Using Pathfinder Pro for Consortia
The version of Pathfinder Pro intended for consortia allows each member library to offer its patrons:
- resources subscribed to by the member library
- resources subscribed to by the consortium as a whole
Resources and their associated holdings display only when they are owned by the patron's member library. Patrons search more efficiently because they are not offered dead-end links to resources subscribed to by other consortium member libraries.
General Setup
When the version of Pathfinder Pro intended for consortia is installed, Innovative creates for each member library:
- an affiliation label
- a coverage table
Each member library associates their affiliation label with their Pathfinder Pro resource definitions. A resource definition with no affiliation label is associated with the consortium itself and the resource is therefore offered to all patrons.
Each member library loads coverage data for its subscribed resources into the coverage table named with the affiliation label. The consortium loads coverage data into a coverage table with the consortium label. Consortium-level resources are available to all patrons.
ERM and Pathfinder Pro
If your library has acquired Electronic Resources Management (ERM) and Pathfinder Pro, do not load coverage spreadsheets that contain titles not licensed to your affiliate library or consortium.
If you load a coverage spreadsheet that contains titles not licensed to your affiliate library or consortium, Pathfinder Pro adds the title to your library's coverage table. If the Electronic Holdings Administration's Create holdings record if no match upon load menu option in ERM is selected, ERM creates a holdings record with your library's affiliation code in the AFFILIATION variable-length field when Pathfinder Pro adds the title to your library's coverage table. However, because the resource is not licensed to your affiliate library or the consortium, your patrons can be denied access.
WebPAC and Pathfinder Pro for Consortia
In the WebPAC, resources are offered to patrons based on the scope of the patron's search. Innovative associates the affiliation label with the member library's scope during set up.
When the patron is offered a list of resources from the WebPAC, the member library's customization of the resource panel also displays.
If scopes are not used or the patron unscopes the search, a list of affiliation names displays on the Pathfinder Pro resource panel or table. When the patron chooses his library's affiliation from the list, a list of resources subscribed to by the affiliate displays.
Summary
To use the version of Pathfinder Pro intended for consortia, you must:
- Provide affiliation names, labels, and scopes to Innovative when the product is set up.
- associate logins with the coverage tables
- Load the coverage tables for each affiliate (member library) and for the consortium.
- Edit each resource definition to associate it with an affiliation.
When using the version of Pathfinder Pro for consortia, you choose an affiliation from the drop-down list in each resource definition. - Customize the display of resource links for each member library and the consortium.