How ILL Creates Virtual Records
ILL creates "virtual" bibliographic and item records to fulfill ILL requests. A virtual record contains all of the same fixed- and variable-length fields as a standard item record, and a virtual item can be checked out and in like a standard circulation item. However, virtual records exist only temporarily while the ILL request is active. The virtual record is created when you acquire an ILL request. It remains in the system for returnable items until the item is returned, and for nonreturnable items until the item is received.
When ILL creates virtual records, the system:
- Assigns a transaction number to the virtual bib and item. The transaction number consists of a virtual record number followed by the ILL department code (for example, i100000@eaill). Virtual record numbers are assigned sequentially (for example, i100000, i100001, etc.). If your library has multiple ILL departments, independent sequences of virtual record numbers are maintained for each.
- Uses the values entered in the ILL request by staff or the patron to populate the variable-length fields in the virtual bibliographic record.
- Sets the virtual item's I TYPE and LOCATION to the values that your library specified when setting up ILL.
- Sets the OPACMSG field in the virtual item to '4'.
- Uses the default record templates (that is, the templates labelled _i and _b) to populate the remaining fixed-length fields in the virtual records.