creating and implementing a database to revolutionize the management of electronic document delivery...
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Creating and Implementing a Database to Revolutionize the Management of Electronic Document Delivery Requests
Karen L. Hanus, Assistant Director
of Services and Collections and
Alfred Kraemer, Assistant Director
of Library Systems & Office of Research IT,
MCW Libraries, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Our Libraries
Three branches Todd Wehr Library is the main
branch that serves the medical school. That library is usually open every day and is open over 100 hours per week during the academic year.
Froedtert Hospital Library (open M-F during business hours)
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Library (open M-F during business hours)
Hospital libraries primarily serve clinicians with little time to travel to the main branch to pick up articles.
Pre-revolution Document Delivery
Document delivery requests were received on paper forms or via e-mail
E-mail requests were printed and then routed along with the paper forms to the appropriate library for photocopying
Users sometimes reported that they had not received their requests—the library had no way of knowing whether the requests were received and misplaced or never received.
Pre-revolution Document Delivery
Delivery of documents held by the library system was primarily delivery from the main branch to the hospital branches.
Hospital library staff primarily received and processed the requests.
The service was primarily only available from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Our Goals
To reduce turnaround time from receipt of request to delivery to the users
To provide articles at the users’ desktop
To improve communication to the users regarding their document delivery requests
To reduce misplaced requests and confusion about the status of requests
One of Our Means to those Ends
To create a new electronic database that would: Allow us to lengthen the
service hours by making it possible for staff in the main library to process requests in the evening and on weekends
Capture all requests in one place for easy management
Provide information about the status of document delivery requests that all library staff could access.
Library on Request (LOR)
The library created a new document delivery service called Library on Request. All document delivery
requesters are encouraged to submit requests electronically via:
Ovid An electronic request form PubMed
Articles can be scanned and sent using Ariel to the user’s desktop.
The Library on Request Database
The requests are received in a database
When the staff is ready to process, new requests can be retrieved, printed and routed.
The requests in the database are searchable by several different search parameters.
Electronic Request Method 1: Ovid
Ovid has a document ordering feature
Orders are received via electronic mail
Staff gather the Ovid generated e-mails in Microsoft Outlook
The e-mail messages are exported into a file.
The exported file is then imported into the LOR database and the data in the e-mails populates the LOR database.
Electronic Request Method 2: Form
An electronic request form was created and placed on the College’s web site
The form data is directly input into the LOR database via a PHP script
If the LOR database is down when the user is attempting to send in a request, they will be notified that the request cannot be completed at that time.
Electronic Request Method 3: PubMed
PubMed’s order system normally sends the user to Loansome Doc.
NCBI’s Document Delivery Service (DDS) allows PubMed users to order articles described in PubMed citations from a service of their choice. Institutions may register a local document delivery service.
Electronic Request Method 3: PubMed
To register a document delivery service, an institution must have a program at their site that: accepts PubMed ID numbers
(PMID) sent through the Order option of the Send To pull-down menu
retrieves complete citation information for the articles using the PMIDs
creates a document order form with the citation information pre-filled for the user
Electronic Request Method 3: PubMed
MCW Libraries wrote PHP scripts to accomplish this.
The library appended tool=NameAbbrev to the PubMed URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?tool=mcwdds&holding=mcwlib&dr=citation
When the user clicks “Send to…Order,” a local document delivery form opens. Brief citation information is shown in the bottom part of the form information.
PubMed DDS Process Sequence – Overview
Access to this form is controlled by our proxy server.Requests from off-campus prompt for proxy server login before the request form is presented.Background querying of PubMed to obtain complete article data is done with a PHP script. The script uses the output of the ESummary utility from PubMed/NCBI to populate the Form. (http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/esummary_help.html)
PubMed user performs search and orders articles.
MCW’s DDS receives the PubMed IDs and retrieves additional bibliographic
data to populate an article request form.
User completes required fields and submits the
article request(s).
The submitted information is parsed and
re-assembled into separate database
entries for each request.
The submitted patron information is combined with each article request to ensure the correct followup, tracking, and reporting. Combining patron information with individual requests is achieved with a separate PHP script.
From this point, follow-up is the same as for any other article requests.
Assumes user has selected our DDS in her/his profile or has used a link that includes a MCW DDS preference.
A New Request in the LOR Database
An Updated Request in the LOR Database
Managing Requests Has Never Been Better
Since the master list of requests is in the database, we can easily see which requests are new, which are completed, and which are still in process.
We cannot lose requests since we are not relying solely on paper requests. We can simply print another copy.
Results
Since the Library on Request database was created in October 2005, the database has processed over 34,000 requests.
Over 20,000 of the requests were document delivery requests for items that were in our collections.
Over 13,000 of those requests were from items we held in our libraries in paper form.
Results
82% of the requests that we can fill from our collections are filled the same day they are received
15% of those requests are filled the next day after they are received.
User Satisfaction “I've always been impressed by the
breadth and convenience of library services offered at MCW. Very service oriented - miles ahead of my last institution. But the other day I found an article I needed for some research that was published in 1992. I dread when I find an article I need before 1996 or so, because I always know that when I go to MCW E-journals to locate it, often the journal link will only have the abstract and no pdf. I then have to fill out a request form and wait days for it to be hand delivered to my office or the (hospital) branch. The other day however, I went through the process and was pleased to find the offer of emailing it to me, and got it back to me later that same day! That was huge! When you’re in the middle of working on a manuscript or grant and have to wait a week for a key article, it hurts. Great job!!”
Conclusion
The creation of the LOR database was a major key to being able to provide the fast service that the users need.
Adding the option to request directly from PubMed into the LOR database was a valuable service since PubMed use continues to increase.
Questions/For More Information
Contact Karen [email protected](414) 456-8329Medical College of Wisconsin
Libraries8701 Watertown Plank RoadMilwaukee, WI 53226-0509 See the Library on Request
sitehttp://www.mcw.edu/libraryonrequest