WorldShare Interlibrary Loan and WorldShare Circulation integration provides you with a method to streamline the interlibrary loan-circulation process and workflow. Librarians and staff who process interlibrary loan (ILL) requests can manage their loaned items for borrowers through WorldShare Circulation.
Note: The integration workflow only applies to loan requests, which require circulation of a physical item. Copy requests are handled through WorldShare Interlibrary Loan exclusively, with no need to “check out” an electronic, non-returnable item.
Staff actions take place across three services: WorldCat Discovery, WorldShare ILL, and WorldShare Circulation. System refers to the automatic integration steps done by the system.
The workflow begins when the patron submits an ILL request in WorldCat Discovery. Patrons can submit their request via Discovery by filling out a Patron Request Form. Library staff can also create a request on behalf of the patron using this method by supplying the patron’s information. The Patron Request Form must contain the Patron ID field so patrons are required to enter their patron barcode when submitting a request. The patron barcode is the connection between the ILL Request and the Circulation module.
If patrons at your institution cannot submit ILL requests via WorldCat Discovery, library staff can also initiate requests for the patron within WorldShare Interlibrary Loan by providing the patron’s barcode in the ILL Request.
To place an ILL request, the patron will:
Considerations
As of 22 October 2023, Circulation’s integration with WorldShare ILL migrated to the below outlined integration service. Any temporary items and holds that have already been created by the legacy integration will not be deleted or modified after the migration to the below service. Any existing holds will be updated as usual when the ILL request is updated to Received status after the migration. Your library may need to continue manually deleting holds in Circulation for ILL loan requests that are not filled by a lender, expire unfilled, or are fulfilled as a copy request if the ILL request was submitted to lenders before the 22 October 2023 service migration.
Refer to FAQs for WMS integration with WorldShare ILL in the OCLC Community Center for additional information.
Once the request is received in WorldShare ILL, library staff need to review the request and send it to lenders.
To review and send the request:
Note: If you have set up patron fees in the ILL Settings section of the WMS Circulation module in the OCLC Service configuration, patron bills are assessed when the lending library marks a request as Shipped. The fee will appear in the Bills tab of the patron's Circulation record. The Request ID will appear in the Bill note. Please see Enable WorldShare Circulation integration with WorldShare Interlibrary Loan for additional information.
Considerations
Once you receive the item from the lender, you need to confirm or enter the item’s barcode into the ILL Request in WorldShare Interlibrary Loan and mark the request as received. The system will use the barcode to update the temporary item, which can be seen in step 4.
To confirm the barcode and mark the item as received:
Note: The supplier's shipped item barcode can be replaced in the Temporary Barcode field. You may wish to use the WorldShare Interlibrary Loan Request ID as the item's barcode to more easily research the ILL request after it has been closed by the lending library.
After completing these steps, ILL staff should print a book strap, place it on the physical item, and send the physical item to Circulation staff.
After completing these steps, ILL staff should print a book strap, place it on the physical item, and send the physical item to Circulation staff. If you encounter an exception during this step, see Default hold request period exceeded.
Notes:
If you have configured this setting in the Circulation Integration module of the Service Configuration, after you mark a request as received, the system creates a temporary item and places an item-level hold on the item for the patron.
To confirm the item was created:
Considerations
You can also confirm that the hold was created by checking the Holds tab in the patron’s account. The ILL request should appear as an active hold. The request ID will display in the Edit Existing Hold Request dialog box.
The Item Details view will include the Request ID and lending library name from the WorldShare ILL request.
Circulation staff receive the physical item from the ILL department and check in the item to trigger a pick-up notification or Hold Receipt when the item arrives at the patron's pickup location.
To check in the item:
After completing these steps, place the physical item and Hold Receipt on the hold shelf for pickup.
As a result, the patron’s hold request is updated in:
When the patron arrives to pick up the item, Circulation staff check out the item to the patron.
To check out the item:
Time passes while the patron has the item on loan. When the patron returns the item, Circulation staff or ILL staff check in the item.
To check in the item:
If you have enabled the Check in item on returned functionality in the Circulation Integration module of the OCLC Service Configuration, the item is automatically checked-in when the request is marked as returned in WorldShare Interlibrary Loan.
If you have not enabled the automatic check in functionality:
Circulation staff:
WorldShare Interlibrary Loan staff:
Once the item is returned to the ILL department, ILL staff mark the item as returned and ship the item back to the lender.
To mark the item as received and return it to the lender:
Affix the label to the package with the item and ship to the lender. Once the lender receives the returned item, they will mark it Checked In/Complete and the ILL request is closed.
When an ILL request is closed (marked as complete), it is archived. Personally identifiable patron information, including name and barcode, are removed. The request archive can be searched by Request ID. If the Request ID is used as the temporary item barcode, you can search within the Circulation module to find the item and see which patron last checked it out.
Considerations:
You may consider deleting the temporary item in the Circulation module once the request is closed by the lender.
In the Circulation module, the item details and statistics are updated and show:
When the item is returned:
If the item is checked in to WorldShare Circulation prior to WorldShare Interlibrary Loan: