Request Forms
Use the Request Forms screen in OCLC Service Configuration to customize your patron request forms. Patrons can use the patron request forms to request interlibrary loans.
WorldShare ILL Request Form
Use the WorldShare ILL Request form to configure and customize elements of the form for your library users and provide access from any discovery services and request any item via WorldShare ILL. Requests submitted via the form can be automatically routed to the automated request manager.
This single form is used for all ILL requests, but the system will preselect the Service Type (Loan or Copy) based on the type of request (e.g., book, article). Refer to Configure OpenURL, OpenURL parameter mapping.
WorldShare Management Services (WMS) libraries have Identity management (IDM) set up for authentication in using this form. For libraries that do not use WMS, IP authentication is recommended. Refer to:
When you have familiarized yourself with the sections of the form, see Customize the patron request form for instructions on customizing your request forms.
Note: For an explanation of each available field, please see
Note: You will need to substitute your institution's registry ID to customize the direct links. If you have customized your patron request form names, the direct link name will not reflect those changes.
- Sign in to OCLC Service Configuration
- Navigate to the WorldCat Registry > Identifiers
- Find the Identifier Type WorldCat Registry ID and the associated number
WorldShare ILL Request form configuration
Follow the instructions below to configure and provide links to your patron request forms. For an explanation of each available field, see Request Form fields.
Some points to keep in mind when configuring your form:
- Use the definitions in Bibliographic section fields and Patron Section Fields to create a draft of your form.
- Only the Note to Patron field can be reused on a form. All other fields can only be used once.
- Fields can be grouped into sections under a labeled Section Header to organize the information on the form.
- Sections can be moved up or down at any time by clicking the arrows in the upper right corner of each section.
- Fields can be reordered by removing and adding them in the order that you would like them to appear on your form.
- You can preview your form before you save it to confirm that it will appear to your patrons as you expect.
- Any updates you make to the patron request form will not take effect immediately. Changes will usually appear on the form within 2-3 minutes.
Before you begin: WorldCat Discovery libraries only
Enable OpenURL in WorldCat Discovery or WorldCat Local:
For more information, see Configure OpenURL.
- Navigate to the WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Place Hold/Request Buttons module of the OCLC Service Configuration.
- Locate the Resource Sharing (Any Level) section.
- Configure the fields below:
- Resource Sharing Button Label: enter the text to appear on the WorldShare ILL request button in WorldCat Discovery
- For best display, keep this label under 40 characters.
- Type of button configuration: select OpenURL 1.0
- Choose an OpenURL Resolver from the OpenURL Resolvers you have already registered with OCLC: select the WorldShare ILL OpenURL resolver previously configured.
- Resource Sharing Button Label: enter the text to appear on the WorldShare ILL request button in WorldCat Discovery
- Under the For items owned by WorldCat Libraries section, determine which item types should display the OpenURL request button in WorldCat Discovery.
- If you do not want patrons to be able to place an ILL request for a particular item type, select None.
- Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.
Customize the patron request forms
If this is your first time customizing the patron request forms, the forms will contain default fields. Forms can be customized to include parameters and information relevant to your library.
Note: For an explanation of each available field, please seeTo customize your patron request forms:
- In Service Configuration, on the left navigation, click WorldShare ILL > Request Forms.
- Click the WorldShare ILL Request Form accordion.
- For libraries that use WorldShare Management Services (WMS), this form is more fully featured and customizable than the WorldCat Discovery request form.
- If this is your first time customizing the form, you will see the default form.
- Edit the Section Header or use the default text.
- Under Field, click the field list to select a field.
- Input type is fixed for each field and will change depending on the field you select.
- Optional. Rename the field by entering a new Field Label.
- Use the field label to provide patrons with a description of the information you would like them to enter.
- For example, Patron Max cost could be relabeled Max cost I am willing to pay.
- Field labels are limited to 30 characters.
- Determine whether you would like to apply any of the Options to the field.
- Select the required or editable check box to turn the options on.
- Deselect the check boxes to turn the options off.
- Optional. To remove the field, click the remove icon (
) at the end of the field line.
- You will not be asked to confirm the removal of a field. Before clicking the icon, make sure you want the field to be removed.
- To add another field, click Add a field to display on this Section.
- Continue adding and editing the fields you want to include until you are satisfied with that section of the form.
