Managing Resource Sharing Lending Requests

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To manage resource sharing lending requests, you must have one of the following roles:

Fulfillment Services Operator (for the resource sharing library)
Fulfillment Services Manager (for the resource sharing library)

In order to manage lending requests, your role is required to be scoped to the resource sharing library.

Create a lending request, either manually (see Adding a Resource Sharing Lending Task Manually) or using search (see Adding a Resource Sharing Lending Task From a Search).
Process the lending request using Manage Fulfillment Options - this retrieves the resource, either by moving a physical item or creating a digital file (see Managing Fulfillment Options).
Process the resources that are to be used to fulfill the resource sharing request (see Placing Requests).
Ship the resources (see Shipping Lending Request Resources), as follows:
1. Physical or Physical Non-Returnable Items – Send to resource sharing desk
2. Digital Items – Send by email
Receive the item back from the borrowing institution and scan it in to the library to be reshelved. This is done in the same manner as described in Shipping Lending Request Resources.
After you scan an item into Alma, if the borrowing institution is an ISO partner, an ISO checked-in message is sent to the library and the request closes automatically. A checked-in ISO message is sent only if the active partner’s workflow profile includes Checked In Message as a valid option (see Configuring Workflow Profiles). If the borrowing institution is an email partner, the Lender Checked-In Email Letter is sent. For information about this letter, see Configuring Alma Letters.

If a lending request is overdue, you can send a message to the borrower institution requesting to return it. The email / ISO message to send in this case is the Borrower Overdue Email Letter, see Alma Letters List.This message is sent by the Send Overdue Message to Resource Sharing Borrowing Partner scheduled job. Alternatively, you can manually send a general message to the partner.

Workflow Actions

Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List Page

The Fulfillment Services Operator manages the pool of resource sharing lending requests on the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page (Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Lending Requests). You can also view this page, on a pre-selected tab and with the requests pre-filtered, by selecting one of the following links in the Tasks List in the persistent menu (see The Persistent Menu and Tasks in the Task List):

Lending requests - New - assigned to you
Lending requests - New - unassigned
Lending requests - Overdue - assigned to you - Pre-filters for requests with the status Overdue Request
Lending requests - Overdue - unassigned
Lending requests - Recalled - assigned to you - Pre-filters for requests with the status Recalled Item
Lending requests - Recalled - unassigned
Lending requests failed locate - assigned to you - Pre-filters for requests with the status Locate Failed
Lending requests failed locate - unassigned
Lending requests with active general messages - assigned to you - Pre-filters for requests that have a general message
Lending requests with active general messages - unassigned
Lending requests with active notes - assigned to you - Pre-filters for requests that have a request note
Lending requests with active notes - unassigned

This page presents a record list of resources associated with lending requests. Each item presents details about the resource and the request, as well as tabs containing additional information:

Alerts - Alerts about the request. A green dot in the tab header indicates that at least one alert exists.
Physical, Electronic, Digital - See Viewing Inventory/Other Details.
Other details - Additional information from the bibliographic record.

To manage the lending resource sharing tasks:

