1. 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

2. 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. 3 Failure Categories
Failures at the stages of discovery and request/delivery fall into three categories:
Unavailability Notices
Failed Physical Deliveries
Failed EDD Requests

4. 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

5. 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.

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

7. 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

8. 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:
(212)
106 Butler Library

9. Request Failure Notices: Physical

10. 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.

11. 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)

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

13. 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

14. 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)

15. 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.

16. 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…

17. Duplicate Copy Failure
…but will fail, unbeknownst to the patron
Automatic 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

18. 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.

19. 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

20. 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

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

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.