Using VDX you can request or receive Electronic Documents that are stored electronically. This enables the end user to obtain and view the requested item directly via their client machine. In summary:
Documents can be submitted for transmission by ’dragging and dropping’ them onto a selected request, or by scanning on Ariel workstations.
Documents can be transmitted by either Email or FTP or Ariel.
Documents can be received directly by VDX via either Email or FTP, or they can be received by Ariel.
Documents can be stored inside the VDX database, or on local or remote file systems.
Documents can be ”delivered” to end users through all the usual VDX request interfaces (ZPORTAL , WebAdmin, Windows Admin Client), or by attaching the document to a user alert, or by sending a user alert that contains a URL which, if followed, delivers the document to the end users Web Browser.
End user access to documents can be limited to a specified number of lookups, or a certain number of days from delivery or days from user notification. 'Expired’ documents are automatically deleted from their storage location.
Whether acting as borrower (requester) or lender (responder) VDX needs to know where to store the documents that it is transmitting or receiving. VDX can store Objects inside the VDX database or they can be stored on local or remote file systems too.
VDX knows where to store documents from the value of the VDX Setup: System Globals variable Default Document Store. This has to be configured in the Windows Admin.Client.
In addition, the FTP Document Receiver and File Document Receiver processes need to know where to find incoming documents, where to place troublesome documents that have failed to be received properly, and where to place temporary working files. These various file paths may all be local or remote to the VDX server machine. They are defined in the configuration details for the FTP Document Receiver and the File Document Receiver in the Windows Admin.Client.
The following delivery methods are supported by VDX:
Once an electronic document has been dropped in the lender (responder)’s VDX database, VDX has native FTP and Email delivery programs that automatically transmit the documents to the borrower (requester)s when the request is SHIPPED.
Shipping a request where Ariel
Note: When responding with either Ariel/Jedds close coupled or loose coupled configuration A scanning configuration in which the ARIEL/JEDDS scanning software and the VDX client are on different PCs., you may need to manually update the Document Status The position of a request at a given point in the VDX system request cycle. An action is used to change the status of a request. in the request from Transmitting to Transmitted OK. This will cause the correct ILL messages to be sent from VDX to the borrower (requester). Such a manual update is necessary where the Ariel Sent status change is no longer prompting JEDDS to move to the Shipped status change (which in turn causes a DDI-Shipped message to be sent to VDX). The Document Status field is editable in both the Windows and Web Admin clients.
Those VDX and Ariel customers outside of UK and Australia/New Zealand need to manually enter the 'Shipped' message after they’ve manually scanned and transmitted the document using Ariel. For these users when filling out the Ariel scan screen, they must add the TGQ to the FileName field of the GEDI Group on Electronic Document Interchange: An international agreement for the format of image documents to be exchanged among different computing environments. This format is used by Ariel systems and consists of a multipage TIFF document and a GEDI header. The GEDI headers allows the program or person who receives the document to associate the document with the request that ordered it. header prefixed by ’VDX’.
Web delivery allows a document to be 'delivered' directly to the end-user's desktop. Rather than sending the document to the requesting library, the lender (responder) transmits an email directly to the end user, which includes an URL link to the requested document. A prime example of this delivery method is the British Library’s Secure Electronic Delivery service.
If configured, VDX informs a user when an action has occurred on their ILL e.g. request has been RECEIVED by the borrower (requester) or SHIPPED by the lender (responder). Users are alerted by a suitably worded email. The email may include the electronic document as an attachment (irrespective of where the document is stored) or may include a url link to the document on the lender (responder)'s system.
For information about setting up these services see the System Administrator’s online help.