Constant Data is information that is automatically included into every ILL request on the OCLC ILL system.  Information such as your library's address, the loan period, and the maxcost field are filled in on the ILL request form by OCLC's system.  You can have multiple constant data records for additional branches, for types of patrons (faculty, students, frequent ILL users), or for material types.  For additional constant data help, please contact Deb Ehrstein at 800-969-6562, x816.

Custom Holdings allow you to organize groups of preferred lenders online in the OCLC ILL system. This makes finding appropriate holding libraries a snap.  You can search the ILL Polices Directory to create custom holdings groups for A/V lenders, LVIS libraries by geographic region or library type, or libraries who lend genealogy materials. Contact Deb Ehrstein at 800-969-6562, x816 for more information or help using custom holdings.

Direct Request allows you to create profiles that route ILL requests to lenders without your intervention.  OCLC's resource sharing system uses your custom holdings to pick appropriate lenders and apply constant data.  Requests can be sent directly to the lender or saved to the Review category in the Request Manager for your approval. Contact Deb Ehrstein at 800-969-6562, x816 for more information or help using direct request.

Enter my symbol twice is a list of libraries who participate in OCLC ILL and who need more time to review and fill ILL requests.  Therefore, when you select one of these libraries as a potential lender, you should enter their OCLC symbol twice in the lender string.

Glossary - OCLC has an Interlibrary Loan Glossary for help with common terminology, acronyms, and more.

IFM is short for the OCLC ILL Fee Management Service, which helps libraries reduce administrative costs by tracking and reconciling ILL charges, for both loans and copies, through their OCLC bills.

ILL Groups: The following "resource sharing groups" may have an impact on your interlibrary loan workflow:

• LVIS (Libraries Very Interested in Sharing)
• MIGI (Missouri Interlibrary Group Initiative)
• MMLA (MLNC/Missouri Lending Agreement)
• NEPU (National Newspaper Project)

ILL Statistical Reports, see Statistical Reports

ILL Policies Directory is OCLC's replacement for the Name-Address Directory (NAD).  This new website allows users to search for lenders' ILL policies, and provides an easier way for you to update your own library's ILL policies.  For Passport users, you will need to log on to https://illpolicies.oclc.org with your current ILL authorization number and password.  Keep this window open while you perform your ILL work so that you can check lenders' policies.  For ILL Web users, there is a link to the Policies Directory in the black toolbar at the top of the ILL Web screen.  Also, the orange question marks on a holdings screen in ILL Web link you to a lender's ILL policies in the new Policies Directory.  If you haven't entered your ILL policies into the new directory yet, you can use this ILL policies worksheet to help you gather the necessary information before you begin.

Library of Congress is a lender on OCLC.  If you need to send a request to them to borrow an item, you have to fill out the OCLC ILL workform with LC's OCLC symbol repeated 5 times in the lender string.  You can use either DLC or LCL as their symbol.  Just remember to repeat it 5 times on the workform.

OCLC Local Holdings Maintenance helps you maintain accurate, current holdings information. This information supports interlibrary loan by providing your library's holdings for materials in any format, including serials. By making all aspects of the collection known, it also supports collection development. It provides finding tools for local users and staff and assists remote users in deciding whether to travel to the library to use the collection. Finally, it supports consortial sharing, cooperative collection development, and acquisition.

Lower case OCLC symbols in the OCLC ILL system indicate non-supplier status.

LVIS stands for Libraries Very Interested in Sharing. LVIS is an OCLC resource sharing group whose members agree to lend and photocopy materials at no charge to other LVIS members.

Magazine and Journal Articles can be requested on OCLC by using the Local Holdings column on the list of holding libraries.  This column displays volume and issue information for libraries who subscribe to a magazine or journal.  By using local holdings information, you are able to choose the best possible lenders who will be able to fill a photocopy request.

Mailing labels can be printed from the Request Manager in the WorldCat Resource Sharing interface.

Message File, see Request Manager.

MIGI stands for Missouri Interlibrary Group Initiative.  MIGI is a resource sharing group made up of MLNC member libraries in Missouri and a few in Illinois and Kansas (near the metro areas of St. Louis and Kansas City).  MIGI also contains the union list holdings of the former Missouri Union List of Serial Publications.  The group was formed to allow libraries who did not catalog with OCLC a way to use OCLC Interlibrary Loan.  Libraries who only use the OCLC ILL or Union List system are known as OCLC Selective Users.

MMLA is a resource sharing agreement available to Missouri libraries including those who do not use OCLC ILL.  Members of this group agree to lend and photocopy materials at no charge to other MMLA members.