On the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page, filter results using the Activity Status filter at the top of the page, where you can select to view All, Active, or Completed requests. If you select All or Completed, the task list remains empty until you enter a search term in the Find box for one or more specific requests.
You can filter results using the facets on the left side of the page. The facets include:
- Status – Status of the lending request.
  The following statuses indicate that the final step in the request is completed. Requests in these statuses may be removed.
  - Shipped digitally
  - Request completed - This is the final status before removal, and may be manually set.
  The following are non-final (in-process) statuses of the request process:
  - Being Processed
  - Borrower Recall
  - Cancel Reply
  - Cancelled
  - Conditional
  - Created lending request
  - Damaged
  - Expired
  - Lender check in
  - Locate failed
  - Lost
  - Non expiring
  - Overdue request
  - Pending auto reject
  - Recalled item
  - Received by partner
  - Rejected the borrower request
  - Renew requested
  - Returned by partner
  - Shipped physically
  - Will supply
  - Staff renewal
  - Renewal response
  - Patron renewal
- Request Printed – Requests that have had a print slip printed
- Request Reported – Requests that have been printed on the print slip report
- Active Partner – The active partner in a request rota
- Creation Date – Date on which request was created. Possible values are:
  - Today – Requests created on current date
  - Yesterday – Requests created on day before current date
  - Up to three days ago – Requests created two or three days before current date (excluding today and yesterday)
  - Up to a week ago – Requests created between four to seven days before current date (excluding the above three options)
  - Up to a month ago – Requests created between eight days and a month before current date (excluding the above four options)
  - Older – Requests created more than one month before current date
- Update Date – Date on which the request was updated. Possible values are the same as those for the Creation Date facet.
- Requested Format – The format of the requested item. Options are: Digital, Physical, and Physical non-returnable
- Supplied Format – The format in which the requested item was supplied. Options are: Digital, Physical, Physical non-returnable and Undefined
- Due Date – The date by which the item must be delivered. Possible values are the same as those for the Creation Date facet.
- Last Interest Date – The date after which the requester has indicated that they are no longer interested in the item
- Owning Library – The library which owns the requested resource
- Level of Service – The level of service assigned to the request.
Select one of the following tabs:
- Assigned to Me – Displays resource sharing tasks that are assigned to the user that is logged in.
- Unassigned – Displays resource sharing tasks that are unassigned.
- Assigned to Others – Displays resource sharing tasks that are assigned to other users. This tab is displayed only if the logged-in user has the role of Fulfillment Services Manager.
These tabs include an indicator that turns blue when requests are available for that tab.
Locate the task or tasks you want to manage. You can locate specific tasks using the Find box at the top of the list, or using the Status, Partner, and Alerts filters on the left side of the page. You can add a task to the list manually (see Adding a Resource Sharing Lending Task Manually) or from a search (see Adding a Resource Sharing Lending Task From a Search).
For more information about using the find box, see the Enhanced Search Options in Resource Sharing video (1:32 mins).

To manage several tasks simultaneously, select the check boxes to the left of these tasks (or Select all) and select one of the following buttons:

Change Status – Change the status of the specified items. Select a status from the drop-down list and select Change Status.
Print Slip Report – Print a slip report that is sent to a printer or email address, or can be downloaded to a local machine (see the procedure below.). The report contains the items and their information, including Title, Author, Location, and so forth. The letter format for this report is the Lending Requests Report Slip Letter.
For more information about the print slip report for lending requests, see the Print Slip Report for Lending Requests video (2:35 mins).
Print Slip – Print a call slip for each of the selected items. The Ful Incoming Slip Letter, also known as the resource sharing lending slip letter, is the letter that is printed. For information about the slip, see Configuring Alma Letters.
Remove Requests – Remove requests associated with the items. Select Confirm in the Confirmation Message dialog box to remove the requests.
Remove Alerts – Remove alerts associated with the items. Select Confirm in the Confirmation Message dialog box to remove the alerts.

To manage a specific task, select one of the links beneath the relevant task, as described in the following table:

