WebZ ILL Concepts and Terminology

Contents

Introduction
ILL Services
ILL Service Types
ILL Servers
ILL Server Configuration Files
ILL Verbs
Specifying Which ILL Server(s) to Use

Introduction

This document defines concepts and terminology used in WebZ's interlibrary loan (ILL) implementation.

ILL Services

In SiteSearch, an ILL service is the destination for ILL requests initiated by WebZ patrons. A destination may be an ILL vendor's remote server or an e-mail address.

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ILL Service Types

SiteSearch 4.1.2 and Higher

Beginning with SiteSearch 4.1.2, WebZ supports three methods (or ILL service types) for submitting ILL requests to ILL services:

Service Type	Description
ISOILL	Sending an ILL request electronically to an ILL service that complies with the ILL Protocol Implementors Group (IPIG) Profile and accepts BER-encoded ILL requests, including: OCLC ILL Direct Request PALS, by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities/Project for Automated Library Services (MnSCU/PALS) WINGS™ Request Management Software, by Pigasus Software, Inc. Library.Request, by The Library Corporation (TLC)
EMAIL	Sending an ILL request in an e-mail message to a designated e-mail address.
MIME_EMAIL	Sending an ILL request to an ILL service that complies with the ILL Protocol Implementors Group (IPIG) Profile that accepts ILL requests as multi-part MIME attachments to e-mail messages, including: ILL Manager, by the Research Libraries Group (RLG) PALS, by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities/Project for Automated Library Services (MnSCU/PALS)

SiteSearch 4.1.2 and higher ships with selected vendor-specific ILL server configuration files, sample ILL request forms, and ILL verbs for each of the IPIG-compliant ILL services listed above, as well as generic ISOILL, EMAIL, and MIME_EMAIL verbs and configuration files. You can configure your WebZ environment to work with one ISOILL verb, one MIME e-mail verb, and one e-mail verb per interface style.

SiteSearch 4.1.1 and previous versions

In SiteSearch 4.1.1 and previous versions, WebZ supports the ISOILL and EMAIL ILL service types. SiteSearch 4.1.1's ILL client sends ILL requests that conform to the ILL Protocol Implementors Group (IPIG) profile. However, the only ILL vendor for which OCLC has tested and verified compatibility with SiteSearch 4.1.1 and earlier versions is OCLC ILL Direct Request.

ILL Servers

An ILL server is a WebZ server that processes and submits ILL requests to a particular ILL service, using the information in its ILL server configuration file. The JaSSIServer.ini configuration file has a section for each ILL server in a WebZ environment. These sections include the server's initialization class and ILL server configuration file.

Beginning with SiteSearch 4.1.2, a WebZ environment can have multiple ILL servers. There must be at least one ILL server defined for each ILL service used within the environment for processing ILL requests. If the WebZ environment uses ILL profiling, there may be more than one ILL server for a single ILL service.

In SiteSearch 4.1.1 and earlier versions, a WebZ environment has only one ILL server, ILLServer.

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ILL Server Configuration Files

An ILL server configuration file contains information needed to route requests to a particular ILL service, including its ILL service type, destination, autho and password (if required), billing and shipping information, and other ILL-related variables.

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ILL Verbs

An ILL verb is a Java class that captures patron input from the ILL request form, validates and formats the ILL request, sends the request to an ILL service, and provides a confirmation message to the patron or indicates that it could not submit the request. SiteSearch 4.1.2 includes generic verbs for processing each of the ILL service types and vendor-specific verbs for the IPIG-compliant ILL services with which it can communicate.

Beginning with SiteSearch 4.1.2, each interface style in a WebZ environment allows you to specify one verb to process requests from each of the three ILL service types. If the institutions that share your WebZ environment submit ILL requests more than one ILL service of the same service type, you can use multiple interface styles to specify a different verb for a different ILL service type.

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Specifying Which ILL Server(s) to Use

All SiteSearch versions allow you to specify the ILL server you wish to use for processing ILL requests on a per-database basis. Specifying ILL services by database provides system-level control over ILL processing. The ILL services and service types supported vary by version, as described in ILL Service Types. You can have some databases configured to route ILL requests to an ISOILL ILL service, others to an EMAIL ILL service, and in SiteSearch 4.1.2 and higher, others to a MIME_EMAIL ILL service, or any combination of these options. You can also configure some databases so that patrons cannot initiate ILL requests for any of their resources.

In SiteSearch 4.1.2 or higher, you can configure some databases to use the same ILL service for all institutions and others to use ILL profiling. The IllService variable in the [default] section of a database's configuration file defines whether to use one ILL server to process all ILL requests from a particular database or to use ILL profiling for that particular database.

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See Also

ILL Server Configuration Files
WebZ and OCLC ILL Direct Request
WebZ and E-Mail ILL Requests