Tips During Canada Postal Job Action

With the announcement of Canada Post job action [1] starting up again -- we're sharing a variety of Illume (SHAREit) tips to manage workflow changes! Libraries are expected to make decisions that work best for their library, and these tips below are based on feedback from previous postal strikes. Illume (SHAREit) will continue to remain available and supported during the Canada Post job action.

Public Library Tips:

Public libraries will likely temporarily close to both new Borrower and Lender requests, as most Illume Public libraries will be unable to physically ship materials during the postal strike:

Temporary Closure: Check-out our quick video [2] [2m ; MP4] on how to update your Holiday List and suspend patron-initiated requesting (if activated) or contact us [3] for assistance.
- We recommend "buffering" your End Date until 12/31/2025 so requests don't accidentally arrive. Libraries can re-open again immediately by clearing any dates!
- And Administrators may also wish to add a homepage Notice with information for patrons about the strike and notice of delays receiving ILLs. Check-out our UX Admin video guide here [4] for a how-to or contact us [3] for assistance.
In Progress Request Tips: We recommend contacting any other libraries directly if you have questions for them about the management of individual requests or items during the postal strike as local policies may differ. But in general we recommend:
- Lender Pending or Will Supply/In Process Requests: If you have requests sitting in Lender > Pending or Will Supply/In Process that you cannot currently ship due to the postal strike -- we recommend rejecting them with Status "Will not Supply" and if possible, Reason/Condition "Requested delivery services not support [Retry]" so the request goes to Retry for the borrower library to easily try again later.
- If you are the only available lender for an item though, please consider picking up the request with "Will Supply/In Process" until you are able to ship the item.
- We do not recommend updating requests to "Shipped" otherwise, until the postal strike is over, as the "Undo Shipped" option [5] can only be used until midnight of the date shipped. And marking a request as Shipped "hard-codes" your library as the lender for that item even if you later cannot fulfill the request.
- Shipped Already: For requests you have already marked "Shipped" but you were unable to send out before the strike action started -- please consider leaving requests at the shipped status until you can physically send the items, if your patrons do not immediately need the item locally.
  - If your library does need to return "Shipped" materials to local shelves, the Illume request will need to be checked-in and the borrower library unfortunately will have to re-create the request.
- Renewals: If the strike action continues long-term, we recommend ILL Staff request and grant Renewals on requests that cannot currently be shipped back to the original library.
- Retry/Unfilled Requests: It's likely more requests than usual will end up in Retry or Unfilled during the postal strike! Many libraries may accidentally reject requests with "Unfilled" reasons, even though the item is normally available, and we recommend using the Rebuild Lenders button/option [6] or Multi-Copy build [7] to refresh all available lenders before re-approving requests when services are restored.

We hope these Illume (SHAREit) tips and recommendations for managing requests during the Canada Post job action are helpful! We also recommend contacting any other libraries directly if you have questions for them about the management of individual requests or items during the postal strike as local policies may differ.

Please contact us [3] if you have any additional questions/concerns or would like some assistance updating any settings/configuration in Illume (SHAREit). We're here to help however we can!

InterLINK Library Tips:

InterLINK libraries will likely continue using Illume to process ILLs within the InterLINK library system (and with some academic libraries where possible) due to your internal shipping/delivery process:

Patron Borrowing: For libraries with Patron-initiated requesting [8] activated -- you may wish to consider suspending patrons from creating new requests during the job action as most lenders are unavailable.
- Check-out our quick Temporary closures video guide [2] for a how-to or contact us [3] for assistance.
- And Administrators may wish to add a homepage Notice with information to patrons about the strike and notice of delays receiving ILLs. Check-out our UX Admin video guide here [4] for a how-to or contact us [3] for assistance.
InterLINK Borrowing: Borrower requests created by InterLINK libraries are already prioritized to be sent to other InterLINK libraries first! Your requests will only move on to other Lenders if an InterLINK library cannot supply the item.
- Tip: During the strike action, to streamline requesting ILL Staff may wish update the "Lender List" of Awaiting Approval requests to include InterLINK only libraries before updating requests to "Approved - Send".
- Staff can manually delete lender codes for unavailable non-InterLINK libraries OR Administrators can also now create custom Lender Lists that ILL Staff can quickly use to refresh their ERTI smart-build [9] with only InterLINK lenders. Please check-out our updated FAQ here [10] or contact us if you'd like assistance creating a custom lender list!
InterLINK Lending: Unfortunately there is no option in SHAREit for InterLINK libraries to auto-reject Lender > Pending requests from non-InterLINK libraries.
- Staff will need to manually reject requests for physical items they are unable to ship due to strike action. As most other Public libraries are expected to temporarily close for both borrowing and lending [using the Holiday List [2]] during the strike action -- InterLINK libraries will hopefully receive very few requests they'll need to manually reject. And Post-secondary libraries will continue to primarily request Non-returnable (Copy) requests.
- Tip: If you receive requests you cannot currently ship due to the postal strike -- we recommend rejecting them with Status "Will not Supply" and if possible, Reason/Condition "Requested delivery services not support [Retry]" so the request moves on to other lenders or returns to Retry for the borrower library to try again later.
- If you are the only available lender for an item, please consider picking up the request with "Will Supply/In Process" until you are able to ship the item.
- We do not recommend updating requests to "Shipped" until the postal strike is over as the "Undo Shipped" option [5] can only be used until midnight of the date shipped. And marking a request as Shipped "hard-codes" your library as the lender for that item.
In Progress Requests: For requests you have already marked "Shipped" but you were unable to send out before the strike action started -- please consider leaving requests at the shipped status until you can physically send the items, if your patrons do not immediately need the item locally. If your library does need to return "Shipped" materials to local shelves, the Illume request will need to be checked-in and the borrower library unfortunately will have to re-create the request.
Renewals: If the strike action continues long-term, ILL Staff may also wish to request and grant Renewals on requests that cannot currently be shipped back to the original library.

Post-Secondary Library Tips:

Post-secondary libraries will likely continue using Illume to process electronic Copy requests only:

Patron Requesting: For libraries with Patron-initiated requesting [8] activated -- you may wish to consider updating your Borrower Policy [11] to only allow patrons to submit/create new requests for Periodical/Serial formats.
- Check-out our Borrower Policy guide [11] for a how-to or contact us [3] for assistance.
- And Administrators may wish to add a homepage Notice with information to patrons about the strike and notice of delays receiving physical ILLs.
- Check-out our UX Admin video guide here [4] for a how-to or contact us [3] for assistance.
Post-secondary Borrowing: All Copy and Loan Borrower requests created by Post-secondary libraries already prioritize being sent to other Post-secondary libraries first! Your requests will only move on to other Lenders if an Academic library cannot supply the item.
- During the strike action, ILL Staff may wish to leave Loan requests for physical items, such as Books, in Awaiting Approval until job action is over.
- If an item is urgently needed, consider contacting a local or available library to arrange alternative delivery options (eg. via courier) instead.
Post-secondary Lending: Consider updating your Lending Policy [12] to auto-reject all requests for physical formats for the duration of the postal strike!
- Please note that rejecting the format "Book" in your SHAREit Lending Policy will also auto-reject Book Chapter copy requests. An upcoming Enhancement will allow Lender libraries to deflect Loan requests for formats such as eBooks while still accepting Copy requests for eBook Chapters; but currently Borrower libraries will need to send a request via the Blank Request form to bypass any lending policy restrictions. Check-out our Lending Policy guide [12] for a how-to or contact us [3] for assistance.
- Or Staff can instead manually reject requests for the few physical items they are unable to ship due to strike action. As most Public libraries (except InterLINK) are expected to temporarily close for both borrowing and lending [using the Holiday List [2]] and very few requests for physical materials should arrive.
In Progress Requests: For requests you have already marked "Shipped" but you were unable to send out before the strike action -- please consider leaving requests at the shipped status until you can physically ship the items, if your patrons do not immediately need the item locally. If your library does need to return "Shipped" materials to local shelves, the Illume request will need to be checked-in and the borrower library unfortunately will have to re-create the request.
Renewals: If the strike action continues long-term, ILL Staff may also wish to request and grant Renewals on requests that cannot currently be shipped back to the original library.