Lending Requests Task List Links
Link	Description
Edit	Available in the Assigned and Unassigned tabs. Selecting Edit for an unassigned task locks the task for editing by other operators. Edit the resource sharing task. For a list of fields displayed on this page, see Resource Information Fields table and Request Attribute Fields table.
View	View the lending request. The view link appears when a record is inactive or the user has view permission for the lending requests.
Manage fulfillment options	The Fulfillment Services Operator performs internal library procedures which makes the resource requested by the resource sharing library available (see Managing Fulfillment Options). Assign an unassigned request to the current user.
Remove	Remove the request from the system.
Duplicate	Create a new task based on the existing one. The Resource Sharing Lending Request page opens, where you modify the request parameters in the Request Attribute section, as needed (see Request Attribute Fields table). When duplicating a Resource Sharing Lending request, the values in the following fields are copied to the new request: Request status External identifier Format
Reassign	Reassign a task to another user (see Reassigning a Task).
Detach from MMS	Detach a lending request from its inventory (see below To detach a resource sharing lending request from inventory).
Checked In	Send an ISO checked-in message to the borrowing library, indicating that the item has been returned to the lending library. The request is automatically closed. A checked-in ISO message is sent only if the active partner’s workflow profile includes Checked In Message as a valid option (see Configuring Workflow Profiles). Using the Checked In action does not change the status of the item. To ensure the item is marked as back in place or routed back to its place, the librarian should scan the item after using this action.
Locate	Displayed for items for which Resource Locate Status = No Resources Located. Alma attempts to locate the resource, either due to the resource not being located or because there are multiple resources that have been found. When multiple resources are found, the results display on the search page, where you can either select a result or select the Change Query link to modify the search value. It is recommended to select Edit for a resource and update relevant information before selecting Locate. When a resource is located, the status changes to Resource Located.
Search	Displayed for items for which Resource Locate Status = No Resources Located. Opens the search page, which enables performing a new resource search to locate the resource.
Reactivate Request	Reactivate lending request will appear when: The Operator has the Reactivate privilege in the scope of the owner of the request. If an active partner exists, it should have the Reactivated step in the Lending workflow. Status is one of: REQUEST_COMPLETED, EXPIRED, REJECTED, CANCELLED. Select this option to reactivate a completed peer to peer resource sharing request. The shipped item's process status changes to In resource sharing and the item is relinked. The request status changes to Request Reactivated. If the item is in another process, an error is displayed. The request's original external ID is maintained. This action is available for Fulfillment Services Managers, and may be turned on for Fulfillment Services Operators by Ex Libris customer support.
Reject	Reject a lending request (see Rejecting a Lending Request).
Release assign (on the Assigned to Me tab)	Move the task from the Assigned to Me tab to the Unassigned tab.
Renew	For automated requests (ISO, NCIP, etc.), this action will also appear if the Request Status is Renew Requested and the workflow profile is configured as follows: Manual renew is selected as a step Automatic renew is not selected as a step (For details on configuring workflow profiles, see Configuring Workflow Profiles.) For non-automated requests, when Request Status is Received by Partner and Manual renew is selected as a step in the workflow profile, the action is available. Select the option to open the Due Date dialog box. Enter a due date and select OK to create the renewal. Optionally, you can add an Internal note and/or a Note to partner in the relevant fields. For details on these fields, see step 3 in Rejecting a Borrowing Request.
Print slip	Print a call slip for the item, containing both the external ID and barcode of the item. For requests that have not yet been shipped, this option prints an incoming request slip, Ful Incoming Slip Letter. For requests that have already been shipped, this option prints a shipping slip, Resource Sharing Shipping Slip Letter, containing additional information specific to the item being shipped. For information on these slips, see Configuring Alma Letters.
Ship non-returnable	Ship the request to the borrowing library as a non-returnable copy, with the status Shipped Physically. Displayed only when the request’s format is Physical non-returnable.
Ship Item Digitally	Add files to the lending request that are already in your possession (i.e. have not been created as part of a digitization workflow). Once the files are uploaded and the page saved, the request is changed either to Shipped Digitally or Request Completed depending on whether "Waiting for receive digitally” is selected in the partner’s workflow profile.
Ship item	Ship the item associated with the request. The Shipping Items page opens (see Shipping Items).
General Message Email Letter	Send a general message with a lending request to a borrower (see Sending a General Message With a Resource Sharing Request).
Status Query	Request a status update from the borrowing institution. This is only applicable to ISO partners. The returned lender ISO status is recorded in a note. Each ISO status corresponds to the following Alma request statuses: Not supplied - Rejected the borrower request, Locate failed, Expired Pending - Created lending request, Being processed, Will Supply, Non expiring In Process - Staff renewal, Renewal response Cancel Pending - Cancel reply Canceled - Canceled Shipped - Shipped Physically, Shipped Digitally Received - Received by partner Renew Pending - Renew requested, Patron renewal Overdue - Overdue request Returned - Returned by partner Checked In - Lender check in, Request Completed Recall - Recalled item Lost - Lost Unknown - Damaged, all other
Will Supply	Update a request that has not yet shipped with a Will Supply status. Displayed only when the request is not yet shipped and the borrowing partner’s workflow includes Will Supply (see Configuring Workflow Profiles).
Conditional	A pop-up window is displayed with a mandatory Reason, a Date for reply, which is the last day the lender will wait to receive an answer from the borrower, and a Note field. When the message is submitted, the request status changes to Conditional. An ISO message is sent to the borrower. When a response is received from the borrower, if the response value is No, the request is rejected. If the value is Yes, the Date for Reply field is cleared and the request status returns to Created lending request.
More details	Open a pop-up window displaying additional details about the request that are not displayed in the request's listing on the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page.

