Managing ArticleReach Usage Thresholds
The ArticleReach Usage Thresholds feature enables your library to manage your patrons' requests for articles owned by other ArticleReach sites. When your patrons' requests for publications owned by other sites meet a site-specific threshold, you can divert subsequent requests to mediation, your ILL department, or cancellation.
This page describes the usage threshold parameters your library must specify and how the system uses those thresholds.
ArticleReach Usage Threshold Parameters
The system assesses usage thresholds for requests your patrons place within a specified usage period for a given journal published during a specified publication period. Your library specifies the following parameters:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Publication Period | The time range during which the requested journals were published. For example, if you specify a 5-year publication period, the system counts the requests that your patrons make for journals published in the 5 years prior to and including the present year. |
| Usage Period | The time range during which your patrons submitted the requests to be tracked for usage. For example, if you specify a 1-year usage period, the system counts the requests that your patrons make within the current calendar year to determine whether or not a usage threshold has been met. |
| First Action Threshold | The number of requests your patrons can place for a given publication before subsequent requests are managed according to the first action parameter. For example, if you specify a first action threshold of 5, the 6th request submitted by one of your patrons for a given publication does not page and is managed according to the first action parameter. |
| First Action | The action that the system takes to manage requests that exceed the first action threshold. Possible actions are:
If you send requests that exceed the first action threshold to mediation, you can override the threshold and submit the request for paging. |
| Final Action Threshold | The number of requests your patrons can place for a given publication before subsequent requests are managed according to the final action parameter. For example, if you specify a final action threshold of 10, the 11th request submitted by one of your patrons for a given publication does not page and is managed according to the final action parameter. The final action threshold is optional. |
| Final Action | The action that the system takes to manage requests that exceed the final action threshold. Possible actions are: |
How ArticleReach Usage Thresholds Work
ArticleReach performs the following analyses to determine whether a request causes a usage threshold to be exceeded:
- The system determines whether your library has holdings for the requested journal and the requested year of publication:
- If your library has such holdings, the system assembles a paging list for the request.
- If your library does not have such holdings, the system proceeds to the next step.
- The system determines whether the requested year of journal is within the specified publication period:
- If the publication date is within the specified publication period, the system proceeds to the next step.
- If the publication date is not within the specified publication period, the system assembles a paging list for the request.
- The system determines how many requests your patrons have already placed for the requested journal during the usage period:
- If the new request does not cause the total number of such requests to exceed the first action threshold, the system assembles a paging list for the request.
- If the new request causes the total number of such requests to exceed the first action threshold, the system manages the request according to the specified first action.
- If the new request causes the total number of such requests to exceed the final action threshold, the system manages the request according to the specified final action.