[ILL-L] Reasons for No

Wed Sep 3 13:18:26 EDT 2008

As a borrower and lender, I personally dislike "not on shelf" and "missing" being joined in WCRS as one Reason for No.  In the past, I took "not on shelf," which is an ISO Reason for No, to mean the item was not checked out, but was not where it was supposed to be on the shelf - a quick search was made in order to respond to the request in a timely manner.  Perhaps someone is using the item at a table in the library or it's been incorrectly shelved.  The item may show up or it may not.  The borrower may choose to try again later.

To me, "missing" (not an ISO Reason for No) means that more than a cursory search has been made.  The item has not been formally declared "lost," but it is on its way (Lost is an ISO response).  If I were the borrower I would be happy with a conditional to tell me the item is missing.  There is an ISO reason:  "Other_________" that would work.  However, if "Other_________" is used, in my perfect ILL world it should always have additional information from the lender to support it.  I translate such a response for the patron as: "The potential lender indicated the item was missing; we can retry if you would like."  Such use would let the borrower decide whether or not to pursue it further.

I feel that where there are ISO standards for interlibrary loan as there are for Reasons for No, we should use the standard.  Mind you I don't always like the standards, as they may not be written with my view of the perfect ILL world in mind.  The standards are there so all would have the same understanding and different ILL management programs could more easily "talk" to each other.

Just my two+ cents!

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.wi.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Jones, Alison R.
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 11:10 AM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: RE: [ILL-L] Reasons for No

Ok then - so which would you prefer?  I just don't have time to go search through a months worth of due dates plus the faculty cards for every single item that might not be on the shelf.  (The last couple of weeks I'm doing good to get to the ILL lending every other day, and I haven't done any cataloging in the last two weeks either - so its not that I'm trying to be lazy here - there just really is not the time in my day to devote to that)

So would you rather get "in use" and possibly request from us again and get the same reason again (either because it really is still in use or because it really is missing) or get "missing" and not request from us again, even though we might actually have the item?  This is why I'm asking - because I know it does make a difference.  And I would love if I could give a more accurate reason for no - but either way I'm going at the moment I'm risking "lying" by means of not really knowing which one is actually true.

Alison

Alison Jones

Public Services Librarian

Baptist College of Florida

From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Beth Willis
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 10:28 AM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: RE: [ILL-L] Reasons for No

May I comment from the borrower's perspective?

If we see that the reason for no is "in use/on loan" that tells us that the library actually OWNS the item and if we can't get it elsewhere, perhaps if we try again in 3-4 weeks we might be able to get the material.

If we see the reason for no is "not on shelf/missing," we interpret that to mean the item is NOT available and if the request goes unfilled we won't try that library again.

So, it makes a difference to the borrower how you respond. Accurate reasons for no are appreciated.  :-)

Beth Willis, MLS

ILL Department Head

bwillis at mcpl.lib.mo.us<blocked::mailto:bwillis at mcpl.lib.mo.us>

Phone: (816) 521-7231

Mid-Continent Public Library (CMI)

http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us<blocked::http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/>

Unless explicitly attributed, the opinions expressed are personal.

  _____

From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Jones, Alison R.
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 10:21 AM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: [ILL-L] Reasons for No

Quick question for any other non-automated libraries out there... When a book is not on the shelf, are you using "not on shelf/missing" or "in use/on loan"? - I'm certainly not going to go look through the circulation cards just to see if a book really is "missing" or if its "on loan" when the just of the matter is that its not there for us to loan it either way.

Alison

Alison Jones

Public Services Librarian

Baptist College of Florida

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