7/18/2008 Updated 1/16/09 Zack Lane ReCAP Coordinator Failed ReCAP Requests 7/18/2008 Updated 1/16/09 Zack Lane ReCAP Coordinator

Failed Requests Complete off-site requests involve: discovery, authentication, request, delivery and pick up. Problems may occur for patrons and staff at each stage in this process. Request “failure” will be defined as any incomplete request. This presentation focuses on failures that occur in the discovery and request/delivery stages.

3 Failure Categories Failures at the stages of discovery and request/delivery fall into three categories: Unavailability Notices Failed Physical Deliveries Failed EDD Requests

Related Documentation Please consult these other presentations for more information about access to off-site collections: ReCAP Request Mechanisms : different modes of request; restrictions for special collections Access Permissions : how CUL controls request; how ReCAP controls delivery "Request from OFFSITE" button : appearance and disappearance of the request button; relationship between CUL and ReCAP databases

Note Staff are not aware of all request failures, especially those within the discovery mechanism. Availability of ReCAP collections are subject to the same forces as books shelved onsite: Item may be currently charged. Item may have recently been removed from shelf. Item was discharged and is currently staged for re-shelving.

“Request from OFFSITE” button The “Request from OFFSITE” button appears regardless of availability.

Unavailability notice This message displays when: Item has been requested and is in transit to CUL Item is currently charged Item has been recently discharged and is in transit to ReCAP

Problem Resolution Unavailability message may display 2-4 days even though item status displays “Not Checked Out” If the message persists, contact Zack Lane, ReCAP Coordinator, for assistance: zl2114@columbia.edu (212) 854-5621 106 Butler Library

Request Failure Notices: Physical

Request Failure Notices Failure notices are sent by ReCAP when request data does not match delivery permissions or availability status. Majority of failure notices result from staff requests. Failure notices are sent to several staff; Zack Lane, ReCAP Coordinator, is responsible for resolution.

Statistics Study of failed physical requests from July-Dec. 2008 32 failures per month (191 total) Staff: 80.1% Patrons: 19.9% (Approx. 1.5 per week)

Staff Failure Statistics Majority of staff failures came from processing departments: BCD, RBML and UA Staff are alerted by email when request fails

Item Permissions cont. Requests are authenticated at ReCAP by comparing the requested delivery location to the customer code table If the requested delivery location is not permitted, the request is sent back as a failure This is the cause of most failed requests Staff are often not aware of delivery restrictions, esp. when placing Non-CLIO Requests

Item Permissions cont.. Non-CLIO request form does not validate the request elements It won’t tell you if delivery location is unauthorized (e.g. off,rbms to Lehman)

Patron Failure Statistics Majority of patron failures are due to duplicate holdings. Almost all failures result in completed requests after staff follow up. It is unclear why some requests fail.

Duplicate Copy Failure Failed requests can occur when more than one copy of an item is at ReCAP A difference in delivery permission will trigger a failure The request will appear to be successful…

Duplicate Copy Failure …but will fail, unbeknownst to the patron Automatic email is sent to select staff for all failed requests ReCAP Coordinator follows up with a Non-CLIO request This is a rare occurance The system was designed for “last copy” holdings

Failed EDD Requests ReCAP has collected data on trends in EDD request failures. EDD failures are resolved by delivery of the physical item or citation follow-up by ReCAP and CUL staff.

Analysis Survey of failed EDD requests conducted July-December 2008: 40.5 failures per month (243 total) 52.26% fail due to citation errors 40.74% fail due to the condition 6.99% fail because of copyright restrictions

Statistics MONTH Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 ARTICLE NOT FOUND IN VOLUME VOLUME IS MISSING PAGES OF THE ARTICLE CANNOT SCAN MORE THAN 1 ARTICLE PER VOLUME CANNOT SCAN MORE THAN 10% OF THE VOLUME INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO FIND ARTICLE BINDING IS TOO TIGHT TO PROVIDE SCAN UNABLE TO SCAN ARTICLE DUE TO VOLUME CONDITION BIBLIOGRAPHY CHECK ~ ILL TOTAL Jul-08 4   3 5 7 33 Aug-08 1 2 10 9 29 Sep-08 8 14 46 Oct-08 12 13 48 Nov-08 11 6 36 Dec-08 15 51

Failed EDD Requests EDD requests can fail for several reasons. The most common reasons are Incorrect citation Condition prevents safe scanning Copyright restrictions

Failed EDD Requests cont. Incorrect citation ReCAP staff double check incorrect citations. If the correct article or volume is not found, CUL staff is alerted. CUL staff route the failed request to department libraries for follow up.

Failed EDD Requests cont. 2) Condition too poor Physical volume is automatically sent to the owning library. Patron is alerted that physical volume will be delivered because of condition.

Copyright Restrictions Copyright restrictions do not allow more than one article to be copied from a single issue Guidelines for Fair Use prevent more than 10% of a work to be copied.