Using WebBridge LR for Consortia
The version of WebBridge LR 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 WebBridge LR 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 WebBridge LR 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 WebBridge
If your library has acquired Electronic Resources Management (ERM) and WebBridge, 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, WebBridge LR adds the title to your library's coverage table. If the Electronic Holdings Administration'sCreate 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 WebBridge LR 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.
External Origins and WebBridge LR for Consortia
Each member library adds an OpenURL element that contains the affiliation label to its resolution server's URL at external origins (for example, Infotrac, Project Muse, or Academic Search Elite-EBSCO). Usually a library manages its resolution server's URL through an administration Web page on the external origin vendor's web site. When using the version of WebBridge LR intended for consortia, URLs for WebBridge LR resolution servers take the form:
http://<your_library_IP>:4550/resserv?&req_dat=<affiliation label>
Each member library must add the "&req_dat=<affiliation label>" OpenURL element to the WebBridge LR resolution server URL at every external origin the member library uses.
When the patron is offered a list of resources from an external origin, the member library's customization of the resource panel also displays.
If the WebBridge LR resolution server URL at an external origin does not contain the "&req_dat=<affiliation label>" OpenURL element, a list of affiliation names displays on the WebBridge LR resource panel. 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 WebBridge LR 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 WebBridge LR for consortia, you choose an affiliation from the drop-down list in each resource definition. - Update the URL for the WebBridge LR resolution server at each external origin (for example, Infotrac, Project Muse, or Academic Search Elite-EBSCO). The URL for the WebBridge LR resolution server must contain the label for the affiliate (member library) that uses the external origin.
If more than one affiliate (member library) uses the external origin, the vendor can provide separate accounts for the affiliates, so that affiliates can maintain separate WebBridge LR resolution server URLs. - Customize the display of resource links for each member library and the consortium.