Inter Library Loan

Inter Library Loan

UPDATE: As of Koha release 17.11 there is generic framework built into the system for adding ILL support for the variety of workflows and protocols outlined on this page.

Several parties have expressed interest in adding ILL functionality on the mailing list. This page could be a place to collect ideas and documentation.

Since there are lots of different ways to implement ILL it seems like a viable solution to identify some core functionality that needs to be in place for everyone, and then let that core be extended to handle different protocols, standards etc.

Core functionality

• Some easy way to create records that are hidden in the OPAC but enable lending, fines etc.
• Allow borrowing and lending across multiple systems according to rules set by individual library systems or consortia (e.g. my patrons can view items from (and borrow from) these 15 Koha libraries and that Evergreen consortia during the summer months but only the 15 Koha libraries during the winter months).
• Staff should not have to create temp bib records or temp patron records to do any internlending transactions. Either the patron and item databases are shared/combined in a way that makes this unnecessary, or the system injects the proper records from the borrowing system to the lending system automatically.
• Maybe think of it more like a materials request sent to a branch within a single system (I've heard this called a pending list and a router). The request can be accepted by lender (e.g. like hold being triggered within a single system) which would create whatever records were needed in both systems so the transaction could be tracked and all other requests for that item would be cancelled. First to claim the request wins so as not to slow down the process with sequential requests (like OCLC).
• Features for unmediated ILL transactions (including INN-Reach/Link+ compatibility, support for SIP2 for legacy systems, etc.).

ISO

• ISO 8459:2009 Information and documentation -- Bibliographic data element directory for use in data exchange and enquiry
• ISO 10160:1997 Information and documentation -- Open Systems Interconnection -- Interlibrary Loan Application Service Definition
• ISO 10161-1:1997 Information and documentation -- Open Systems Interconnection -- Interlibrary Loan Application Protocol Specification -- Part 1: Protocol specification

NCIP, Z39.83

• NCIP maintenance agency site
  • Documentation
  • NISO NCIP workroom
• ILL was meant to be one of the primary uses of this but I'm not sure of its relevance to libraries in the real world
• OpenNCIP - latest news is from June 2006
• xcnciptoolkit - "A server application in Java that enables an ILS to communicate with other applications using the NCIP protocol." Part of the XC Project

Great Britain

• Emails with templates
• British Library Document Supply Service (ARTel)

Norway

• NILL in Norwegian, Google Translate - XML-messages over email.
• By end of 2015 all library system providers have promised to support NCIP for inter-library loans.

Denmark

• ILL - udvekslingsformater, Google Translate - Plain text messages over email.

Misc

• Perhaps this could be a good project to cooperate with Evergreen on?
• Equinox has launched the FulfILLment™ project - "FulfILLment is an open source project designed to link library catalogs. When completed in about two years, it will provide library users seamless access to materials owned by libraries using FullfILLment—no matter which integrated library system his or her library uses."
• We are a consortia in California looking to migrate some libraries and consortia to both Evergreen and Koha and are VERY interested in a single ILL module that makes lending between systems easy for staff and patrons while allowing enough flexibility to support individual system needs.

See also

• ILL RFC