Borrowing Workflow: Purchasing Workflow

Sometimes buying can be cheaper and/or quicker than borrowing items through ILL. For example, if you will owe copyright royalties for an article, it is worth checking if the publisher provides cheaper pay-per-view access. Or, if it's going to take forever to get a copy of Twilight, you may be better off ordering the mass market paperback to save time and add to your collection.

You can save money and provide quicker turnaround time by introducing a purchasing workflow.

There are a few document providers that actually have OCLC symbols and bill through IFM.

• Better World Books (OCLC symbol QUICK) supplies used books (often library discards); they have a tiered price structure and charge extra for expedited shipping-but they will respond with a Conditional message with the costs.
• alibris (OCLC symbol ALBRS) supplies used and new books, movies, and music; they supply the lowest-cost items in the best condition, but will respond with a Conditional message if it exceeds your MAXCOST. Once you receive an item, it is yours to keep.
• CISTI (OCLC symbol CAI) provides articles that are often difficult to borrow (many due to embargo periods); prices are comparable to borrowing for non-rush service (be sure to mark CAI as a copyright payer in your ILLiad address book).

You can also try searching Amazon.com for books, DVDs, CDs, and now even some articles. If you utilize the Amazon Price Grabber, you can view the Amazon price of an item (that has an ISBN) from within the ILLiad request.

For DVDs, you may also want to consider using Netflix. If you process a high volume of movie requests, this can save money per DVD–especially since return shipping is free.

For articles, many publishers now have online journal content on a pay-per-view basis. Simply search Google for the article title you need and see if it is available.

When filling the request in ILLiad with Amazon or a pay-per-view service, be sure to create a Lender address. This will help you keep track of your purchased items. Try creating a Lender with the symbol VENDOR; be sure to mark this as a copyright payer so you don't accidentally pay CCC royalties unnecessarily.

The following workflow strategies are what SUNY Geneseo uses to purchase articles and books. Feel free to modify this for your own ILL operation.

1. (Articles only) Awaiting Copyright Clearance: If Rule of 5 exceeded, search for article in Google.
   • If pay-per-view is cheaper: copy & paste URL into notes. Route to Doc Provider.
   • If royalties are cheaper: save copyright payment information.
2. (Articles & books) Awaiting Request/Unfilled Processing: If borrowing charges will exceed $20 or item cannot be borrowed at all, search Google for articles and Amazon for books.
   • If cheaper to buy: copy & paste URL into notes. Route to Doc Provider.
   • If cheaper to borrow: process as normal.
3. Once all items to be purchased are identified, they are ordered in batch
   • “Vendor” is placed in the lending string (for Unfilled requests, we first Import Request Into Resubmission)
   • OTH is used for the System ID
   • Articles: PDF is saved to the electronic delivery folder on the ILLiad server; email routing sends the user a link to download the article and updates the request to Delivered to Web.
   • Books: click on Request Sent. When book arrives, check it in as a normal loan (using the title). After returned by user, check it in and forward to Acquisitions for evaluation (either added to the collection or sent to Better World Books for credit).

Note: Items over $40 are typically not purchased.