Empty lender lists

"No lenders were found...Please review the request for potential errors." As of Tuesday's software update to the NHAIS ILL System, this is the message you'll see in the request history if your request has an empty lender list.

How does that happen? Immediately after you submit an individual request (not a multi-copy request), the lender list build process begins. It looks at the information in the catalog record you chose to create the request (the "source record") and looks at all catalogs (not just the search resources you may have selected) to find matches on the ISBN (or other standard number) and format. If your source record has no standard numbers, title/author and other factors come into play as match points. The "Any Edition is Acceptable" that's checked by default on the request form is just a note to the lender--it has no effect on building the lender list. And it doesn't matter whether there are any holdings on your source record. The program creates a lender list with participating lenders that have holdings on records that match the criteria in the source record.

The lender list includes libraries that are currently on vacation or whose copies of the requested title are currently checked out or who don't lend your chosen format. The determination of whether the request becomes Pending at a particular location doesn't happen until it's that library's turn in the sequence on the lender list.

Sometimes the lender list build process comes up empty. Some catalog records have no holdings, particularly in the NHU-PAC (which is a cataloging resource in addition to its ILL function). If the lender list build process finds no matching records with holdings, your request will go to Unfilled status--with an exclamation mark (a new feature) next to the title in the Borrower's Unfilled List.

Can you just forget the request you created in the NHAIS ILL System and send a message to the NHAIS-ILL e-mail list at this point in the hope that what you seek is on the shelf somewhere but hasn't been properly cataloged for whatever reason? Of course you can--the system request will change from Unfilled to Expired when the need-by date is reached and will be deleted a year later--but if you'd like to try a few other things within the system, read on.

By themselves, none of the status change options available for Unfilled requests will help you get what you're after. Delete will remove your request from the system during overnight processing, Cancel keeps the request around in case you want to refer to it or modify it later (but, again, the request will change to Expired once the need-by date is reached). Approved - Send will bring you right back to Unfilled if there's an empty lender list.

It's worth a try to use the Rebuild Lender List button (but DON'T use Rebuild Lender List for multi-copy requests). You'll find it on the Full Record Display (reached by clicking on the title in the Borrower's Unfilled List).

Rebuild Lender List is unlikely to yield anything useful if you use it immediately after the request became Unfilled but if you wait a few days it's possible that a potential lender can be found. There are a couple of circumstances where that's most likely: if you're after a new title that libraries are currently in the process of adding to their catalogs or if one or more catalogs in the system were offline at the time you created the request. If one or more potential lenders are found with Rebuild Lender List, your request will automatically become Pending at one of those potential lenders (assuming they aren't on vacation, the item is available, and the format is one they lend). If no lenders are found, your request remains Unfilled.

If your lender list remains empty, you may want to look at whether you made the best choice for your source record. Often there are multiple records to choose from to create your request. Is the record reasonably complete or is it short on details? In most cases, more details are better.

The title may be the one you're after but is the format right? Records for e-books or downloadable audiobooks, if correctly coded, will generate empty lender lists. If you find a better record, create a new request. It's up to you whether you leave the Unfilled request alone or choose to Delete or Cancel it.

Sometimes there simply aren't any holdings in the system for the title you're after even though there's a catalog record for it. Next stop: the NHAIS-ILL e-mail list.

For further assistance with troublesome requests, contact the NHAIS Help Desk (603-271-2141 or nhu-pac@dncr.nh.gov).