MnLINK VDX Blog

I've heard occasionally that some libraries aren't responding to questions in a timely manner. When you don't respond to messages or perform a responsive action you may be putting people at another library in a tough situation. For example, when your Lender Cancel Pending queue has requests in the file it is very important to respond. If you do not give a responsive action, the end user can't request another item.

It's also very important to respond to Borrower Conditional requests. Make sure to perform the responsive action Conditional Reply-Yes or No. Do not just send a Message or the other party will not be able to update the request. If you are contacting your patron for more information you may want to change the Authorization to Acknowledged for the request as a way to let yourself know that something has been done. You can do this by selecting the Acknowledge button on the results display. Do something to move the request along, because someone has taken the time to ask you a question and they are now waiting for a response.

Renewals are a similar matter. As I explain in detail with my Sept. 26 blog posting http://blogs.minitex.umn.edu/mnlink/2006/09/renewals.html if you don't respond to a renewal request it is common practice to assume that the renewal has been granted.

The Messages at the bottom of the Lender and Borrower queues may also require a response. When one party chooses the Message option it will show up here. At the very least there will be some communication that will need to be followed up on with these Messages.

If you have any questions about this posting or any others, don't hesitate to contact me. If you find that you are always struggling to catch up on your workload, please let me know. I'll try to help in any way I can.

Posted by Nick at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Renewals, whether you allow them or you don't it is important to respond.

You have an item you or your patron would like to renew, first select the Renew action and click Submit. Then enter your Desired Due Date and click Submit again. This will move the request from the Borrower Received queue to the Borrower Renew/Pending queue. The Renew action can also be performed in the same way on Overdue requests. For an Overdue request it will move to the Borrower Renew/Overdue queue after submitting the renewal.

As a Lender you will need to choose Renew Answer-Yes or Renew Answer-No for the items in your Renew/Pending queue or Renew/Overdue queue. When you choose Renew Answer-Yes you enter the new Due Date in the Due Date box and click Submit. When you choose Renew Answer-No you will just click Submit and then click Submit again. However if you do not respond to a renewal request, some libraries assume the renewal is OK because of the ALA/Reference and User Services Association Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States (http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaprotools/referenceguide/interlibrary.htm see Section 4.11 and Section 5.8).

After the Lender has responded to the renewal request, the Borrower will see that the item has dropped out of the Renew/Pending queue or Renew/Overdue queue. If the renewal has been granted by the Lender, the Borrower will see the response in the Waiting column of the Received queue. If the Lender has responded Renew Answer-No, the request will appear in the Waiting column of the queue at the time the renewal was requested. If the item was Overdue at the time the renewal was requested, the Overdue Waiting work queue is where it will return.

Posted by Nick at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)