ILL ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 7. SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
Understanding Load Leveling Algorithms
The Algorithm menu offers two options for distributing ILL requests among trading partners. Only one option can be active at any given time.
The Algorithm is applied when an ILL request is submitted and the ILL Lender List is built. In the event that a new algorithm is selected while ILL requests are still in process, the in-process requests will continue to use the original algorithm.
NOTE: When building the Lender List for multi-copy requests (see Special Considerations for Multi-Copy Requests for details), the Algorithm selection is ignored.
The two Load Leveling Algorithm options are:
- Ordered: This option permits a library to send requests to one or more libraries they consider their “favorite lenders.” ILL requests are submitted to lenders holding the title (who are also willing to lend the format and have the title available to lend) in the order specified in the Preferred Lender List for the borrowing library and in the System Wide Lender List, if applicable. If there are libraries present in both the Preferred Lender List and the System Wide Lender List, the lists are merged, and the second occurrence of the Library Codes are removed.
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Random: This option permits a library to send requests to one or more libraries they consider their “favorite lenders.” The Lender List is built using lenders in the Preferred Lender List for the borrowing library holding the title (who are also willing to lend the format and have the title available to lend) in random order, and then adding lenders from the System Wide Lender List in a random order. If there are libraries present in both the Preferred Lender List and the System Wide Lender List, the lists are merged, and the second occurrence of the Library Codes are removed. In cases where a Preferred Lender List has not been specified for the borrower, the Lender List is built only using lenders from the System Wide Lender List in a random order.