicates the scope of the group of requests to which the automation pertains. The name must be unique.

Note:  Names are not case sensitive, so, for example, TEST is the same as test.

Examples:
EARTICLTEST
MAXCOPY

 Note: If you had included a Description on your previously configured Direct Request Profiles, the description will appear as read-only text on the Automation.
Priority*

Set a numeric priority to each automation. 

  • When a patron initiated request is generated, it is compared to all configured automations.  When requests match multiple automations, the automation with the highest priority, or lowest number, will be assigned to the request.  
    • Each automation must have a unique numerical value for Priority.  

Automation Match criteria for Borrowing

Configure match criteria based on details of the request.

Field Description
Age of Material

For Loans:
Used to restrict the borrowing of items that are either very new or very old based on their publication date.
Note: The number you type in Age of Material must be smaller than the number you type in but no older than.

For Copies: 
Age of Material can be used to designate whether the copy request is CCG or CCL. The age is pulled from the Article Date field. Libraries can set a Copyright designation using Automations. A copy-based request that comes through Automation with an Article date field of 1994 could be matched to an Automation with CCL in the copyright Compliance field.

Type a whole number from 1-1000 representing the age of the material in years. 
Formats
  • One or more bibliographic formats that a request must specify if it is to match the automation.
  • Select a format from the list provided. 
Languages One or more languages that a request must specify if it is to match the automation.
Need at Earliest
  • Used to define a date range, if any, within which the patron must receive the material.
  • In a loan request, the patron's date requirement is specified in the field named Need Before. For example, a Need Before value of 4 means that the patron must receive the material within four days of creating the request. To match the automation, the Need Before value in a request must fall within the range you specify in the automation by values you associate with Need At Earliest and but no later than.
  • For example, if the automation has a Need At Earliest value of 4 and a but no later than value of 7, an incoming request with a Need Before value of 5 will match the automation. However, if the patron specifies a Need Before value of 3 in the request, the request will not match the automation.
  • Type a whole number from 0-1000. 
Patron Departments
  • Patron department or departments, if any, to which the automation applies, up to 65 alpha-numeric characters long.
  • Patron department is not case sensitive, so CompSci is the same as compsci. Spelling is important, however, so CompSci is not the same as CSCI.
  • If the automation applies to more than one department, type each department separated by comma.

Examples: 
CompSci
Chemistry
Biology
Patron Note

Indicates if a patron has entered a note on the request.  Match on:

  • Check the Any words checkbox to retrieve requests that have any patron note. 
  • Enter keywords or phrases into the text box to retrieve requests containing patron notes with the specified keywords or phrases. 
    • When multiple terms are entered, they are connected with the Boolean operator of OR.  
Patron Statuses
  • Patron status or statuses, if any, to which the automation applies, up to 65 alpha-numeric characters long.
  • Patron status is not case sensitive, so Grad is the same as grad. Spelling is important, however, so Grad is not the same as Graduate.
  • If the automation applies to more than one status, type each status separated by comma.

Examples: 
Grad
UnderGrad
Faculty
Patron Will Pay Up To
  • The amount (in US dollars), if any, the patron will pay for the requested material.
  • If matching on patron’s max cost, consider making the field required on request forms, as null values will never match an automation with this criteria.
  • For a request to match an automation, the amount specified in the request must be equal to or greater than the amount specified in the automation. For example, if the request specifies 7 ($7.00), and the automation specifies 5 ($5.00), the request matches the automation--- a patron willing to pay $7 is also willing to pay $5. On the other hand, if the automation specifies 10, then the automation does not match, because a patron willing to pay $7 is not willing to pay $10.
  • Type a number. Do not type the dollar ($) symbol. A value of 0 means that the patron is not willing to pay anything for the material being requested. 

Examples:
6
6.00
6.10
Request Sources
  • Indicates if the source of a request is relevant to the automation, and if so, the source name or names.
  • If you want the automation to apply to requests from particular sources, type the names of the sources in the box provided, separated by comma. Source names can be up to eight alpha-numeric characters. The values must be valid values in your ILL requests.
  • Source names are not case sensitive, so FSILL is the same as fsill. Spelling is important, however, so FSlink is not acceptable as the valid value FSILL.
  • See ILL sources for more information.