- At any time, you can click Preview at the top of the form to view the form as a patron will see it.
- To add another section, click Add a Patron Section or Add a Bibliographic Section (fields will differ depending on the section you select).
- Repeat steps 4-11 until you are satisfied with the sections and fields within each.
- Click Preview to confirm that the forms looks as you expect.
- Click Save you save your customizations to the form. Patrons will not be able to see the changes you have made to the form until you save it.
- Repeat steps 2-14 for any additional forms you want to configure.
- Continue to Step 2: Provide links to your patron request forms for information on providing links to the forms.
Note: At any time, you can click Reset to Standard Form at the bottom left of the form to return to the default (non-customized) version of the form.
Add copyright compliance and acceptance for non-US Libraries
Confirm and track acceptance of local copyright terms by adding the Copyright Acknowledged and Copyright Declaration fields to your request form.
Libraries in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom require a copyright acknowledgement to track acceptance of local copyright terms.
- Click Add a Patron Section. Enter a Section Header title.
- In the new Patron Section, click Add a field to display on this Section.
- Select Copyright Declaration and enter your Copyright terms.
- Click Add a field to display on this Section.
- Select Copyright Acknowledgement.
- Click Preview to confirm that the form looks as you expect.
- Click Save to save customizations to the form.
Include links and formatting
Links and basic HTML formatting can be included in selected fields within Request Forms, making it easier to communicate information to users within the forms.
The below fields allow basic HTML formatting:
- Section Header
- Copyright Declaration
- Notes
- Note to Patron
The allowed formatting tags are:
- Link tag: <a></a>
- Bold tag: <b></b>
- Italic tag: <i></i>
- Underline tag: <u></u>
- Paragraph tag: <p></p>
Note: Any other HTML or JavaScript codes will be stripped and will not display on the form.
Configure Pickup Location on Request Form
The request form can be configured to provide patrons with pickup locations, which allows you to easily identify where to send an item for patron pickup if you have multiple branches.
If configured, when a patron selects a pickup location and submits the request form, the system will send the pickup location as either the Branch Location Registry ID or–if the pickup location is not associated with a Registry ID–the pickup location name. This information stays with the request and is passed to the staff interface. It is also available for use with statistics.
- In Service Configuration, on the left navigation, click WorldCat Registry > Relationships.
- To add a branch, click the plus symbol (+) to expand the branch option. You can add new branches by:
Note: If your institution is using WMS, you may find that branches have already been configured.
- On the left navigation, click WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > Holdings Codes & Shelving Location Messages > Holding Codes Translation Table.
- Add a row for each Registry Branch. See Holding Codes & Shelving Location Messages for more information.
- On the left navigation, click WorldShare ILL > Request Forms.
- Open the form (i.e., Book Request Form) that should have the Pickup Location field.
- Add the Pickup Location.
- Set the Pickup Location field as required/not required based on the desired behavior.
- Click click to view/edit field values. If the field was not previously configured for this form, the Current Locations tab will not contain any values.
- Click the Add Locations tab to choose values. Registry values will appear under WorldCat Registry locations. Select the branches that apply to this form.
Note: To add or edit the Registry institutions, branches, and/or affiliates displayed under WorldCat Registry locations, click the WorldCat Registry link. - (Optional) Enter non-Registry pickup locations in the Other locations text box.
- Click Done to add selected WorldCat Registry and/or Other locations to the Current Locations tab.
- On the Current Locations tab:
- Select No selection to allow the form to default with no value or if pickup location will not be a required field.
- Select the value that should be the default. The list will populate in the order shown in Current Locations, but the default value can be any value in the list.
- Click Done to complete the Pickup Location setup.
Note: Be sure to save the form to save changes to the Pickup Location. Click Preview to see how the drop-down list will appear to patrons using the form. - Repeat steps 5-8 for each form that has a Pickup Location.
Provide links to your patron request form
Provide your patrons with a link to the WorldShare ILL Request Form using OpenURL. Refer to Configure OpenURL for more information.
OpenURL
An OpenURL can be used to configure your library's discovery interfaces to send OpenURLs to the request forms for items that your patrons want to borrow. OpenURLs take the bibliographic information from the discovery interface and insert it into the appropriate patron request form.
Use the following base URL in the configuration modules of your discovery interfaces and replace xxxxxx with your library's WorldCat Registry ID (Find your Registry ID):
https://yourregistryid.account.worldcat.org/account/route/wsill/openurl?
