Interlibrary

An interlibrary request belongs to a loan and an organization. It names the owning library, requested copies and relevant dates. Its status moves from draft to submitted and then to an approved, rejected or completed outcome. The linked loan supplies the patron reference, item and current circulation state that the reviewer needs before deciding whether a handoff makes sense.

A coordinator prepares the request using the same loan the desk is already handling. Suppose a patron needs a copy from another library. The coordinator names the owning library and number of copies, checks the due date, attaches the relevant evidence to the loan and submits the request for review. The Collection Reviewer reads the submitted revision against the loan and custody history. The decision is a human act with a recorded reason.

• Preparation. Draft holds the owning library, dates, copy request and linked loan for checking.
• Decision. Submitted work appears in the review inbox with its revision and parent loan.
• Outcome. Approved, Rejected and Completed distinguish decision from completed handoff.

Agree how libraries identify one another and what an owning library name means in a request. Set a rule for matching the requested copy count to the loan and available custody record. Decide what evidence the reviewer needs to see before acting, including condition and handover information where relevant. The coordinator should submit a complete revision rather than expecting the reviewer to infer missing details.

Choose who may prepare and who may decide. The Collection Reviewer should not be the same person preparing the action under review. Agree how a returned decision is corrected and resubmitted, and how the revised source is identified. An approval records a decision; staff still need to see the actual handoff effects and receipt before calling a transfer complete.

Take one requested loan with a collection item in another organization. Prepare a draft interlibrary request and attach a clear handover record to the parent loan. Check that the review inbox shows the submitted revision, owning library, copies and due date. Ask a Collection Reviewer to read the loan’s status and custody events, then record a decision with a reason. Confirm the decision record still identifies the source revision and operation key later.

Now inspect a rejected case. The coordinator should see why it failed and retain the earlier decision while preparing a corrected request. The Auditor should be able to connect the request, reviewer decision, loan and any operation receipt without guessing which revision was judged. That chain is what allows the next library to understand the handoff.

• Handoff Review Inbox — Submitted requests ready for the Collection Reviewer’s decision.
• Interlibrary Request Board — Requests grouped by their current decision and completion state.

Use interlibrary handoff for preparation, review and outcome. See review and reconciliation to check a decision against its recorded effects.