Examples:
FSILL
FSlink
Request Type
  • Loan - Only requests for loans will match the automation.
  • Copy - Only requests for nonreturnable copies will match the automation.

Automation Actions for Borrowing

Once you have determined which requests you would like to automate, Automations can be configured with specific actions.

 Note: Some Actions are mutually exclusive from others.  Unavailable actions are automatically removed as you build the automation. 

Field Description
Apply Constant Data

Select the Constant Data record, if any, that you want to apply to the requests matching this automation.  Once you select this action, you will see a dropdown list of all current Constant Data records for your institution.  

  • The Constant Data record, if any, that applies to the group of requests you are automating. The list contains all current Constant Data records for your institution.
  • Select a Constant Data record from the list provided. Do not select from the list if no current Constant Data record applies to the group of requests you are automating.
    Note: If you want to define a Constant Data record for this group, create the Constant Data record before creating the automation.
Available additional Actions
  • Build Lender String
  • Route Request to Review
  • Send Request to Lenders

 
Build Lender String

Select this option if you want to build a lender string on the request without sending the request automatically out to lenders.  Once you select this option, you will be asked to select a Custom Holdings Path from the full list of Custom Holdings Paths currently configured for your institution.  The matching requests will have lender strings applied and moved to review.

Available additional Actions
  • Apply Constant Data
  • Route Request to Review

Automation builds a lender string that considers the following:

  • Deflections: Libraries deflecting for a reason that would impact your request are not included in the lender string. This includes service type, format, borrower’s max cost, group affiliation, e-license terms, or material age. Automation history will show lenders that were excluded because of deflection so that you can adjust the request upon resubmit for a more favorable response.
  • OCLC knowledge base coverage range: Holdings are added from the WorldCat knowledge base where the lender holds the year or volume requested.
  • Electronic license terms: Holdings are added from the WorldCat knowledge base where the lender has a license that allows ILL.
  • Print Serials
    • Lenders will be added to the lender string if they:
      • Hold the requested year or volume based on the information in the 853 and 863 fields of the Local Holdings Record (LHR).
      • Have LHRs for the title but the system cannot determine if holdings match the requested item.
      • Do not have a title-level deflection in the  008 field of the LHR  indicating they will not lend or copy the item.
    • The lenders are then sorted by turnaround time.
  • Turnaround time
    • Turnaround time is calculated from when a lender is assigned a request to the time when the item is available to the borrower.
      • For Loans: the time from when the lender was assigned to when the borrower received the item.
      • For Copies: the time from when the lender was assigned to when the lender shipped the item.
    • Lenders are sorted by turnaround time within each Custom Holdings Group in a Custom Holdings Path. User's preferences for ordering the lender string are retained. Turnaround time order is determined by the below calculations to create the best lender string for each request without overwhelming lenders who have a quick turnaround time:   
      • The system calculates a daily average turnaround time for lenders based on historical data from the past year. This average turnaround time is recalculated daily.
      • Each library’s current queue depth or number of outstanding lending requests is considered upon assigning requests. The current queue depth is calculated hourly.
Route Request to Review

Automation will move matching requests to your Review queue.   If you do not select an action that routes a request elsewhere (to lenders, purchase, or Document Delivery), this action will apply by default.

Available additional Actions
  • Apply Constant Data
  • Build Lender String
Route Request to Review for Purchase

Requests will be sent to your Purchasing Requests > Review for Purchase queue.

