OCLC ILLiad

Abstract

Interlibrary loan (ILL) staff can also create groups in the client to get more detailed and tailored information for existing reports, and most reports are accompanied with graphic charts to visually present data distribution or trends. Hosting ILLiad at the library requires staff who understand network connectivity and security issues and are familiar with Microsoft SQL server, Windows Server, and Internet Information Service (US) setup.

OCLC ILLiad. Atlas Systems, 244 Clearfield Avenue, Suite 407, Virginia Beach, VA 23462; 757.467 .7872; fax, 757.467.7875; http://www.oclc.org/illiad/; http://www.atlas-sys.com; price: $2,317-$5,793, annually for (DCLC members plus one-time onsite training fee; client software requirements: Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP Professional, Microsoft Word 2000/XP/2003, and Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher; full system requirements at http://www.atlas-sys.com/documentation/illiad/webhelp/ILLiad_Admin_Guide/Installation/Pre-Installation/pre-installation.htm.

ILLiad, the interlibrary loan management software marketed by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), was first reviewed in this journal in July 2003 [1]. Basic information about the program and its development in that review is still valid. This new review deals with aspects of the program that were not covered by the earlier review or that have changed considerably since then.

Atlas Systems is the authorized service, training, and development division of OCLC ILLiad. It actively updates the ILLiad software with significant improvements every one to two years. The version used for this review is 7.2, issued in January 2007. Atlas plans to release version 7.3 in January of 2008 and hopes to have version 8.0 available by the end of 2008.

Reporting features

A major feature of ILLiad that was not previously reviewed is the reporting function. As soon as ILLiad is set up and data are collected, versatile reports (described more fully below) are available. These built-in web-based reports provide a variety of statistical data. Interlibrary loan (ILL) staff can also create groups in the client to get more detailed and tailored information for existing reports, and most reports are accompanied with graphic charts to visually present data distribution or trends. Advanced users can query the ILLiad database through Microsoft Access to produce even more specific or highly customized reports.

With each system upgrade, more report options have been added and report queries have been tested, modified, and updated based on user feedback. Currently, the system generates reports from the borrowing, lending, and document delivery modules in ILLiad, as well as miscellaneous administrative reports, such as monthly billing. The customizable reports that the Eskind Biomedical Library (EBL) frequently uses are fill rate statistics, requests finished and cancelled, libraries EBL loaned to and borrowed from, copyright statistics, filled and unfilled requests, and journals filled most frequently. ILLiad also provides a direct linkage to the Copyright Clearance Center, automating the tracking of journal usage and copyright compliance.

Hosting options

ILLiad's flexibility makes it adaptable for a variety of environments. First, the system can be hosted either by the implementing library or Atlas Systems. Hosting ILLiad at the library requires staff who understand network connectivity and security issues and are familiar with Microsoft SQL server, Windows Server, and Internet Information Service (US) setup. Small libraries with less technical support can choose to utilize the hosting service, at an additional cost, with Atlas bearing responsibility for the web administration. The system can be used by just one site or shared among branch libraries. With a centralized implementation, the system allows multiple pick-up locations, using a streamlined application interface at each pick-up point for tracking items.

Web interface

The flexibility of ILLiad is also demonstrated by its web interfaces. The latest version utilizes a cascading style sheet (CSS) template for its web interface, giving end users more control over the web page presentation. In addition to the web interface, all communication emails and labels are customizable. The basic customization is done using the Customization Manager program with parameters that can be site specific. More advanced customization can be done by editing the vendor-supplied web page, email, and printing templates. Editing templates requires understanding the ILLiad tags, button text, and field validation. With some basic knowledge of hypertext markup language (HTML) and CSS, this editing is fairly easy to accomplish.

Included with version 7.2 of ILLiad is a web page preview tool, which provides an immediate view of changes made to ILLiad web pages. The web previewer tool replaces ILLiad-specific tags with sample values to render an intuitive visual picture of customized web pages without parsing the web templates through the server. In addition, a test folder can now be added to the production web server, enabling testing of web pages with live data without affecting the production server. Both tools serve as visual aids that significantly speed up and simplify the customization procedure.

ILLiad version 7.2 also features improved web authentication. Five different authentication methods are available [2], and the authentication schemes can be combined to deal with exceptions. This simplifies the integration of ILLiad with existing user management systems. The new version also makes email security possible by using the Email Manager to send ILLiad-related emails from a single Internet protocol (IP) address.

Limitations

Even with all its improvements, ILLiad still has areas for potential improvement, such as with the billing management system. Although the Billing Manager allows the posting of payments, it has limited accounting capability. Most importantly for health sciences libraries, ILLiad still lacks a direct connection with DOCLINE and Loansome Doc. Changes since the last review have improved the interface, but updates still need to be done manually in the DOCLINE system after the lending requests have been filled in the ILLiad system. According to information released by OCLC, version 8 will further improve ILLiad-DOCLINE integration. The reviewers eagerly await these new developments.

Conclusion

Overall, the EBL's experience with ILLiad has been quite positive. In particular, the reporting features greatly reduce staff time spent on statistics, as the reports are well displayed, are easy to understand, and provide better data than manual counts. It used to take EBL staff one to two days each month to categorize requests to prepare reports for library administration. Now these same reports, as well as previously unavailable analyses, can be generated when needed within minutes. These reports have given staff better insight into workload and have helped improve departmental workflow. This, combined with the customization features, has made ILLiad an invaluable tool for the ILL process.

References

References

1. Norton, MJ, Stover, MA. OCLC ILLiad. J Med Libr Assoc 2003 Jul;91(3): 379-80.

2. INFO: Authentication types in ILLiad: creating encrypted passwords for ILLiad patron loads [web document]. Virginia Beach, VA: Atlas Systems, 2006 Apr 16. [cited 16 Nov 2007]. <http://www.atlas-sys.com/kb/illiad/cc38.html>.

DOI: 10.3163/1536-5050.96.2.177