If a request is processed automatically (by ISO/NCIP) and if either no resource is found or multiple resources are found that match the input criteria, the request is created with Citation Status = Locate Failed and Resource Locate Status = No Resources Located.
During the creation of the lending request, if a title has more than one item, the availability and requestability are not checked during the locate process. The request should be handled manually.

To detach a resource sharing lending request from inventory:

On the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page, locate a request that has resources attached to it (Resource Locate Status = Resource Located).
Select Detach from MMS from the row actions list. The Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page refreshes, and the request displays with Resource Locate Status = No Resources Located.

To generate a print slip report for a resource sharing lending request:

Open the Resource Sharing Lending Request Task List page (Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Lending Requests). The Print Slip Report button appears at the top of the page.
Select the check boxes of the resources for which you want to generate a print slip report and select Print Slip Report. The Print Slip Report Dialog Box appears.

Print Slip Report Dialog Box
In the Choose type field, select whether you want to send the print slip report to a Printer or a User.
If you select Printer, the Printer field is enabled, from which you select a printer to send the print slip report.

If you select User, the User field is enabled, from which you select a user to send the print slip report by email. The letter format for this report is the Lending Requests Report Slip Letter.
In the Format type field, select to send the print slip report either in Excel or XML format.
Select Send to send the print slip report, or optionally, select Download to download the print slip report to your local machine.

Removing Alerts

Alerts are attached to a resource sharing task during the main steps of a request's workflow. The alerts show the progress of the request (in Process, Canceled, or Completed). The alerts are:

Citation Move Request in Process
Citation Move Request Canceled
Citation Move Request Completed
Citation Digitization Request in Process
Citation Digitization Request Canceled
Citation Digitization Request Completed

You can filter the displayed alerts by selecting an alert type from the Alerts drop-down list, or using the Find box at the top of the list.

To remove alerts:

On the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page, select the check boxes of the tasks whose alerts you want to remove.
Select Remove Alerts.
Select Confirm in the Confirmation Message dialog box.

Reassigning a Task

You can reassign a task only if you are assigned the task or if it is unassigned.

To reassign a task:

On the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page (Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Lending Requests), select Reassign from the row actions list for the relevant task. The Assign To dialog box opens.
From the Assign to drop-down list, select an operator.
The list of operators includes only those users who have the Fulfillment Services Operator role.
In the Note field, enter notes, as needed.
Select the Send as e-mail check box to notify the operator of the new assignment.
Select Assign To.

Viewing Lending Request Actions

You can view the actions taken on resource sharing lending requests on the History tab, in the same manner that you do for resource sharing borrowing requests. For details, see Viewing Borrowing Request Actions.

Managing Fulfillment Options

The Fulfillment Services Operator performs internal library procedures which make the resource requested by the resource sharing library available.

To manage fulfillment options:

On the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page (Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Lending Requests), select Manage fulfillment options from the row actions list. The Manage Resource Options page opens.

Manage Resource Options Page

Selecting the Manage fulfillment options link assigns an unassigned request to the current user, even when selecting Cancel to exit the Manage Resource Options page without performing an action.

