Alma and WorldShare as Lender of Last Resort

When an I-Share eligible patron places a request for an item in Primo VE, behind the scenes, Alma builds a ROTA (aka lender string) of other I-Share libraries that have a copy available for request. But what happens if there are no lenders in I-Share? Or if the libraries identified in the ROTA by Alma are unable to lend the title? 

This is when the optional functionality of "Lender of Last Resort," LoLR, can come into play. LoLR is when Alma adds an outside ILL service that the patron's home library subscribes to (such as WorldShare Resource Sharing, ILLiad, or Tipasa) to the end of the ROTA, and can then pass the request into that other ILL service for potential fulfillment if the item is not available through I-Share.

CARLI has been testing Lender of Last Resort functionality for both WorldShare and ILLiad, and we're ready to talk about the option more broadly for WorldShare.

Join Debbie Campbell from the CARLI Office and Leslie Starasta, the library director at Lincoln Christian University, to learn more about the LoLR functionality through OCLC WorldShare Resource Sharing!

• A webinar on ILLiad for LoLR will be held in the future.
• We do not yet have a CARLI I-Share library testing Tipasa LoLR; if your library subscribes to Tipasa, and is interesting in testing LoLR functionality, please email support@carli.illinois.edu. 

Recording:

Debbie Campbell- Slides
In lieu of providing Leslie Starasta's slides at this time, documentation will be created before the next CARLI I-Share WorldShare LoLR libraries go live with the functionality.