WorldCat Direct Phase 2 Pilot frequently asked questions

1. What is the WorldCat Direct Phase 2 Pilot?
2. My library is not participating in the pilot program. How can we get involved?
3. How is the service paid for? How do transaction fees work?
4. Are there additional fees to use this service?
5. How does pricing work with my WCRS subscription that I have with my consortium?
6. Is it possible to get a subscription to the service rather than pay-as-you-go?
7. Can we charge our users part or all of the cost for the service?
8. What material types are included during the pilot? (Books, DVD, Audio, CD, Audiobooks)?
9. What subjects are included?
10. Could this help serve my homebound users?
11. How could this help my users involved in research activities?
12. Can books be shipped to a P.O. Box?
13. My library uses ILLiad. How does it work with ILLiad, given that it is based out of WCRS?
14. Must the library or user buy the book outright, or are they able to return the item after the loan period?
15. If the user or the library does not return the item within the 30 day loan period (due date is listed on the sticker affixed to the book), does this force the user or library to purchase the book?
16. We have noticed some items listed with the patron name, but addressed to our library or institution. This is confusing, and may cause items to be lost. Why is the patron's name on the ILL package, and will this be fixed?

What is the WorldCat Direct Phase 2 Pilot?
WorldCat Direct Phase 2 is a pilot program lead by OCLC to test library services that ship materials directly to library users at the point of need. The pilot enables book deliveries from a book supplier to patrons of pilot libraries, when these books are requested through OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing or ILLiad. Libraries benefit from reduced ILL costs, reduced staff time to handle ILL requests, better user service by providing home delivery, and more options for materials. Library users benefit from the convenience of home delivery, a longer loan period than traditional ILL, and the ability to purchase books shipped during the pilot program.

My library is not participating in the pilot program. How can we get involved?
The pilot program is now closed to additional pilot participants. However, you may make requests outside of the pilot program to the book supplier to have materials mailed to your library instead of to your users. While your users will not benefit by direct home delivery, your library will still receive the benefits of a longer loan period (30 days) than traditional ILL, lower ILL cost (a prepaid return envelope is enclosed with each request at no additional cost to save you postage and packaging), and the ability to purchase the book from the supplier to add to your catalog if you wish.

How is the service paid for? How do transaction fees work?
Pilot and non-pilot libraries must use Interlibrary Loan Fee Management (IFM) to pay the book supplier for the service, just as if the book supplier were a lending institution. The book supplier has an institution symbol, has its materials represented in WorldCat, and will work with your ILL requests as would any other lender. Your library must use IFM when requesting a material and set a max cost that accommodates the transaction cost charged by the book supplier. When the book supplier ships a book, your institution's IFM account will be debited and the book supplier's IFM account will be credited for the amount charged for the loan. The amount charged to your library will be debited on your OCLC bill.

Are there additional fees to use this service?
There are no additional fees for this service. If you have a subscription to WorldCat Resource Sharing, then you are eligible to make requests to the book supplier. You must be a member of the pilot program in order to extend direct delivery to your users, however.

How does pricing work with my WCRS subscription that I have with my consortium?
We are testing the feasibility of this service with individual libraries to understand local library user dynamics and use patterns by ILL librarians. For the pilot, your library can choose to participate as an individual pilot library, but the program does not impact consortial or group subscription pricing for WorldCat Resource Sharing.

Is it possible to get a subscription to the service rather than pay-as-you-go?
During the pilot, we intend to test the use of the service with the current pricing model. If we can identify levels of subscriptions that would be useful, we may develop subscription pricing in a future production service to aid in the library budgeting process.

Can we charge our users part or all of the cost for the service?
OCLC of course would not restrict you from recovering costs from your users.

What material types are included during the pilot? (Books, DVD, Audio, CD, Audiobooks)?
During the pilot, only books are available for direct delivery. Depending on the success of the pilot, we hope to expand to other formats in the launch of a production service.

What subjects are included?
Subjects of all kinds are included. The supplier providing books for the service has a large inventory of used and new books available.

Could this help serve my homebound users?
Absolutely. Because home delivery is needed by homebound users and others who value direct home delivery, libraries can test this service with their homebound users as a means of complementing or replacing existing library-initiated homebound deliveries. Depending on the costs incurred by library homebound services, WorldCat Direct may help reduce the cost to the library of homebound services. However, we also anticipate a high level of interest in this service by busy, on-the-go users who value direct delivery and the ability to purchase books mailed to their homes. Libraries are encouraged to offer WorldCat Direct to all kinds of users that would benefit most from this service.

How could this help my users involved in research activities?
For the researcher, this service complements the digital resources available online. Now, researches can work from their computer, requesting print materials be sent to them while they spend critical time working on other work.

Can books be shipped to a P.O. Box?
Materials may be shipped to a Post Office Box because delivery is provided by the U.S. Postal Service. This service is being tested during the pilot period and may be subject to change if we develop WorldCat Direct into a production service.

My library uses ILLiad. How does it work with ILLiad, given that it is based out of WCRS?
OCLC is working on ways to integrate WorldCat Direct with ILLiad so ILLiad users can benefit from home delivery without having to switch ILL interfaces.

Must the library or user buy the book outright, or are they able to return the item after the loan period?
Libraries and users may return items borrowed during the pilot. This allows libraries to provide additional print content without having to incur the expense of cataloging and shelving. However, libraries or users may purchase borrowed items if they wish. The optional purchase price is listed on the WorldCat Direct sticker affixed to the borrowed item.

If the user or the library does not return the item within the 30 day loan period (due date is listed on the sticker affixed to the book), does this force the user or library to purchase the book?
No. During the pilot, we did not specify a penalty policy on items not returned by the due date. As with any Interlibrary Loan, the borrowing library should attempt to retrieve the item from the user and return it to the lender (in this case, Better World Books).

We have noticed some items listed with the patron name, but addressed to our library or institution. This is confusing, and may cause items to be lost. Why is the patron's name on the ILL package, and will this be fixed?
Using the patron name on the package is an artifact from the system that Better World Books uses to ship out its items. Better World Books has modified its processes to prevent the patron name from appearing on the package when an item is shipped to a library, thereby reducing the potential for package mis-deliveries. During the pilot period, Better World Books can work with libraries to deal with lost items. Their policy and contact information is posted in the Policies Directory - please contact them if you feel that a package may have been lost in-transit.