Name-Address Directory (NAD), see ILL Policies Directory.

NEPU is the ILL Group symbol for the National Newspaper Project.  Don’t let the name fool you though, the group has holdings for all kinds of serials, not just newspapers.

Non-Referral Days are days that are not counted in the aging of an ILL request. Lenders have 4 system days to respond to a Pending request. However if a new Pending request is created the day before a holiday, that holiday is not counted as one of  the 4 system days. Beginning in 2002, OCLC reduced the number of non-referral holidays by eliminating those which affected only lenders in the United States. OCLC now treats Saturdays, Sundays, and the following holidays only as non-referral days:

• Thanksgiving
• Day after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• New Year's Eve
• New Year's Day

Non-Supplier Status is convenient for staff vacations, academic breaks, or a leave of absence.  As a supplier, your library's OCLC symbol appears in upper-case in the OCLC ILL Service.  When other libraries locate an item in OCLC that you own, they may create an ILL request and use your symbol in their lender string.  As a non-supplier, your library's OCLC symbol appears in lower-case and other libraries may not use your symbol to request materials from you.

Participating Institutions are the libraries and institutions that belong to OCLC.  You can search by OCLC symbol or by group symbol (such as LVIS).  For ILL purposes, you can find out whether a specific library is a supplier and what ILL groups they belong to.

Policies Directory, see ILL Policies Directory

Pricing for OCLC ILL is now under a subscription model.  This means that there are no longer individual prices for different actions such as a display holdings, a keyword search vs. a derived search, etc.

Request Manager in the OCLC ILL system is similar to a bulletin board where you check the status of ILL requests.  Some categories of requests in the Request Manager apply to you as a borrower and other categories apply to you as a lender.

Review Requests are ILL requests in the Request Manager under the category of Review.  These requests are usually generated by patrons and/or reference staff in your library who are using the ILL form in OCLC FirstSearch. If you need more help processing review requests, please try the OCLC tutorial for the Request Manager.

Statistical Reports on your library's ILL activity are available at no charge online from OCLC.  These free reports include Reasons for No, Borrower and Lender Overview reports, and Borrower and Lender Detail reports.  You can export reports to an Excel worksheet, and you can also e-mail reports to library staff on a monthly basis.

Tutorials and reference cards are available from OCLC:

• Documentation to the WorldCat Resource Sharing system can be found online and printed in PDF format if needed.  You will not receive printed documentation for the system.
• Self-paced WorldCat Resource Sharing tutorials are online and separated by topic so you can refresh your skills anytime.  Topics include borrower and lender basics, request manager, constant data, batch processing, and more.
• WorldCat Resource Sharing Quick Reference covers the basic ins and outs of using the system.

Union List is a shared list of periodical holdings that shows which libraries own specific volumes of a particular serial.  The OCLC Union List service has been renamed Local Holdings Maintenance as part of OCLC's migration to MARC Format for Holdings Data (MFHD). The former Missouri Union List of Serial Publications holdings are found in the MIGI group.

WorldCat is OCLC's online union catalog, the world's most comprehensive bibliographic database with more than 100 million bibliographic records representing 400 languages and covering information back to the 11th century.  Bibliographic records in WorldCat have holdings from libraries around the world.  WorldCat is searchable via the WorldCat Resource Sharing system and through the OCLC FirstSearch service, a Web-based reference interface designed for end-users.  WorldCat is the online union catalog for OCLC's cataloging and interlibrary loan systems.

General ILL Resources

Ariel is a document delivery system from Research Libraries Group, and MLNC is a regional distributor of this software.  Using the RLG's Ariel software, library staff can scan articles, photos and other documents; transfer the images electronically to other Ariel workstations; and convert them to PDF for easy delivery to patrons.

CLIO software has all the functions you need to manage your ILL transactions on the local level from the time a patron makes a request through the entire cycle including: loan, return, billing and payment, preparing and tracking customizable lending and borrowing notices, and archiving completed transactions for later statistical use. MLNC provides libraries with a discount off the list price of CLIO software.

Copyright

• CONTU Guidelines for Copyright and Photocopies
• Copyright Clearance Center for photocopy permissions
• Copyright language for use in notices
• US Copyright Office at the Library of Congress

ILL Code for the United States is available on ALA's Reference and User Services Association website.

ILL-L Listserv (e-mail discussion list) is hosted at WebJunction. You can subscribe or view archives online.

National ILL Code, see ILL Code for the United States

Wrapping & Packaging Guidelines for all formats can be found in Section 4.13 of the Explanatory Supplement of the ILL Code for the United States on ALA's Reference and User Services Association website.