Select from the relevant service type on the Manage Resource Options page, as follows:

Electronic Services — Select Document Delivery to open the Create Request page and enable delivery of the electronic item. The Request type field has the value Ship digitally from electronic. Enter the part to digitize and select the target destination in the relevant fields, add the date by which the item is needed in the Add Request Attributes section, and select Submit. The submitted request is displayed on the Manage Resource Options page.

Manage Resource Options Page with Submitted Request

The Manage Fulfillment Options action can link directly to the article. If the lending request is for an electronically owned resource and has enough information to create a link to the article (e.g. publication date and pages). This depends on the electronic resource vendor’s platform supporting of article level linking.
Digital Services — Displays the preservation type, revision number, and number of files for digital services. You can select Document Delivery and then select Attach to attach the resource to an email and send it digitally.
Physical Services — Select View items from the row actions list to view items for the resource (see Working with the List of Items). Select Request from the row actions list to create a request for the resource (see Creating a Request).

When a request’s item is sent to Alma by the NCIP source system, the item’s Note field contains a shipping note which displays in the following format:

||Shipping Note||<text of shipping note>||Shipping Note||

The shipping note is used by NCIP implementers, such as OCLC Navigator, to update the library system with additional information about shipped items such as information about the resource itself, the requester, and the locations from where it is requested and is to be picked up.

You can also perform the relevant action by selecting the displayed buttons on the Manage Resource Options page:

Remove Alerts – Removes alerts for the request (see Removing Alerts)
Place Request – Opens the Create Request page, where you select whether to ship the item digitally or physically (see Placing Requests)

Placing Requests

When the resources are available after performing fulfillment option management actions, a request for the item (digital or physical) is opened.

To place a request for an item:

On the Manage Resource Options page, select Place Request. The Create Request page opens.
In the Request type field, select Ship digitally or Ship physically, as needed. The Create Request page refreshes accordingly:
- Ship digitally:
  
  Create Request Page After Ship Digitally Request
- Ship physically:
  
  Create Request Page After Ship Physically Request

Configure the displayed fields, as described in the following table:

Lending Request Attribute Fields
Field	Description
Year (for journal requests)	Year of the request
Volume (for journal requests)	Volume of the request
Description (for journal requests)	Description of the request
Note	The following fields are added in the note: Article\Chapter Title Volume Issue Chapter Pages Year Note Free-form notes may also be entered as needed.
To (for physical requests)	Select the specific library location (from a list predefined by an administrator) to which you want to move the item
Destination Locations (for physical requests)	Where to deliver the copies
Call Number Type (for physical requests)	See call_number_type in Configuring Other Settings.
Call Number (for physical requests)	The call number
Managing Department (for digital requests)	Select the digitization department from the drop-down list
Number of Students (for digital requests)	The number of students
Number of Copies for Students (for digital requests)	The number of student copies requested
Number of Copies for Staff (for digital requests)	The number of staff copies requested
Resource Total Pages (for digital requests)	Total pages in the requested item
Required Chapters (for digital requests)	Chapters needed for the request
Total Chapters Count (for digital requests)	Total chapters in the requested item
Required Pages (From/To) (for digital requests)	The From and To pages that will be digitized
Total Required Pages (for digital requests)	The pages entered above are automatically calculated for a total of pages
Includes Image(s) (for digital requests)	Whether the pages to digitize include images
Date Available From (for digital requests)	The start date for which any copies will be made available
Date Available To (for digital requests)	The end date for which any copies will be made available
Note 1 (for digital requests)	Private notes, if any
Note 2 (for digital requests)	Private notes, if any
Note 3 (for digital requests)	Private notes, if any
Material Type (for digital requests)	Select the desired material type from the available types
Date Needed By (for digital requests)	Select the date that the request is needed

Add request attributes in the Additional Request Attributes area.

Rejecting a Lending Request

You can reject a resource sharing lending task for a variety of reasons. For example, if an item is already on loan or is not found in the library, you can reject the patron request.

