You can use the VDX Web Admin. interface to monitor incoming and outgoing requests. To do this you use the ILL Request Search screen. Click on requests in the left hand pane to access this screen. There are a number of searches you can perform to retrieve the requests you want. Note that all searches are restricted to requests where your own location is either the Borrower (Requester) or the Lender (Responder).
The Lender (Responder) Location may send messages back to you to confirm that the item has been shipped , not supplied, etc. These cause the Authorisation Status of the request to be updated to: To Be Acknowledged. If a note has been added by the responder, a 'note' icon will be displayed against the request in the hitlist.
Authorisation status = To Be Acknowledged
Tip:You can monitor the progress of requests which are updated automatically by the Lender (Responder) Location by using a search that has Authorisation Status = To Be Acknowledged. This is always limited to requests from your location.
In the hitlist The format that search results are presented in VDX. This can be a search of external databases for resources, or an internal search for users or locations etc. of requests click details .
Scroll down to the end of the request record to the History section.
This displays an audit trail. Where this indicates REQUEST then you are the requesting location; where REQUEST- indication is displayed then you are the responding location.
If the lender (responder) has sent back a note, a 'clickable' action will be displayed. Click on this action to display the message in a pop-up window.
If you operate as a Lender (Responder) Location to another organisation, or if you operate an inter-branch loans service, you will also need to monitor for incoming requests on a regular basis, and respond to them accordingly.
Tip: All new requests received for your location are at status In Process.
Whenever you want to respond to the latest status of a request you perform an action on it. This can send another ILL message to the responding location.
In the hitlist of ILL requests, a list of valid Actions is available in a drop down box. (Only valid ILL responses are listed depending on: ILL protocol - Current status - Valid transition states - Possible actions).
Click the arrow on the drop down box to choose the action.
Click the Action button to obtain the relevant action details screen. The new screen provides relevant fields associated with that Action.
Complete the details for e.g. Action:Received and click on the button e.g. Ship to submit the action.
A confirmation message shows if the action was successful.
You can perform Actions on ongoing requests to record receipt, to cancel a request etc. Over 30 Actions are provided in VDX. The usual valid Actions for the current state of the request are made available.
Note that a single action can also be performed on several requests simultaneously - Multiple Request Processing.
Process Statuses are defined by system administrators when setting up a system and are unique to your own VDX installation. They are used as a ‘flag’ on an incoming or outgoing ILL record, to inform ILL staff of the current state of a request. A change of process status, either on its own or with a change in ILL status, can be used to trigger an e-mail alert. From the ILL Request Search screen you can search by process status in order to find all requests at a particular point.
To change a process status:
Click the requests button to load the ILL Requests Search screen.
Retrieve the request.
Click the bulk box next to the request to be updated.
Click on Bulk Action box at the top of the screen.
The Bulk Action/Authorisation screen will be displayed.
Select a value from the process status pull down box.
Click on Action.
Note: if you operate in a bureau system your location needs to be configured in, otherwise Process Status does not display.
Release note: The ability to update a process status from within a request record is not available in VDXWebadmin 4.0.
From the point when a request is created and sent to a Lender (Responder) location to the point where the request is satisfied, a number of messages may be sent between the requesting location and the Responder(s). According to the last event that occurred, the valid status of the request is displayed. See the statuses listed here, especially from the viewpoint of the requesting location, to determine their meaning. For each stage in the lifecycle of a request there are corresponding ILL Actions and Statuses.
This is an automatic process that may be configured at your organisation (check with local policy). Potentially it can remove much of the mundane work of the requesting librarian by validating the request before transmission, and automatically compiling a list of potential suppliers for the rota. This is based on items located via Z39.50 searching, library groupings and other Borrower (Requester)-defined filtering and sorting rules.
The holdings records of the remote supplier databases are checked, and if the requested item is located, the supplier location is added to the rota. All this is configured in the Windows Admin. Client.