[ILL-L] Pesky "Aged to next lender" issue

Tue Oct 23 11:04:34 EDT 2007

I had this happen a couple of times.  I spoke with one of the lenders who 
believed that what had happened was that they had updated to Shipped in 
Illiad, but that update had not been transferred to WRS.   So,  they had 
completed the request and mailed the item, but in WRS it was still showing 
as Pending, and aged out to the next lender in the string.  We do not use 
Illiad, so I am fuzzy on exactly how it works, but it seems like something that 
could happen.

On 23 Oct 2007 at 9:42, Beth Willis wrote:

> What I don't understand is how you can update an item to Shipped once it
> has passed on to the next lender? Or, as in a few cases I noted
> yesterday, to the 3rd or 4th lender in the string. 
> 
> Once a request is no longer in your Pending file, how can you access it
> to update to Shipped? 
> 
> 
>  
> ___.oOo.___
> Beth Willis 
> ILL Department Head
> bwillis at mcpl.lib.mo.us
> Phone: (816) 521-7231
> Mid-Continent Public Library - http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us
> Unless explicitly attributed, the opinions expressed are personal.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org
> [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Patti Cummins
> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 9:38 AM
> To: wilkinson at sepl.lib.ok.us; Interlibrary Loan Listserv
> Subject: RE: [ILL-L] Pesky "Aged to next lender" issue
> 
> I'm in the same situation.  We do our best, but there's still slip-ups
> when working with multiple libraries.
> Patti 
> 
> >As a multibranch library system with centralized OCLC but decentralized
> 
> >shipping/receiving, we are unfortunately the cause of this problem 
> >every now and then.  Our branches are supposed to give me a "yes" or 
> >"no" within 2 days to the loan requests I fax them.  Sometimes, though,
> 
> >they'll go ahead and ship the item right away but "forget" to send me 
> >notification, and by the time I do get it, the request has aged on.  
> >(This is a particular problem with those branches that are closed on 
> >Mondays.)
> >
> >So, in our case, it's never deliberate or for "good Samaritan" reasons 
> >- but unfortunately it's inevitable that we'll ship-but-not-update at 
> >least every once in a while.
> >
> >We apologize!!
> >
> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >Linda Wilkinson, ILL Coordinator
> >Southeastern Public Library System of OK OCLC symbol: OKI 
> >wilkinson at sepl.lib.ok.us
> >
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org 
> >[mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org]
> >On Behalf Of Wilcox, Terry DPI-RLL
> >Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 9:07 AM
> >To: 'Interlibrary Loan Listserv'
> >Subject: RE: [ILL-L] Pesky "Aged to next lender" issue
> >
> >Please note that I am standing on my wobbly soapbox...
> >
> >Lenders are allowing Pending requests escape before they are updated to
> 
> >Shipped, then they are sending the item anyhow.  Most of us believe 
> >strongly in ILL and as lenders want to lend our material.  When the 
> >request is no longer on WCRS we might have the item in-hand, so they 
> >send it anyhow - just in case the borrower can still use it.  Here in 
> >Wisconsin I refer to this as the "good Samaritan" problem.
> >
> >In my opinion it is NEVER a good idea to send an item when the request 
> >no longer resides in your WCRS Pending data.  There is no way lenders 
> >can know why a request is no longer there.  If the number of days is 
> >less than 4 days, it is likely the borrower deleted the request - for
> whatever reason.
> >If it has been over 4 days it is likely the request expired at that 
> >lender's location.
> >
> >If the request expired, the next lender may update to Shipped before 
> >the "Samaritan's" request was updated to Received and now the borrower 
> >is paying postage/UPS charges for returning two items.  In addition, 
> >the WCRS record would show the lender as the CURRENT lender, not the
> "Samaritan" that was
> >sent the request first - prior to the current lender.   It makes record
> >keeping a nightmare.  Add to that the issues of payments for loan or 
> >IFM...It only gets worse.  (Did you know that you only have to pay the 
> >location that updates to Shipped?)
> >
> >Lenders, PLEASE...Four days is all the time you have to respond to a 
> >request in Pending on WCRS!  Do not wait until the last minute to 
> >respond and do not ship until you have updated the request with a
> Shipped response.
> >
> >That said, I am EXTREMELY grateful for those libraries that lend to our
> 
> >libraries here in Wisconsin.  We do not charge and lend all formats.  
> >Please use GZR freely.
> >
> >(I'm off my soapbox now!)
> >Terry
> >
> >Terry L. Wilcox, State ILL Librarian
> >Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library (GZR)
> >2109 South Stoughton Road
> >Madison, WI  53716
> >voice: 608-224-6163
> >fax: 608-224-6178
> >Wis. toll-free: 888-542-5543, option 4
> >email: terry.wilcox at dpi.state.wi.us
> > 
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org 
> >[mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org]
> >On Behalf Of Beth Willis
> >Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 5:01 PM
> >To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
> >Subject: [ILL-L] Pesky "Aged to next lender" issue
> >
> >Should I be alarmed that now on a DAILY basis we are processing 
> >MULTIPLE borrowed materials sent by libraries where the request "Aged 
> >to next lender"?
> >
> >I've had 6 of these from 4 different libraries today alone. I've had to
> 
> >go in and delete the requests from WCRS before they were duplicated by 
> >other libraries (fortunately, they were still Pending).
> >
> >What on earth is going on out there?  :?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Beth Willis
> >ILL Department Head
> >bwillis at mcpl.lib.mo.us
> >Phone: (816) 521-7231
> >Mid-Continent Public Library - http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us Unless 
> >explicitly attributed, the opinions expressed are personal.
> >
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Sharon Bleau
Reference Librarian 
Mountain State University
sharonb at mountainstate dot edu