The rs_keep_rejected_request_active customer parameter determines if a request stays in an active status even after it is rejected. When the parameter is set to None, which is the default, the request will be completed and will not be visible in the active requests queue. When the parameter is set to Lending or Both, the request will remain in the active requests queue so the staff librarian will have the option to work on the request. This functionality applies only to rejections that occur after the parameter is changed. For more information, see Configuring Other Settings (Fulfillment).

To reject a lending request:

On the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List page (Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Lending Requests), select Reject for a request. The Reject Request dialog box opens.
Select a reason for the rejection in the Reject reason field.
Optionally, add a note for the rejection in the Internal note and Note to Partner fields.
Select OK. The request turns to the next partner in the request’s rota (if one is configured – see step 3 in Editing a Borrowing Request). If no partner is found, the request's citation status changes to Rejected the borrower request, and the Reject reason and Internal note are displayed in the Notes tab for the request (select the Edit link for the request to view the Notes tab).
If the request is managed using an ISO partner, an Unfill message is sent to the borrowing library, which marks the partner request as Rejected (see Rejecting a Borrowing Request).If the borrowing institution is an email partner, the Lender Reject Email Letter is sent to the partner.

Shipping Lending Request Resources

You can ship the resource sharing lending request item to the borrowing institution. The borrowing institution then delivers it to the patron who requested it.

To ship resource sharing lending request resources:

Shipping may be done from the Shipping Items page, Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Shipping Items, (see Shipping Items), which is the recommended shipping interface, or from the Scan In Items page, Fulfillment > Resource Requests > Scan In Items, (see Library/Desk Selector in The Persistent Menu). Ensure that you are at a resource sharing library.
For shipping from the Scan In Items page, in the External Identifier field, select Yes.
The Automatic Print Slip option is not functional when shipping from the Scan In interface.
For shipping from the Shipping Items page, select a lending request on the Resource Sharing Lending Requests Task List and select Ship Item from the row actions list.
Scan an item barcode and a request ID of the resource sharing item in the relevant fields.
Select OK. The item is scanned into a temporary location at the resource sharing library and displays at the bottom of the page. The item’s status updates to Shipped and the item is sent to the borrowing partner. When the borrowing institution is an email partner, the Lender Ship Email Letter is sent. When the borrowing institution is an ISO partner, the ISO Ship message is sent to the partner.
For more information on shipping items, see Shipping Items.

Digitally Shipping Lending-Request Items

You can ship digital items that are already in your possession to the borrowing institution or directly to the requester.

To digitally ship lending-request items:

From the lending request, select Ship Item Digitally from the row actions menu.
Browse to select a file to upload or drop a file in the upload area.
Select Ship to send the file.

When the file is sent this way, it is not stored or displayed in the Manage Fulfillment Options page. Note that only one file can be shipped. If you need to ship multiple files, you will first have to zip them into one file.

Lending request completion depends on the workflow profile settings of the partner.
If a ship digitally request was created, it will be cancelled (it is possible to complete ship-digitally requests by using the Deliver Digital Documents interface with the ship-request ID to ship the file. This process will consult digitization and copyright rules, approval processes, and so forth...).
To add shipping notes, manually set the complete status, etc., you can use the classic Ship Item interface and set the format to Digital.

It is also possible to ship digital resources that are managed in Alma, if the digital content is stored locally in the Alma repository.

To digitally ship lending-request items that are stored digitally in Alma:

On the Manage Resource Fulfillment Options page, in the Digital Services section, in the row actions, select View Files. The Digital Representation Resource Editor page opens, with the Files List tab selected. The files included in the representation are listed in this tab. For additional information about the Digital Representation Resource Editor page, see Editing Representation Metadata and Content.
If you want to see the contents of the representation before you send it, in the row actions, select Deliver. The representation is sent to the Alma Viewer, which displays the contents of the files.
Select the checkbox beside each of the files you want to ship.
Select the Ship button. The selected files are shipped.