OCLC ILL Basics and Tricks

Course Home Page
Lesson #1, Multiple Constant Datas, IFM, WorldCat.org
Lesson #2, ILL Policies and Registry, Deflection, Statistics
Lesson #3, Custom Holdings
Lesson #4, Patron Initiated ILL and Direct Request

The Course so far ...

Up until now in the Tricks course we've concentrated mostly on automating Lending functions and setting up resources where by it's as easy as possible for other libraries to find critical information about ourselves as Resource Sharing libraries. We also count on others to perform the same processes so we can easily found out about them.

This lesson introduces the single most powerful borrowing feature in OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing. There is now finally a system that allows you to automate the borrowing process, previously impossible to accomplish. Successful implementation of Custom Holdings is even further the basis for you to later establish Patron Direct Request borrowing, which can result in the patron finding the bibliographic description of a needed item, requesting it and receiving it all with an absolute minimum of staff intermediation. Everything moves faster and yet the system can be modified by you to recognize problems and special circumstances where you want the staff involved.

You can contact me by using the Discussion function within the Desire2Learn courseware, or at times it might be better to email me directly at:

mbeatty@wils.wisc.edu

Course hint. If you have a large enough computer screen you might want to try opening up 2 or more browser windows. One to display the course itself in it's Desire2Learn environment. The other window would be to the OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing system so you can follow along with the lesson. Log in instructions are given below with special play authorizations for you to use listed in the Assignment area at the bottom of this page.

Every ILL department in the world seems to keep lists of other libraries. Lists of libraries that are your "buddies". Libraries you know you can safely borrow materials from and that you are happy to lend to. ILL departments often have multiple lists divided up by the kinds of buddy libraries. For example you might have different buddy lists based any of the following criteria:

• Delivery System buddies and shipping costs
• Geography, states and regions
• Reciprocal Agreements such as LVIS and consortiums
• Library types
• Lending charges or freebies
• IFM libraries
• Document suppliers
• Material types like DVD lenders or archives or microfilms

Custom holdings is a system that lets you enter your lists into the OCLC WRS system. Then when you create borrowing requests the system can automatically compare your request to your lists automatically creating a lender string and even imediately send the request to the first lender. The hardest part is thinking about your lists of libraries and how you want them arranged to efficiently use that information you've been keeping on little slips of paper and in your head up until now.

The overall process might seem a bit complicated, but it's actually pretty straightforward for a system that's extremely customizable.

• First you create Groups, that is an individual group for each of your lists. So you might have only one list of all the libraries that are your buddies. But you might also have many groups, lists, reflecting the differing categories of libraries that you borrow from on different occassions for different reasons.
• Second you organize and prioritize your groups into Paths. You actually simply create an ordered "super list" of your groups into the order of libraries that you would prefer to have your request filled by. So for instance the libraries on your local delivery system might be in the first group in your path, where the libraries that use commercial delivery systems would be second. That reflects that you would prefer to have the request filled by a library in the first group, but if none of them own the item, or they can't fill it, then you'd be happy to have it filled by someone in the second group.
• Third and finally the system compares the item your patron wants to the libraries in your groups to their holdings and creates a lender string based on your group order and within a group a randomized ranking. You get to choose to accept the lender string or modify it before sending the request.

Let's see how to create groups, and then paths and finally see how it all works to send out requests.

To create your groups start as usual by logging into the WRS system. Then use the Admin link. Use the Staff ILL Settings drop down in the left menu area to choose Custom Holdings Groups.

You can edit an existing group by choosing it from the Group Name drop down and then clicking the
Go button

But to start the Custom Holdings process you'll be creating brand new Groups.

You can give your group a name, and unfortunately the naming process is a holdover from the old OCLC system days and you are restricted to 8 characters for the name. Give your group a description that will help you identify what you are doing with that group. Then you type in the OCLC symbols of your libraries into the largest box, click Add Symbols and Save Changes to finish creating your group.

But instead of typing in loads of OCLC symbols you might want to take advantage of the OCLC ILL Policy directory information to make it easier for you to create groups to then modify to meet your needs. To do so click on the

Look Up Symbols button.

A new window of the ILL Policies directory search area will pop up. Go to the Advanced Search Tab. Here you can enter in an exact search to create a list of libraries to make up your group. In the example below I'm searching for all the Wisconsin LVIS member libraries.

