Tipasa release notes, February 2025
Release Date: February 23, 2025
Introduction
This release of Tipasa provides new features and enhancements in addition to a number of bug fixes. These features will help you manage more complex workflows, including:
- Provide library staff members with a new user role for linking patrons
- Allow patrons to specify their preference for electronic or print
The enhancements are the direct result of your feedback.
Recommended actions
For this release, we recommend that you review the following checklists and complete the relevant tasks so that you can adjust your policies and workflows and train your staff. These checklists identify updates that we have determined as significant for most institutions. We encourage you to review all of the items in the release notes to determine whether there are other items that might require additional action or follow up by your institution.
Administrative actions
These items require immediate action or decisions.
| Action |
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For best performance, it's very important to clear your browser's cache before starting to work with Tipasa! |
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Be sure you're utilizing all available Smart fulfillment functionalities:
See also these tips to Improve turnaround time and the Turnaround Time dashboards for finding and tracking your average lending and borrowing turnaround time. |
| Have your contact information or lending policies changed? If so, please make the appropriate updates in the OCLC Policies Directory. |
Follow-up actions
In an effort to keep your staff informed of new features and changes, you may also want to consider these items.
| Action |
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Share these release notes with your colleagues. |
| In case you missed it, check out the Tipasa digest, 2024 for a complete summary of the product enhancements and key events from the past year. |
| Visit the OCLC Community Center to connect with OCLC and other community members. |
New features and enhancements
Provide library staff members with a new user role for linking patrons
A new user role named WorldShare ILL Patron View User is now available. It provides all the actions included with the WorldShare ILL User role plus the ability to view patron records and link a patron to a request.
For more information, see Interlibrary Loan roles.
Allow patrons to specify their preference for electronic or print
New options are now available in OCLC Service Configuration, the patron request forms, and the staff interface that allow you to optionally collect and record the patron’s preference for electronic versus print. The value is informational only. It is not used for bibliographic matching, selection of WorldCat records, or selection of copy versus loan as the service type. It also does not impact the format selection (e.g., book).
On the patron request forms:
- You may optionally add the new preferred delivery format field.
- When the field is included on the request form:
- The patron must select one of the three options: no preference, electronic, physical.
- The default value is no preference.
- When the request is submitted, the selected value is saved with the request.
In the staff interface:
- The preferred delivery format defaults to no preference. If you are creating a request in the staff interface, and you know the patron’s preference, you can select it.
- If the new preferred delivery format is included on the patron request form, the patron’s specified value is selected.
- Because this field is designed for recording the patron’s preferred format, it is not editable after the request has been submitted to lenders.
The functionality included in this release is a first step toward future improvements to the bibliographic matching process and selection of WorldCat records. With future releases, we plan enhancements that will let your library configure the format preference behavior for your library. For example, you might decide you want the system to continue to use the exact item specified in the request. You might alternatively configure the system to use the patron’s preference when possible or to always enforce a library-specified format. Details for these options are still being researched and developed.
Add the preferred delivery format field to your library's request form
To add the delivery format preference to a patron request form, go to OCLC Service Configuration > WorldShare ILL > Request Forms. Open the request form and in the Patron Section, add the Preferred delivery format field. Click Save.
View and select the preferred delivery format on the request form
Once the preferred delivery format field is added to the request form (see above), patrons are able to view the three options and make their selection.
They may:
- Keep the default selection of "no preference"
- Select "digital/electronic"
- Select "physical/tangible"
The selected value is submitted with the request.
Use the preferred delivery format in the staff interface
When the request details are opened in the staff interface, the value for delivery format preference displays. Borrowing staff may change the selection except when the request is with a potential lender. Lenders cannot change the selection.
Notes:
- For requests created prior to the February 2025 release, the value defaults to "no preference."
- If the preferred delivery format field is not included on the patron request form, the value defaults to "no preference."
For more information, see Borrowing Requests.
Notes
New standard patron user reports now available in Microsoft Power BI
With the January 30 release for Analytics, a number of new standard WorldShare Reports became available on the Microsoft Power BI platform. Many additional reports are planned for future releases. As a Tipasa user, you now have access to two new standard patron user reports built on Microsoft Power BI.
| Report | Description |
| Patron Counts Summary |
Displays patron counts by branch, custom category (e.g., major, class year), borrower category, and postal code (zip code). Provides information about the number of borrower or custom category patrons. Provides visuals for counts of patrons recently registered and approaching expiration. Use this report to verify a patron load or analyze the registered borrowers' distribution by category. |
| Patron Information Detail |
Lists detailed information that includes many data fields in the patron record. Includes new columns for Patron Public Notes and Patron Staff Notes. Use this report for data cleanup (e.g., finding patrons with missing borrower category or home branch), projects, and troubleshooting. |
For more information, see WorldShare Reports in Power BI release notes, January 2025.
Staff interface being modernized for improved accessibility, usability, and navigation
In 2025, the OCLC Resource Sharing Team continues the project to modernize the Tipasa staff interface. The modernization does not introduce new functionality but does improve accessibility, usability, and navigation, ensuring clearer organization of information as well as the use of modern components, elements, and behaviors.
Modernized pages are being rolled out and released in a two-phase process. Libraries that participate in the "preview" group see and use the new pages one release prior to other Tipasa libraries.
| The modernized version of this page... | Released to the preview group... | Released to all Tipasa libraries... |
|
2024 | 2024 |
| Accessibility improvements and bug fixes | February 2025 | February 2025 |
| Borrowing: Request Details page | March 2025 | To be scheduled |
| Lending: Request Details page | June 2025 | To be scheduled |
For future releases, this list will be updated with additional pages.
If your library team is interested in being included in the preview group, please send an email to oclcresourcesharing@oclc.org.
For more information on the modernization project, please see the updates provided in the Product Insights: Resource Sharing webinars.
Resource Sharing for Groups release notes now available
Until now, release notes for Resource Sharing for Groups have been included in the WorldShare ILL or Tipasa release notes. Going forward, Resource Sharing for Groups will have separate release notes, available here.
Bug fixes and known issues
For a full list of current and recently fixed issues, see Known issues.
Important links
Product Insights
To help you become familiar with the new features, enhancements, and improvements included in this release, please attend the upcoming webinar Product Insights: Resource Sharing. The next session will be held in Summer 2025. Please watch for a date and registration to be posted.
OCLC Resource Sharing Conference web series
The 2025 OCLC Resource Sharing Conference (RSC25) web series will begin in March 2025, and the program committee is currently forming the agenda.
You can register now for the first two sessions of RSC25.:
- March 5: Advancing resource sharing: OCLC & Atlas Systems’ ongoing commitment to innovation
- March 12: ILL survival guide: Essential tips for new professionals
Please watch the news for details coming soon on additional RSC25 sessions.
Virtual Workshop Series: Learn how to fine-tune your ILL setup
Were you able to join us for all of our Virtual Workshops where we showed how you can optimize your library’s ILL setup and workflows, and save time?