Interlibrary Loan Requests: Has Another Library Agreed to Supply the Material?

A reader's request for a book your library does not own is not a confirmed loan from another institution. If you commission an interlibrary loan portal, make the external supply decision visible: what material is wanted, which partner was asked, what response was received and what may now be promised to the reader.

This is particularly useful for specialist libraries and small institutional collections. It is not an argument for replacing an established library system. First compare the proposed workflow with the system already in use. The difficult requirement is coordinating external supply, not drawing another request form.

Describe the material and the requested service

Ask staff to show the information they need to distinguish the desired work from a similar title. For an article, that might include journal title and the particular article details; for a book, an edition may matter. Keep the reader's original description alongside a staff correction when that helps explain what was requested.

Also distinguish borrowing a physical item from obtaining a copy of material. Do not treat those as interchangeable fulfilment methods. Eligibility, permitted use, charges and copying conditions require the responsible library's policy and any applicable professional review; a portal must not invent permission to reproduce or distribute a work.

The official Koha manual describes its ILL module as handling loans or copies from external sources. It also explains that different backends support different request types and workflows. Those are documented product distinctions, not proof that every supplier connection offers the same actions.

Keep the reader request separate from the partner request

Use a hypothetical reader who needs a particular book. Staff first check the description and choose a potential supplying library. Sending that library a request should not tell the reader that the book is available for collection.

Koha documents a “Place request with partners” action and a “Requested from partners” status. Its partner workflow requires configured partner accounts with email addresses, because email sends the request. This supports a clear practical boundary: a recorded outgoing request is not itself evidence that the partner accepted it.

For your application, agree how acceptance, inability to supply and requests for clarification are recorded. Preserve the partner reference and relevant response. Decide who can turn that response into a reader-facing commitment, including any conditions that must first be accepted. Do not equate successful email delivery with supply confirmation.

Change supplier without creating two live commitments

An unavailable provider may lead staff to another one. Koha's documented “Switch provider” action illustrates that a request can change backend; actual available buttons depend on the backend and current status.

Your brief should therefore ask what happens to the earlier external request. Keep its outcome visible rather than silently replacing the supplier name. If its cancellation is uncertain, show that uncertainty before staff submit another commitment. An internal change of status must not be advertised as proof that another institution stopped work.

Similarly, a reader's cancellation request needs review. Decide who checks whether the partner has already acted, what response goes to the reader and how unresolved charges or supply conditions are handled. Those decisions belong to your agreed service policy, not to assumptions about a universal cancellation right.

Show the next useful step to each audience

Staff need the current external dependency and owner. Readers need an honest account of their request without internal correspondence or unrelated patron details. Specify which notes are public, rather than copying the staff timeline into the account page.

Koha documents separate ready-for-pickup and unavailable notices. Use that distinction when defining your own messages: the notice should follow the relevant operational decision, not merely request creation. A physical loan may later enter circulation, whereas a copy request follows its agreed delivery route. Neither should be closed solely because a partner email was sent.

Demonstrate a complete external supply journey

For the project acceptance discussion, bring fictional examples of a corrected citation, a partner refusal, an unanswered request, a supplier change with unresolved cancellation and an item actually ready for collection. Include a copy request with reviewed delivery conditions.

Ask staff to identify the current partner, actual evidence, reader promise and next responsible action in each case. Test that changing supplier does not erase the earlier request and that a cancellation request does not silently become confirmed cancellation. These are proposed requirements, not independently tested Koha guarantees.

Primary source and scope

Koha Manual: ILL requests, particularly module setup, managing authenticated requests, partner requests and circulating ILL materials. Product behaviour depends on configuration and backend. The coordination, communication and review rules above are project guidance, not copyright advice or a guarantee of external supply.