Request Manager housekeeping

Starting September 15, participating NHAIS libraries will be able to place new requests in the NHAIS ILL System for the first time in six months. In preparation for that, we've recently focused on getting materials back to owning libraries. Even so, most libraries will still have some transactions on their Request Manager screens that aren't Complete or another terminal status like Expired, Cancelled, Unfilled, or Lost.

Here's a look at what's most likely to be left on your Request Manager screen. The following suggestions assume you've followed previous instructions about not placing new ILL requests in the system after March 17.

On the Borrower side, transactions in Awaiting Approval, Conditional, or Retry status are likely to be old requests where the requested materials were never sent; these can be cancelled. Recalled means the lender wants its book back now; if you can honor that, change the status to Returned. Not Received may be materials that never made it to your library when van service stopped in March, in which case you need do nothing, or could be something your library got but never marked as Received, in which case you should send the book back to the owning library and change the status first to Received, then to Returned. Rejected Renewal means the lender did not approve a requested extension on the due date (which may have been several months ago); choose Returned if you can send the book back now or Renewal if you'd like to request a further extension. Accepted Renewal indicates the original due date has been extended but it may still be past due; response options are the same as Rejected Renewal: Returned or Renewal. The same options are available for Overdue, which indicates the due date has passed. There are several statuses on the Borrower side that can be ignored: Complete, Unfilled, Cancelled, Expired, and anything under "Items awaiting trading partner response."

If you previously sent the materials back without changing their status in the system (which is what we told you to do), those things should be checked in by the owning library and will become Complete when that happens.

On the Lender side, select Check In for any item you've had returned to you (or that was marked Shipped but never actually left your library) regardless of its status. This may include entries under "Items awaiting trading partner response" like Overdue, Accepted Renewal, or Not Received. Renew Pending and Renew/Overdue both indicate a borrowing library wants to have the due date extended. You may choose Accept Renewal, Reject Renewal, or Recall (if you want the borrower to return the item as soon as possible). You may want to follow up on anything else left on the Lender side for which you have not gotten your materials back by contacting the borrowing library.

There are some statuses not mentioned here and a few options (like Lost) that have been omitted. If you'd like to see what all the statuses seen on your Request Manager screen mean and all the response options, check out the online documentation about ILL statuses for Borrowers and Lenders. Further questions? Contact the NHAIS Help Desk by phone (271-2141) or e-mail.