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Alma Resource Sharing Guide

This guide explains the various components of FLVC's current resource sharing processes also known as UBorrow.

RapidILL Borrowing Request Processing

RapidILL Borrowing Request Processing in Alma

Most borrowing requests sent to the RapidILL partner require no mediation, however, there may be some occasions when further processing is needed in Alma if the request is missing information required for a good citation, a request can't be filled by RapidILL, or the request exceeds copyright limits. 

 

Borrowing Request Statuses for RapidILL Requests

  • Ready to be sent - If you see many requests with this status, please put in a help desk ticket.
  • Request sent to partner - The request was sent to a partner and should be filled soon. Once it's filled this request will automatically change to Completed and be removed from your Borrowing Request list.
  • Rejected by partner - The request could not be filled in RapidILL. The request needs to be cancelled.
  • Bad citation - The request has a bad citation and needs to be reviewed and resubmitted. 
  • Pending approval - The request has exceeded the CONTU Rule of Five Guidelines. The request should be reviewed.
 
Rejected by Partner

Requests that have a status of Rejected by Partner should be be reviewed daily and have their status updated to Cancelled by Staff. Updating the status to Cancelled by Staff will cause the Cancellation Letter to be sent to the patron and will complete the request so that it removed from your Borrowing List. If your institution would prefer to have the system automatically cancel these requests, please contact the help desk. 

To update the status to Cancelled by Staff:

1. Select each request that you would like to cancel by clicking the box on the left side of the request.

2. Choose Change Status at the top right of the screen, select Cancelled by Staff and click the "Change Status" button.

 

Bad Citation

Bad citations might occur due to lacking or faulty metadata in a CDI record in Primo. Requests that have a status of Bad Citation should be reviewed at least daily. For each request, check the notes to see what is lacking or incorrect or, if the notes are not useful, click Edit to check the citation. Some research might be needed to fix the request. 

Some questions to consider:

  • Are all the fields complete? Article name, journal name, ISSN, volume, number, pages?
  • Google the article, is the citation the same? Can you find a DOI?

In order to resubmit the request:

1. Click the Edit button, update the Resource Information, and save it.

2. Click the ellipses next to the request and click the Resubmit option.

 

Pending Approval

Requests that have a status of Pending Approval have exceeded the CONTU Rule of Five and need to be evaluated to determine whether they should be submitted as is, submitted after copyright has been obtained, or cancelled. How you process these items is determined by your institution's policy.  

Copyright payments must be managed outside of Alma.  Recommended methods for doing this are purchasing the requested article directly from the publisher's website, purchasing the requested article from a commercial document supplier like Reprints Desk, or making a payment to the publisher via the Copyright Clearance Center.  

To Manually Send the Request to RapidILL

  1. Click on the Edit button next to the request.
  2. Scroll down to the Requests Attributes section of the request, change the Copyright Status dropdown to "Copyright Approved", and then click the Save button.  The request status will change to Ready to be Sent. 
  3. Click the ellipsis next to the request and then click the Send link.  

To Cancel the Request

  1. Click the ellipsis next to the request and then click the Cancel link.
  2. Choose a Cancellation Reason*
  3. Add a Cancellation Note
  4. Check the Notify Patron box if you would like them to receive the letter. 
  5. Click Confirm - the status of the request will change to "Cancelled by Staff" 

*Cancellation reasons can be configured. If you would like to remove unused cancellation reasons or add new ones please submit a help desk ticket.