Requesting INN-Reach Items

The INN-Reach Circulation of an item from one site to a patron at another site begins when the patron requests the item in the INN-Reach Catalog. Patrons can use the WebPAC on the INN-Reach Central Server to request an item in the INN-Reach Catalog, as follows:

1. The patron chooses REQUEST THIS ITEM.
2. The system prompts the patron to identify the affiliated INN-Reach site.
3. The system prompts the patron for verification information
4. The system verifies the patron.
5. The system selects the item to request.
6. The system processes the request.

Patron Chooses REQUEST THIS ITEM

The patron can choose the REQUEST THIS ITEM option in the Bibliographic Record Display or the Institutional Holdings display in the INN-Reach Catalog.

When the patron chooses this option, the system determines whether there are any copies of the title that the patron can request:

• No requestable items—If there are no requestable items (for example, all copies are marked LOCAL USE ONLY), the system displays the following message to the patron:
  
  No copies available for requests. Press <SPACE> to continue.
• Items are available—If the item's status is '-' (AVAILABLE), and the item has an I TYPE that maps to a requestable I TYPE, the system proceeds to the next step.
• Items are not available—If the item's status is other than AVAILABLE (for example, all copies are checked out), the system determines whether the INN-Reach System allows patrons to place INN-Reach holds:
  • If patrons cannot place INN-Reach holds, the system displays a message similar to the following to the patron:
    
    No copies are available at this time.
    Please check with your local library.
  • If patrons can place INN-Reach holds, the system displays a message similar to the following:
    
    No copies available, place a hold? (y/n)
    
    If the patron enters 'y', the system continues to the next step.

The System Prompts the Patron to Identify Affiliated INN-Reach Site

1. The system connects the patron to the Institutional Affiliation display through the Web Access Management Patron Verification customizable Web form (pverify2_web.html). For example:
   
   
2. The patron selects the INN-Reach site to which he belongs from the list and submits the information.

The System Prompts the Patron for Verification Information

1. The system connects the patron to the Request Verification customizable Web form (pverify3_web.html). For example:
   
   
   
   This form prompts the patron to specify the following:
   • The patron's name, unique identifier, and PIN (if required). These prompts can be customized.
   • The location at which the patron wants to pickup the item, if multiple pickup locations are available, as follows:
     • For standard INN-Reach requests, the form displays the Pickup Location list, a drop-down menu of pickup locations defined by your Local Server during product installation. For more information, see the INN-Reach Circulation Pickup Locations Table.
     • If your Local Server has acquired the Pickup Anywhere for INN-Reach product, this form prompts the patron to specify a site in the Pickup Institution drop-down list, which includes the site to which the requesting patron belongs and all the Pickup Anywhere sites in the INN-Reach System. Once the patron specifies a site, the form populates the Pickup Location list with the pickup location associated with that site. For example:
       
       
       
       If the patron selects the site to which he belongs in the Pickup Institution, the request is handled as a standard INN-Reach request. If the patron selects any site other than his own in the Pickup Institution list, then the request is a Pickup Anywhere INN-Reach request.
   • The date after which the requested item is no longer needed (if your INN-Reach System enables patrons to specify not-needed-after dates).
     
2. The patron completes the form and chooses the Submit above information button. The system continues to the next step.

The System Verifies the Patron

The INN-Reach Central Server uses the information entered by the patron in the Request Verification form to verify the patron. Based on the patron verification results, the system does one of the following:

• If the patron cannot be verified, the system blocks the request and displays a message describing the condition that resulted in the verification failure.
• If the patron can be successfully verified, the system continues to the next step.

The System Selects the Item to Request

If multiple items of the title the patron wants are requestable in the INN-Reach Catalog, INN-Reach examines the items it initially identified as requestable and selects an item to request based on whether the requested title is multi-volume. The system recognizes a title as multi-volume if it finds a VOLUME statement in any of the attached institution records.

Item Has No Volume Data

If the attached institution records have no volume data, INN-Reach:

1. Determines whether any of the available items are locally available to the patron and, if so, whether the patron's site allows its patrons to request locally available items:
   • If none of the requestable items are locally available, the system continues to the next step.
   • If any of the items are locally available and the site allows INN-Reach requests for locally available items, the system continues to the next step.
   • If any of the items are locally available and the site does not allow INN-Reach requests for locally available items, the system denies the request and displays the following message:
     
     You cannot use <SYSTEM> to request items that are available at your institution.
     
     The patron must use the local catalog to request the item.
2. Evaluates whether any of the available items are ineligible to receive the hold according to the settings of the INN-Reach Central Server Holds Options. INN-Reach discards any ineligible items.
3. Uses the Request Balancing Table to determine if any of the remaining item(s) should be given priority:
   • If possible, the INN-Reach Catalog selects an item according to the criteria specified in this table.
   • If no items have priority based on the Request Balancing Table, the INN-Reach catalog randomly chooses one of the remaining items.

Item Has Volume Data

If the attached institution records contain volume data, the system prompts the patron to specify the desired volume and copy for requesting. When selecting a specific item, a patron is allowed to request an item from another site even if items are available at the patron's site. See the list of possible messages if a patron chooses an item that he is not allowed to request.

The System Processes the Request

The system displays the following to the patron:

The INN-Reach Central Server updates the status of the item to "<SYSTEM> LOAN REQUESTED" in the INN-Reach Catalog, and sends circulation messages to the patron site and the owning site.

At the patron site, the circulation message causes the system to:

• Create a virtual item record with a status of '&' (REQUESTED).
• Add a hold to the patron's hold queue.

At the owning site, the circulation message causes the system to:

• Update the item record's status to '(' (<SYSTEM> PAGED).
• Create a virtual patron record.
• Add a hold to the item's hold queue.
• Add an INN-Reach message field to the item record.
• Queue an INN-Reach paging slip for later printing.