-
If your library uses EZproxy, prepend the EZproxy information: https://yourezproxybaseurl/login?url=https://yourregistryid.account.worldcat.oclc.org/account/route/wsill/openurl?
If the discovery interface requires you to configure custom linking syntax, see Configure Custom OpenURL Links.
Request Form fields
Bibliographic Section Fields
The Bibliographic Section contains fields that patron can use to describe the item they are requesting.
These are all the fields available in the Bibliographic Section:
Patron Section Fields
The Patron Section contains fields that the patron can use to describe themselves or the item they are requesting.
These are all the fields that are available in the Patron Section:
Field | Description |
---|---|
Address 1 |
Patron's street address |
Address 2 |
Other address information, such as Apartment, Suite, etc. |
City |
Patron's city |
Copyright Acknowledged |
Patron acknowledges the copyright terms set by the institution. The patron must acknowledge the copyright terms on the patron request work form to submit copy requests. Note: This setting is for libraries in Australia, the U.K., Spain, and New Zealand. See Add copyright compliance and acceptance for non-US Libraries for more information. |
Copyright Declaration |
Declaration of copyright terms to the patron. Links and basic HTML formatting can be included in the Copyright Declaration as well. See Include links and formatting. Note: This setting is for libraries in Australia, the U.K., Spain and New Zealand. See Add copyright compliance and acceptance for non-US Libraries for more information. |
Country |
Patron's country. Select your country from the list to make it the default setting. |
This field can be customized to allow patrons to select a department they are associated with from a customized list.
Examples:
|
|
Edition |
Allows the patron to select the preferred edition of the requested item from a list (Any, Recent, This). |
|
Patron's email address |
Fax |
Patron's fax number |
First Name |
Patron's first name |
Patron's last name |
|
Need by Date |
Allows the patron to enter the date by which the item is needed (in YYYYMMDD format) This field appears in the Notes field of the Patron section in the borrowing request. |
Enter additional information or provide directions to patrons. When displayed to the patron, the field will not begin with the Note to Patron field label. This field can be reused throughout the form. Links and basic HTML formatting can be included in the Note to Patron field. See Include links and formatting. Examples:
|
|
Notes |
Provides the patron with a free text field to enter any relevant information about themselves or their request. This field cannot be reused. The borrowing library can use this field to enter relevant information as well. Entered via the Comments field in the form. The borrowing library can access the Notes field in the Patron section of the borrowing request. Links and basic HTML formatting can be included in the Notes field. See Include links and formatting. Character limit: 500 If the Patron Max cost and Need by Date are included on the Request Form, any information added to these fields are included in the Notes field and are included in the 500 character limit. Examples of potential patron entries:
|
Patron ID |
Allows the patron to enter an identification number (library card, student or faculty id, etc.) in a free text field. If you have enabled WorldShare ILL and WorldShare Circulation integration, you must include this field on the Request Form and select Required. Please see Set up integration for more information. The barcode field in the Patron data load maps to the Patron ID field in the Patron request form. |
If your library charges patrons for certain types of ILL requests, this field allows you to ask patrons to provide information about the maximum amount (in US dollars) that they are willing to pay for a particular item. If it is used, the label could be changed to provide patrons with clearer instructions about what information to enter, or a Note to Patron could be added to explain the meaning of this field. This field appears in the Notes field of the Patron section in the borrowing request. Examples:
Please see Maximum Cost for information about setting the institution's maximum cost. |
|
Phone |
Patron's phone number. |
Pickup Location (Maximum 400 branches) |
Allows the patron to select a preferred pickup location from a customized list. Additionally, locations configured in the WorldCat Registry and added to the Holding Codes Translation Table can be added as the Pickup Location.
|
Postal Code |
Patron's postal code (e.g., zip code) |
Service Type |
Allows the patron to select the type of service being requested from the two options in the list (Book/Media-Loan and Article - copy) |
State/Province |
Allows the patron to enter their state. Select your state or province from the list to make it the default setting. Values are available to the United States, Canada, and Australia. A country must be selected if State/Province is included on the form. |
Status |
Patron's status (within the library, company, school, etc.), selected from a list of customized statuses.
|
Configure Custom OpenURL Links
An OpenURL can be used to configure your library's discovery interfaces to send OpenURLs to the request forms for items that your patrons want to borrow. OpenURLs take the bibliographic information from the discovery interface and insert it into the appropriate patron request form.