  • No available additional Actions.
Send Request to Lenders
  • Select this option if you want to route the request automatically to lenders.
    • Once you select this option, you will be asked to select a Custom Holdings Paths from the full list of Custom Holdings Paths currently configured for your institution.  Matching requests will be routed to lenders in the Custom Holdings Path you select who hold the requested item.  
    • You will also be asked to select the minimum number of lenders in your selected Custom Holdings Path who hold the requested item.  You can select from 1-5.  
      • This is not the overall number of libraries who have WorldCat holdings on the requested item. This is the minimum number of lenders in your designated Custom Holdings Path who should hold the item before the request is sent automatically to those lenders.
  • If this acts on a loan request, you should also specify an action to Apply Constant Data and then select the constant data record of your choice. The constant data record you select should include shipping and billing addresses. If you do not specify a constant data record with this action, your request will be moved to review with a message in Automation History stating that shipToAddress1 and/or the billToAddress1 is missing.
  • Print Serials
    • Lenders will be excluded from the lender string if they:
      • Do not hold the requested year or volume based on the information in the 853 and 863 fields of the Local Holdings Record (LHR)
      • Have a title-level deflection in the  008 field of the LHR indicating they will not lend or copy the item.
    • Once these lenders have been excluded, the remaining lenders are sorted by turnaround time.
  • Turnaround time
    • Turnaround time is calculated from when a lender is assigned a request to the time when the item is available to the borrower.
      • For Loans: the time from when the lender was assigned to when the borrower received the item.
      • For Copies: the time from when the lender was assigned to when the lender shipped the item.
    • Lenders are sorted by turnaround time within each Custom Holdings Group in a Custom Holdings Path. User's preferences for ordering the lender string are retained. Turnaround time order is determined by the below calculations to create the best lender string for each request without overwhelming lenders who have a quick turnaround time:   
      • The system calculates a daily average turnaround time for lenders based on historical data from the past year. This average turnaround time is recalculated daily.
      • Each library’s current queue depth or number of outstanding lending requests is considered upon assigning requests. The current queue depth is calculated hourly.
Available additional Actions
  • Apply Constant Data

Automation Exceptions for Borrowing

Configure exceptions in Automation that apply instead of the defined actions when they are true.

Field Description
If Duplicate Request, Route to Review

Potential duplicate requests will be sent to your Review File.
If Held By Custom Holdings Group, Route to Review
  • If you want requests matching this automation to be routed to your Review File when one or more members of a particular group holds the requested item, select the name of the Custom Holdings group record that identifies the group. Select one group name from the list provided.
  • The list includes all current Custom Holdings groups for your institution. If group holdings are not relevant to the set of requests you are automating, do not select a Custom Holdings group.

Examples:

  • The group name that represents all library branches on your campus.
  • The group name that represents consortia for which you have special borrowing procedures.
If Held By My Institution, Route to Review Requests will be sent to your Review File when your institution holds the requested item.

Use borrowing automations with WorldShare Interlibrary Loan

Automations allow you to determine how patron-generated requests are processed. Once a patron request has been submitted, with an automation, you can select whether the request, if matching the automation, should be produced (sent) to lenders or forwarded to your New for Review queue.

Keep the following in mind when you are creating your automations:

  • Automations are applied based on the Priority setting.  A patron-generated request is compared against all automations.  Of all the automations that match the request, the automation with the highest priority, or lowest assigned Priority number, will be applied to the request.  
    • Each automation must have a unique numerical value for Priority.  
  • OCLC recommends creating an Automation for loans and an Automation for copies.

Basic borrowing automations

A recommended set of automations would Route Request to Review if the request is a duplicate or Route Request to Review if the item is held. If this automation is not configured, the system applies constant data and moves the request to review.  

Examples

Screenshot of examples of automation options and priorities for basic borrowing automations in WorldShare Interlibrary Loan

  1. LOANS: 

    If the request is not a duplicate and is not held by your institution, the system will apply the Constant Data record and build a lender string based on the holding libraries in the Custom Holdings Path and route the request to Review.
     
    1. Under Matches, select Request Type > Loan.   
    2. Click the Add an Exception button Add an Exception option and select If Duplicate Request, Route to Review.   
    3. Click the Add an Exception button Add an Exception option and select If Held By My Institution, Route to Review.
    4. Under Actions, select Send Request to Lenders and select the Custom Holdings Path to use.
    5. Click the  Add an Action button Add an Action option and select Apply Constant Data and select the Constant Data record to use.
  2. COPIES:  

    If the request is not a duplicate and is not held by your institution, the system will apply the Constant Data record and build a lender string based on the holding libraries in the Custom Holdings Path and route the request to Review.
     
    1. Under Matches, select Request Type > Copy.   
    2. Click the Add an Exception button Add an Exception option and select If Duplicate Request, Route to Review.   
    3. Click the Add an Exception button Add an Exception optionand select If Held By My Institution, Route to Review.
    4. Under Actions, select Send Request to Lenders and select the Custom Holdings Path to use.
    5. Click the  Add an Action button Add an Action option and select Apply Constant Data and select the Constant Data record to use.

Advanced borrowing automations

The following are examples of how to expand your automations.  

