ILL requests / Interlibrary loans
The ILL (Interlibrary loans) requests module adds the ability to request and manage loans or copies of material from external sources. Patrons submit a request form via the OPAC for review and processing by library staff. Alternatively staff can place requests themselves from the staff client.
Set up
Before using the ILL requests module you will want to make sure that you have completed all of the set up.
The ILL requests module can be configured for different types of requests and workflows known as backends. Currently available backends are documented on the Koha community wiki at https://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/ILL_backends. You will need to configure at least one backend.
Next, set your system preferences.
Set the ILLModule preference to ‘Enable’.
If you wish to include a copyright declaration in your ILL workflow you can this in the ILLModuleCopyrightClearance preference.
Library staff responsible for ILL requests need the following permission set on their account: ill: Create and modify Interlibrary loan requests.
The ILL requests module uses system defined statuses. You can add custom statuses to match your ILL workflow as ILLSTATUS authorized values.
Create ILL requests
Get there: More > ILL requests
Choose ‘New ILL request’ and then Freeform.
Note
The images shown here are for the FreeFrom backend only.
Enter a Type: Book, Article, Journal, Other.
In the next two sections enter as much as information as you can including chapter/article/part if applicable.
Add custom fields, for example if you wished to add a note.
Under the borrower options enter the library branch you would like the request to be sent to.
Click on ‘Create’ and you will be shown a Request details summary page. Click on the ‘Confirm request’ button and you will see the following confirmation message:
Click ‘Confirm request’ again. From the main ILL requests screen you can see all of your ILL requests and their status. Alternatively you can click on ‘View requests’ at any time. The request will have the status ‘New request’.
Managing ILL requests
Click on the ‘Manage request’ button in the final column. Depending on the current status of the request you may see some or all of the following buttons:
Edit request
you can edit the borrowernumber, biblionumber, branch and can add notes.
Confirm request
place the request with a document supply service using a backend such as BLDSS.
Place request with partners
place the request via email with a partner library
Delete
fully delete the request. Details of deleted requests are not retained in Koha.
Revert request
following a status of ‘Requested’ or ‘Requested from partners’ library staff can cancel the request from the external source. The status reverts to ‘New’
Mark completed
used when the ILL request has been fulfilled.
The full list of ILL statuses are:
New request
Requested
Requested from partners
Request reverted
Cancellation requested – a patron has requested cancellation from the OPAC.
Completed
Place request with partners
If you have a network of partner libraries which permit ILL requests you can manage this through Koha. First you need to create your partner library accounts:
You will need to set up a patron category with the code ILLLIBS.
You will need to create a patron account with this category for each partner library.
Each library must have an email address as this will be the mechanism for sending the inter-library loan request.
You can now use the 『Place request with partners』 option when processing requests.