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OpenILL & OpenURL Options
Depending on your search resource, you may be able to display a direct OpenILL Request Link or an OpenURL Search Link in various resources such as Catalogues (eg. Bibliocommons), Discovery (eg. EBSCO EDS), Databases (eg. Academic Search), or Web Forms on your library website.
How to Activate OpenILL with SHAREit
Many libraries have asked about adding a pre-populated Illume request link to resources such as discovery layers like EBSCO databases or EDS. And Auto-Graphics has now added this option to SHAREit!
Within SHAREit, you will need to have Patron-initiated Interlibrary loan requesting activated, and we also recommend including simplified forms and the mandatory privacy disclaimer notice.
- To activate OpenILL requesting login to SHAREit as an Administrator and go to your Staff Dashboard > ILL Admin > Participant Record.
- Check-off the "Guest" and "Patron" categories for the "Access ILL Request" option. We also recommend checking off the "Staff" option to assist with troubleshooting.
- Please Note: Libraries can set-up patron-initiated requesting to only apply to requests that use direct OpenILL links from EDS, databases or web forms if desired. To only set-up OpenILL follow the instructions above but do not activate the "Show Request This Button" for guests and patrons according to the PI-ILL guide instructions. Please contact us if you'd like any assistance!
OpenILL allows patrons to submit pre-populated ILL requests from 3rd party vendors (eg. EBSCO) & webforms. Check-out our video guide here on how to add an OpenILL link for patrons in EBSCOAdmin and a demonstration of OpenILL requesting from EBSCOHost (steps also below) & Webforms (guide & example code here). | Watch Video [8m12s ; MP4 ; no sound] | |
ILL Staff can quickly & easily add an ERTI smart-build to patron requests created via OpenILL using either the ILL Review (full guide here) or Multi-Copy (full guide here) features. Check-out our quick video guide showing both options and how Administrators can send OpenILL requests created from the Blank Request form to either "Awaiting Approval" or "ILL Review"! | Watch Video [4m25s ; MP4 ; no sound] |
How to Activate in EBSCO Databases
Within EBSCO databases, such as Academic Search Complete, you can activate "ILL Request" links within article citations that will directly pass the bibliographic details into a SHAREit Blank Request form.
- Login to EBSCOAdmin as an Administrator to access your configuration. Don't have an Administrator login? Contact us or EBSCO Support for assistance.
- COPY CustomLink from Generic Template: To add a copy of the "Auto-Graphics SHAREit (EBSCO)" (EBSCO owned) or "SHAREit OpenILL Requesting" (BC ELN Consortia owned) template click the Customize Services > Linking tab.
- Next to "CustomLinks" click "Modify".
- Click "SetUp/Maintain CustomLinks" if you don't see a copy of the "Auto-Graphics SHAREit" OpenILL custom link already added.
- Click "Add New CustomLink" then select the "Copy from Existing CustomLink" option and Continue.
- Select Choose category: ILL from the drop-down and if necessary, click the ++show other available CustomLinks option to display additional templates.
- Select the "Auto-Graphics SHAREit (EBSCO)" or "SHAREit OpenILL Requesting" option to activate OpenILL links. Don't see a generic template available within EBSCOAdmin? Contact us for assistance creating a local custom link instead.
- If desired, you can also update the Link Name, Link Text, Mouse-over Text, and Link Icon. To add an Illume link icon (only available in the old EBSCOHost interface) , use this url: https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/branding/ipm/cl/illume_icon.png
- IMPORTANT: In the "Base URL" (if necessary) AND "Query String" section replace the [CIDCode] placeholder with our consortial code here if needed: BCUC
- IMPORTANT: In the "Query String" section replace the [SHAREitCode] placeholder with your own library code so the patron requests will be created at your own Illume library site. Your Illume library SHAREit code is available here: https://illumebc.ca/about-us/libraries
For example, College of the Rockies would update the generic URL to include: &cid=bcuc&lid=bcrk
Please Note: Do not delete any of the fields such as ISBN, ISSN etc in the "Query String" otherwise the template will no longer work to send bibliographic citation details over to SHAREit.
- If desired, you can also update some fields in the "Query String", such as Article Date to send dates in different formats such as 2023 or 2023-01-01 or 20230101. Please contact us if you'd like assistance updating your URL field options in EBSCOAdmin.
- Under "Hide Link if Full Text" choose 'Yes' if youd like the request link to not display (recommended) when full-text article results are available.
- Click Submit to save your changes and your customised "Auto-Graphics SHAREit" template should now be available within your Customize Services tab under Linking > Custom Links > Modify if you'd like to make further changes.
- ACTIVATE your CustomLink in EBSCOHost: Now that you've copied and customized your SHAREit OpenILL link to your local EBSCO interface -- you can activate it for Patrons to use in EBSCOHost databases!
- Return to your Customize Services > Linking tab and click the "Modify" option next to "CustomLinks".
- Click "Add New CustomLinks" and check-off the new local "Auto-Graphics SHAREit" option (or the local name you created for your copied link) and click "Submit" to make your link live!
- Please Note: For libraries using the new 2024 EBSCOHost interface, you also need to click "Push Changes to EBSCO" before checking out the changes live For libraries using the older interface, you can click "View Changes on EBSCO" to see the updates live.
- Please contact us for assistance updating, training or troubleshooting your OpenILL SHAREit custom links within 3rd party vendors like EBSCO. Interested in activating OpenILL with other vendors? Contact us for assistance with set-up!
How to Activate in EBSCO EDS Discovery
Coming soon when available from EBSCO. Contact us for assistance setting up a local custom link.
How to Create a Web Form
Libraries can update web forms published to their interlibrary loan web sites/pages with forms that re-direct to SHAREit. Please check-out our web form example, including downloadable example code, for a demonstration of how it works: https://illumebc.ca/guides/example-openill-webform
Please contact us if you'd like assistance trouble-shooting or testing any web forms direct to SHAREit!
How to Activate OpenURL with SHAREit
Depending on your resource, you may be able to display an OpenURL search link on your citations or search results in different situations, such as when full-text isn’t available or even when results are found in your library catalogue. For example, in Bibliocommons you have the option of displaying the Illume search link on all result pages or just on the zero (0) result pages.
Check-out our PDF guide [1.6 MB] here for more information on set-up or contact us for assistance.
Additional Tips
Please contact us if you'd like assistance setting up OpenILL and/or OpenURL! Additional tips that may be helpful during set-up are also below:
- Many libraries place important patron information such as ILL Restrictions on the main page of Illume. Both OpenILL and OpenURL bypas the main SHAREit homepage so this information will not initially be seen by patrons. We recommend updating your Privacy Disclaimers & ILL Restrictions activated directly on forms to display important info if desired.
- Guest Patron Request Limits also apply to requests created from Blank Request forms. We recommend activating request limits if you have restrictions on the number of Copy or Loan requests a patron can simultaneously submit.
- ILL Staff can use the ILL Review feature to assign an appropriate Journal Title record to Non-returnable (copy) requests created by Patrons using the OpenILL blank request form. This allows Staff to use the ERTI Smart-build to automatically build the Lender List field for the request. Alternatively, ILL Staff can use the Multi Copy form to quickly create an ERTI Smart-build Lender List that can be copy & pasted into the patron's blank request.
- Please note that requests created from Blank Request forms, such as those used in OpenILL, will skip a lender's live availability shelf checks and format Lending Policy checks. These SHAREit software features are skipped even if ILL Staff assign an appropriate record using ILL Review.