Examples

Screenshot of examples of automation options and priorities for advanced borrowing automations in WorldShare Interlibrary Loan

  1. PATRONNOTE

    Any requests that have a patron note will not be sent to lenders, allowing for staff to read the patron's note and fill the request accordingly.  
     
    1. Under Matches, select Patron Note.  Select the Any words checkbox to retrieve requests that have any patron note.
    2. Under Actions, select Route Request to Review. 
       
  2. PURCHASE

    Spanish Book requests will be routed to review for purchase. 
     
    1. Under Matches, select Formats > Book.
    2. Select Add a match button Add a match and select Language > Spanish. 
    3. Under Actions, select Route Request to Review for Purchase.

Lending

Using the Automated Request Manager, lenders can choose to apply designated constant data records to lending requests based on the identity of the borrowing library, the type of request, or the material format being requested. This ensures that lending charges, notes, policies, and addresses are accurately applied to lending requests, saving staff time and ensuring compliance with local policies and preferences.

  • Automations are applied based on the Automation Priority setting. A patron-generated request is compared against all automations. Of all the automations that match the request, the automation with the highest priority, or lowest assigned Automation Priority number, will be applied to the request.
    • Each automation must have a unique numerical value for Automation Priority.
    • Assign the highest Priority (lowest number) to your most specific automations.
  • If you do not select a match criteria, the automation will apply to all requests.   

Standard Actions for Lending

At the top of the screen is a list of the standard actions the system automatically performs on new lending requests.  All libraries will see the actions on the left of the screen:

  • Deflections
  • Supplier status check
  • Knowledge base holdings check
  • Group affiliations check
  • Time to Respond
  • Real time availability check

Configure Main Automations for Lending

To add an automation:

  1. Select the Lending tab.
  2. Click + Add New.
  3. The Enable box will be checked by default and the automation will immediately be in effect upon saving. The automation will display Yes in the Enabled column.
  4. Enter a Name and assign a Priority.  See Main Automation fields for Lending fields for more information.
  5. Select any desired match criteria from the Matches drop-down menu.  See Automation Match criteria for Lending for more information.  
    • Click the Add a match button Add a match button to configure additional match criteria.
  6. Select any desired actions from the Actions drop-down menu.  See Automation Actions for Lending for more information.
    • Automations that specify actions but no Match criteria will match all requests.
    • Click the Add an Action button Add an Action button to configure additional match criteria. 
  7. Click Save.

To edit an automation:

  1. From the Main Automations list, select the Edit button associated with the desired automation.
  2. Edit information, as appropriate.  Remove matches, actions, and exceptions with the remove button Remove button.
  3. Click Save.

To delete an automation:

  1. From the Main Automations list, select the Delete button next to the desired automation.
  2. On the confirmation window, click Delete.

Main Automation fields for Lending

Field Description
Enable

By default, when an automation is created, the Enable box will be checked and the automation will immediately be in effect upon saving. The automation will display Yes in the Enabled column.

Staff can edit automations and uncheck the Enable box so the automation is no longer in effect and displays as No in the Enabled column. 
Name*

The name of this automation (40-character limit) that indicates the scope of the group of requests to which the automation pertains. The name must be unique.

Names are not case-sensitive.

 
Priority*

Set a numeric priority to each automation. The priority must be a positive integer of 9 digits or less.

  • When requests match multiple automations, the automation with the highest priority, or lowest number, will be assigned to the request.  
    • Each automation must have a unique numerical value for Priority.  

Automation Match criteria for Lending

Field Description
Borrower Group

 
Formats
  • One or more bibliographic formats that a request must specify if it is to match the automation.
  • Select a format from the list provided. 
Request Type

Specify copy or loan requests:

  • Loan - Only requests for loans will match the automation. 
  • Copy - Only requests for nonreturnable copies will match the automation.

If no request type is selected, the automation will apply to both copy and loan requests.

Automation Actions for Lending

Field Description
Apply Constant Data Apply a designated Lender Constant Data record as an action.

Use lending automations with WorldShare ILL

Refer to Automated Request Manager for Lending for use cases and examples.

Use Reports to assess automations 

Refer to Assess automations to learn how to access and use the Borrower Resource Sharing and Lender Resource Sharing Stats Reports to track your library's use of automation.