Clicking search results in a listing of matching libraries with links to their detailed policies information. You could check all of them individually or as you see fit for libraries you aren't already familiar with. But mostly you want that list of all of the libraries matching your search.

To do so click on the

Display Symbols button.

Another window will pop open with the listing of all the library symbols that matched your search. Now simply copy and paste that list into your new custom holdings group form.

Click Add Symbols and you have a new group that you can edit or Save Changes to use in Paths.

Note you can look up more symbols or type directly into the large "action box". You can also type into the action box to remove symbols. If you click on a black lettered symbol it will copy into the action box. If you click on a symbols red question mark you'll open up another ILL Policies direction window with the Policies for that symbol. Again remember to always click Save Changes before moving on, or you'll lose your work. Repeat this process for each group you want to set up. Then you'll be ready to create a Path.

The Path Creation process is quite similar to all the other Admin area processes we've already done. Choose Custom Holdings Paths from the Staff ILL Settings drop down in the left hand menu area. Like with Groups there's an area where you can use a drop down to choose your existing Paths to edit. Or you can proceed below there to create a brand new Path, which is what we'll do. Please note, if you haven't already, all these examples come from the WiLS play authorizations which have many many groups and paths already created. Yours is likely to be much less populated.

Path creation is quite easy and straight forward. First give your new group a name and description. All of your created groups are listed in the left hand column. Choose the groups you want in your new path, either one at a time or control click to choose multiple groups. Then click the

Add button to move the groups to the right hand column. You can move groups out using the Remove button and you can re-arrange the order of your chosen groupgs by selecting a group name and using the

Up or Down button

Finally and as usual Save Changes and you've got yourself a Path. Remember that the order of your Groups in the Path is the order in which all those libraries listed will be prioritized.

Now that you've created your Groups and Paths, it's time to see them in action. Do a search and find a suitable bibliographic record. Note the you now have a Custom Holdings Path drop down. Choose your Path and click Select.

Bingo. You now have a Libraries that Own Item display with a Lender string and a complete listing of ALL the libraries in your path that hold that item. The libraries are listed by Groups, in the Path order you created. At this point you can accept the automatically generated lender string by clicking on the

Transfer to ILL Staff workform button.

Or you can re-arrange the lender string as you've already done in the standard creating request process. Or you could apply a whole new Path by using the Custom Holdings Path drop down and choosing a different Path.

Once you have transferred to the ILL workform, complete the request as you normally would and then Submit to send. The difference and staff time saving is that instead of playing with lists, and looking over the Holdings Display and choosing potential Lenders, you have used Custom Holdings and enabled the system to do all that for you.

By committing a couple of hours in advance you will save yourself several minutes or more on every single borrowing request that you send. And as we will see in the next lesson you will be setting the environment for patron initiated requesting.

Now it is time to play and complete the assignment below.

http://firstsearch.oclc.org

We have 2 play accounts to use in the course. These accounts can be used in a way to experience the full WRS system but without interfering with regular ILL work being done by other libraries. In order to share our 2 accounts we'll divide usage alphabetically by last name:

If your last name falls between Andrew and Melanz, use

autho number: 100-017-631
password: tie

If your last name falls between Meulemans and Zlosel, use

autho number: 100-017-630
password: try

Follow the examples above. Go to the Admin area. Go to the Custom Holdings Groups area and create some groups. Make sure you try "Look Up Symbols" to make at least one of your Groups. Go to the Custom Holdings Paths are and create at least one Path using your groups. Fill in the data areas however you like. Remember to click the Save button. Creativity makes it more fun for me to review the records. Name your new Groups and Paths after yourself.

So if your Desire2Learn NetID is for example: jsmith.ill
then start your Group or Path name with the first 3 letters and other letters for yourself: jsmxxxx

This way I can tell if you completed the first part of your assignment.

For the second part, after you've created your Groups and Paths, then go back to the WRS system and play with searching. Look for books and serials and AV materials. Whatever is your interest. Make sure to search for both wildly popular items as well as the obscure and then apply your path to see how the Custom Holdings system works. You will NOT want to complete sending requests as they will end up going to real libraries. Instead stop once the system has generated a lender string for you to gauge the success of your Groups and Path.

Then log onto the discussion section of our Desire2Learn course and tell everyone at least:

one thing you love about Custom Holdings, and
one thing you hate about Custom Holdings, and
make any comments you want about the creating Groups and Paths process
and finally read the discussions of your classmates and respond to them.

I'll be monitoring and participating too.

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