9 Customize the Patron ILL request form

9 Customize the Patron ILL request form

The following information helps you customize the Patron ILL Request Form. See the Customize Interlibrary Loan for patrons section for additional information about customizing interlibrary loan in FirstSearch.

• Description of the Patron ILL Request Form feature
• Aspects of the Patron ILL Request Form feature:
  • Persistence
  • Send name to OCLC ILL
  • Display name to patron
  • Library note to patrons
  • Fields on the Patron ILL Request Form

Description of the Patron ILL Request Form feature

The Patron ILL Request Form feature is described in the following table. The settings for this feature apply to all of your FirstSearch databases that cover materials suitable for ILL requests.

Persistence

Description

Persistence lets you control whether data typed by a patron in the first ILL request of a FirstSearch session is automatically redisplayed by the system (persists) in subsequent ILL requests during the session.

Data typed by a patron in the Patron ID field is masked (replaced by asterisks) so it cannot be read on the screen whether Persistence is on or off. However, this data can be read using an option on a Web browser's View menu to view the page source of the ILL request.

Available values

The values that you can set for Persistence are described in the following table.

Send name to OCLC ILL

Description

Send name to OCLC ILL lets you control the order in which the patron's first and last names are sent to the OCLC ILL service.

Available values

The values that you can set for Send name to OCLC ILL are described in the following table.

Display name to patron

Description

Display name to patron lets you control the order in which the FirstSearch ILL request form prompts for the patron's first and last names.

Available values

The values that you can set for Display name to patron are described in the following table.

Library note to patrons

Description

Library note to patrons lets you provide information to your patrons. In addition to any note that you supply, the FirstSearch Patron ILL Request Form includes basic instructions for completing the form and a warning concerning copyright restrictions.

Available values

The values that you can set for Library note to patrons are described in the following table.

Fields on the Patron ILL Request Form

Description

The Patron ILL Request Form feature also lets you answer the following questions about each field available for use in the FirstSearch Patron ILL Request Form:

• Does your library require that the field contain data before FirstSearch will accept the request?
• Will the field be displayed to patrons?
• May patrons modify or enter data in the field?
• What label should the field have to describe it to your patrons?
• Will your library supply data for the field to be included in requests or modified by patrons? Or, should the field be blank when patrons begin to enter a request?

Available values

The values that you can set for fields on the Patron ILL Request Form are described in the following table. Each row in the table defines one field and lists the default settings for the field. The default setting for each field's library-supplied data is blank (no data).

Length of labels

Each field label can contain up to 20 characters and blank spaces.

Length of data

The maximum length of library-supplied data varies by field.

Most fields. The library-supplied data for most fields can contain up to 40 characters and blank spaces.

Comments field. Although the library-supplied data for the Comments field can contain many characters, the field is intended for patron comments about the request. Leave it blank or include only a brief note.

Dept-or-Branch and Status fields. The Dept-or-Branch and Status fields are designed to display lists of options from which patrons select. If you include those fields on the form for your patrons, you must provide the options in your library-supplied data. Each option in the Dept-or-Branch field or the Status field can contain up to 40 characters and blank spaces. For example, if you type Faculty;Grad;Undergrad;Library staff;Other as the library-supplied data for the Status field, FirstSearch displays the following options for that field in the Patron ILL Request Form in FirstSearch:

• Faculty
• Grad
• Undergrad
• Library staff
• Other

To learn more about the Dept-or-Branch and Status fields, experiment with them in the administrative module and consult the online help for the Patron ILL Request Form feature.

Table

The following table describes the Patron ILL Request Form fields. The last column is provided only for your information. Each field label you provide can contain up to 20 characters and blank spaces. The default setting for each field's library-supplied data is blank (no data). For information about the maximum length of library-supplied data for each field, see Length of data.