Use the following base URL in the configuration modules of your discovery interfaces and replace xxxxxx with your library's WorldCat registry ID (Find your registry ID):
https://yourregistryid.account.worldcat.org/account/route/wsill/openurl?
Here's an example of OpenURL 1.0 syntax:
- https://xxxxxx.account.worldcat.org/account/route/wsill/openurl?rfr_id=<?rfr_id?>&genre=<?rft.genre?>&jtitle=<?rft.jtitle?>&rft.atitle=<?rft.atitle?>&rft.volume=<?rft.voume?>&rft.issue=<?rft.issue?>&rft.date=<?rft.date?>&rft.pages=<?rft.pages?>&rft.issn=<?rft.issn?>&rft.au=<?rft.au?>&rft_id=info:oclcnum/<?oclcnum?>
Form field name | OpenURL 0.1 | OpenURL 1.0 (Z39.88-2004) |
---|---|---|
Article Title/Chapter Title | atitle | rft.atitle |
Author/Article Author |
aufirst auinit auinit1 auinitm aulast |
rft.aufirst rft.auinit rft.auinit1 rft.auinitm rft.aulast rft.ausuffix rft.au rft.aucorp |
Date | date | rft.date |
DOI | id=doi: | N/A |
Edition (text) | edition | rft.edition |
Format |
genre | rft.genre |
ISBN | isbn | rft.isbn |
ISSN | issn | rft.issn |
Issue | issue | rft.issue |
OCLC# | N/A |
rft.oclcnum rft_id=info.oclcnum/ |
Page Numbers |
pages spage epage |
rft.pages rft.spage rft.epage |
Place of Publication | N/A | rft.place |
PMID | id=pmid: | N/A |
Publisher | N/A | rft.pub |
Title/Journal Title |
stitle title |
rft.jtitle rft.btitle rft.stitle rft.title |
Where did you learn about this item?* | sid | rfr_id |
Volume | volume | rft.volume |
*The value of sid/rfr_id will not display to the user in the form. This data is stored and will be visible to library staff in the request Verification field in WorldShare ILL. If the user enters a value in the Where did you learn about this item? field, this data will also be visible to staff in the Verification field.
Customize the request form display
You can customize the look of the request form by navigating to the WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local > User Interface Options in the OCLC Service Configuration. Use this screen to update your banner and custom links.
User Interface Options for additional WorldCat Discovery configuration options.
Caution: Altering these settings will change the appearance across your WorldCat Discovery interface. SeeRequest form custom colors
Request form custom colors are controlled by the below settings:
Setting | Option | Recommendations |
---|---|---|
Header and footer color |
|
For header and footer, select a light color that best reflects your institution's main brand color. |
Navigational bar color |
|
Based on the color selections, the text on the navigation bar will be either white or black.
|
Logo Settings
Custom Links
Choose up to 7 custom links to appear in the Resources menu. Provide the URLs, link type and accompanying text for up to 7 custom web links (e.g., links leading to your library home page, Ask a Librarian, or My Account).
There is a 25 character limit on the text for each link.
Note: If you wish to allow remote access outside your IP address, one of your custom links must be to your remote access page, and you must choose remote access login as the link type.
Custom link | How to configure |
---|---|
Custom link: Proxy |
Create this link if you have a proxy service that allows off-site users outside your IP address to access restricted library content and services. Use Custom link 3 to configure the remote access login custom link.
When a resource is selected that requires remote authentication, library users will see a box that says Authentication Required and includes a link to sign in. For more information, see EZproxy documentation. If your library's authentication is managed through a service other than EZproxy, you will want to confirm the URL format with the proxy vendor. |
Custom link: other URL |
Create this link for other resources you would like to provide to library users, for example, your virtual reference service.
|
Add a custom notification
Choose a label for the Resources tab
WorldCat Discovery Request Form
Libraries with WMS can use this screen to customize the WorldCat Discovery Request Form. This request form displays to your patrons in WorldCat Discovery. The image below is an example of the WorldCat Discovery Request Form. The sections of the form are described below.
Note: The WorldShare ILL request form is recommended because it is more fully featured and customizable than the WorldCat Discovery request form.
Watch a video
Configure patron-initiated requests in WorldCat Discovery