Alma / WorldShare ILL Integration

4/18/2024

The Basics

• This integration lets you export requests that could not be fulfilled in Summit / Rapido / RapidILL directly to WorldShare ILL (WSILL)
• Without Rapido, this can only be set up to happen automatically - meaning when a request is not filled by your other lenders, it will automatically export to WorldShare
• Important Note: This is a one-way street. You can export requests to WorldShare, but any work done on the request in WSILL will not be reflected in the Alma request
• This means that if you receive the item in WS, you will need to receive it in Alma as well. Same for returns, changes to the request info, etc.

Documentation

• Neither ExLibris nor OCLC provide documentation that is very helpful for this (at least not that I have found)
• SUNY has a LibGuide that walks through the process and is incredibly helpful: https://sunyolis.libguides.com/c.php?g=986100&p=8963106
• For configuring workflow profiles, ExLibris does have some documentation: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/030Fulfillment/080Configuring_Fulfillment/060Resource_Sharing/010Basic_Resource_Sharing_Configurations#Configuring_Workflow_Profiles

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Getting Set Up

Steps:

• Obtain API Key
• Create an Item Policy
• Create Borrowing and Lending Workflows
• Create Resource Sharing Partner
• Configure Rota Template and Rota Assignment Rule
• Create Temporary Item Creation Rule
• Configure Loan TOU and Fulfillment Unit Rule

Request an API Key from OCLC

You need this API key for any of this to work!

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Instructions from how to get it from OCLC here: https://help.oclc.org/Resource_Sharing/WorldShare_Interlibrary_Loan/Reference/ILL_request_transfer_service?sl=en

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Create an Item Policy for WS ILL

This needs to be done at your Resource Sharing Library level in Alma!

• Configuration > Fulfillment > Physical Fulfillment > Item Policy
• Click “Add Row” to create an item policy. The name and descriptor should be filled out in a way that makes sense to you. Default value should be set to “no”

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Here’s what ours looks like at PCC:

Create Borrowing and Lending Workflows

These define what actions you can do with borrowing and lending requests associated with a defined partner (e.g. requesting renewals, patron cancellation, etc)

• Go to Configuration > Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Workflow Profiles
• Click “Add Workflow Profile” and create one for borrowing and lending

What you select here depends on what actions your institution allows for resource sharing requests. Figuring this out has been a trial and error process for us. The ExLibris documentation describes what each option does

PCC’s WS ILL Workflow Profiles

Create a Resource Sharing Partner for WS ILL

This will basically create a “dummy” partner that requests can be assigned to when you export them to WorldShare and receive items

• Go to Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Partners (note: this is on the main Alma page, not in Configuration)
• Click “Add Partner” and fill out the General Information tab. The next slide will include how SUNY filled theirs out and how we did it at PCC
• The differences are only in the cosmetic things - we changed the code and name to better match some of our other data

SUNY

PCC

Create a Resource Sharing Partner, continued

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Enter the following information into the Parameters tab

Note: our systems person had to help with this part!

Configure a Rota Template for WS ILL

• Go to Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Rota Templates
• Click “Add Template” and enter the following information

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• Under the “Template Members” tab, click “Add Partners” and add the WorldShare ILL partner you just created!
• Don’t forget to click “Save” when you’re done!

Configure a Rota Assignment Rule

This rule will allow requests to hit the rota you just created with WorldShare in it

• Configuration > Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Rota Assignment Rules
• Click “Add Rule”
• Name it something that makes sense to you (like “WorldShare”)
• Click “Add Parameter” and then select “Requested Format” from the dropdown in the Name field, and select “Is not empty” as the Operator
• Click the “Select from a list” button next to the Rota Templates field, and select the one you created in the previous step

Rota Assignment Rules

It will automatically place your new rota assignment rule at the bottom of your rotas.

If you are using WS ILL as a lender of last resort, this is exactly where you want it!

Configuring a Temporary Item Creation Rule

• Go to Configuration > Fulfillment > Library Management > Temporary Item Creation Rules
• This needs to be done within your resource sharing library
• Click “Add Rule” and give it a name like WorldShare ILL
• “Add Parameter”, select “Resource Sharing Partner” from the name dropdown, select “=” for the operator, and select the partner you created for the value
• This tells Alma “if the partner is “WorldShareILL” (or whatever you named the partner), then trigger the item creation rules we’re about to define”

Temporary Item Creation Rule, continued

• In the output section, select your temporary borrowing location for the Location field, and the item policy you configured for the Item Policy field

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• This tells Alma, “create the temporary item here and give it this policy”

Because this item creation policy is so specific, it is recommended to have it at the top of the list!

Yes, you do need to move it up one click at a time.

Last Step! Setting up a TOU and FUR

• Loan TOU should be configured at the institution level, and should be set to “Loanable”
• Besides setting it as “Loanable”, the other terms of use policies are up to you and your local policies
• If you are going to be entering the due dates assigned by WorldShare lenders and have “Ignore Lender Due Date” turned off, you don’t need to worry about a due date in the TOU. We configured one before the ignore lender due date discussion, and it serves as a nice back-up in case a date isn’t entered when receiving the item
• The Fulfillment Unit Rule needs to be configured at the resource sharing library level
• The input parameter should be “Item Policy = [whatever you named your item policy]” and the output should be the loan TOU you just set up

PCC’s WorldShare FUR

This is in our Summit 3 Fulfillment Unit

PCC’s WorldShare FUR

This is in our Summit 3 Fulfillment Unit

Mediation Rules!

With the configuration as described, requests will automatically be exported to WorldShare if they are not filled by your previous rotas/lenders.

If you want staff to review these requests first, you will need to set up mediation rules. This is only available to Rapido users!

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Doing the actual things

Working on Borrowing Requests

Working on Borrowing Requests

Renewing Borrowing Requests

We’ve had mixed luck with this!

What makes this weird:

• Alma and WS stop communicating with each other once the request is exported
• WS is not a real “partner” in Alma, i.e. there is no one on the other side to approve renewals (even automatically)

If you turned on mediated patron renewals in your workflow profile, patrons should be able to request renewals in Primo. This will place the request into a renewal requested status, and you will need to manually renew it

Returning Things

This one should be easy!

• Returning it in Alma should indicate that the item’s destination is the WorldShare partner (or it will tell you transit to your resource sharing library first, depending on how your locations work)
• Remember that you need to process the return in WorldShare too!!

Pitfalls / Things to Watch Out For

• Cannot stress enough that the integration is a pipeline for requests from Alma to WS, not a full integration
• If your requests are automatically getting sent to WS, you might have to deal with a lot of junk requests going through
• Issues with requests not completing if the workflow profiles aren’t set right!