WorldCat Resource Sharing features
Whether you handle low volume or high volume, occasional requests or seasonal bursts of activity, the components of ISO ILL-compliant WorldCat Resource Sharing add up to comprehensive resource coverage and faster processing.
WorldCat search: helpful to newcomers, powerful for everyone
Your staff locates resources with robust WorldCat searching. Basic, advanced and expert level search screens match skill level to search complexity. Browsing of subject headings and "more like this" suggestions let novices find their way. More savvy users can focus their searches with a wide variety of indices and limiters, special search methods such as Boolean combinations and logical strings, plus ranking, sorting and viewing of results by format.
Staff can search for items, view holdings, select lenders and produce a request. Data automatically transfers from the bibliographic or citation record to the request workform. When online full text is available, either through FirstSearch or via a link to an external source, users can connect directly to the content they need.
Article Exchange: Secure copyright-compliant delivery of document files
Remove the guess-work from delivery of large files to your users. Article Exchange lets you place files up to 60 MB on a secure site for pick-up by authorized users. It supports delivery of documents in the following formats: BMP, GIF,J2K, JIF, JFI, JFIF, JP2,JPE, JPEG, JPF, JPM, JPX, JPG, MDI, MJ2, PEG/JFIF, JPEG 2000, PDF, PNG, PSD, TIF, TIFF, TGA, TPIC and WEBP.
Automatic deletion of viewed documents after 5 days, and unviewed documents after 30 days insures compliance with standard copyright rules.
User registration: the customer's control center
FirstSearch-based account creation lets users (including your staff) create unique logons, through which they can store preferences, save searches, renew a borrowed item, and review the fulfillment status of pending requests or cancel them. Pick-up location is displayed if an item is ready.
Request Manager: your control center
The staff's control panel for all sharing activities, the Request Manager clearly summarizes current borrowing and lending tasks that require action. Request Manager lets you search all task workforms by key criteria, including:
- Author/Title
- Borrowing Library
- Call Number
- Lending Library
- Patron Department
- Patron ID
- Patron Name
- Request Identifier
- Review Number
- Title
Batch printing of requests by category can be performed from the Request Manager, in sets of 100 records.
Policies Directory: set your rules for requests
The OCLC Policies Directory is a data source of over 10,000 WorldCat Resource Sharing libraries' lending policies. From WorldCat Resource Sharing you have one-click access to the Policies Directory, where you can review the lending and copying policies of other libraries participating in WorldCat Resource Sharing, plus their billing, system and contact information. You can use this information to choose your potential lenders, and publish your own policies in the Web-based Directory to reduce the number of unfillable requests you receive.
The Policies Directory is integrated with the WorldCat Registry that contains information about your institution such as name, type and location and URLs for your catalog and library homepage. When you update information in the WorldCat Registry, your changes are reflected in the Policies Directory.
Direct Request: automated fulfillment you control
Direct Request lets a user place a request directly from an online citation. That request can then bypass staff review and directly enter the WorldCat Resource Sharing system.
The Direct Request feature now delivers even more efficient access to online articles and eBooks due to its interaction with the new WorldCat knowledge base and integrated access to the lending policies of content owners. The knowledge base tells which libraries own needed items and whether they can be loaned, saving staff time and reducing turnaround time for users.
Automatic deflection of requests: save staff time and increase user satisfaction
WorldCat Resource Sharing automatically deflects resource sharing requests based on policies defined in the Policies Directory. Policies Directory users may set deflection criteria such as format or custom holding group for borrowing requests to bypass the request manager.
More efficiency for your interlibrary loan operation
Save and reapply commonly used data, such as workform templates ( Constant Data), frequent lenders ( Custom Holdings) and boilerplate text (Conditional Notes). Recover administrative costs such as invoices and check writing ( Fee Management). See fill rates, borrowing/lending ratios and other statistics that can be used to justify expenditures and further improve service ( Reports and raw data).
Additional features include:
- Multiple holdings options
Who has an item? The holdings displays on various interface screens let you click to holdings within your library group/consortia, region, state, or preferred lenders within your Custom Holdings groups - Links from requests to your local catalog
Link directly to your Web-based or Z39.50 local system to obtain availability and call number information for an item in a request, lessening the time spent identifying items available to lend. Linking is based on ISSN, ISBN or OCLC number, and is available in a request as both a borrower and as a lender - Request History for Reasons for No
Appended at the end of each request with a status of Unfilled or Expired - Link to Copyright Clearance Center
Access copyright rights and royalty information via an anonymous quick price link - High volume/production functionality and derived searching
Batch-update by response, print one and two requests per page, and print mailing labels. Derived bibliographic searching allows for a common staff experience between cataloging via OCLC Connexion and resource sharing - Auto-pick of lender string based on LHR data
Requests are sent only to those libraries that have the year you are seeking, based on local holdings in WorldCat
Easy purchase of IFLA vouchers from OCLC and pay with IFM
OCLC members in the United States and Canada may purchase IFLA vouchers from OCLC and pay for them through their monthly OCLC billing or via Interlibrary Loan Fee Management (IFM). OCLC has added this purchase option to help streamline international interlibrary loan processes for OCLC members who use WorldCat Resource Sharing and ILLiad and accommodate payment preferences.