Odyssey

Odyssey is a protocol used by ILLiad systems to send electronic documents that have been requested by other institutions directly from ILLiad Server to ILLiad Server. ILLiad includes the ability to electronically send and receive articles to/from the Odyssey stand-alone client as well as from other ILLiad servers. For institutions not already using ILLiad, please contact support@atlas-sys.com to obtain a copy of the Odyssey standalone client file at no cost.

• ILLiad's Electronic Delivery process helps automate the delivery of articles. It can be configured to add a Borrowing or Document Delivery coversheet based on information with information about the ILL department and/or copyright disclaimers. Since delivery is between two ILLiad systems, all of the information from both systems is available, including each library's ILLiad Transaction Number and ILL Number in the ILLiad transaction.
• As an ILLiad user, you can designate other ILLiad sites as Trusted Senders. This allows totally automatic receiving and notification of electronically delivered articles without the need for human intervention. The article is received on the ILLiad server, processed (and, if the file is a TIF file, converted to PDF), a cover sheet is added, and the article is posted to the ILLiad Web server. An email is then sent to the user notifying them that the article is available for download - a totally seamless process.
• Electronic Delivery in ILLiad is server-based. This allows you to leverage the investment you've already made in your ILLiad server and software while eliminating the necessity for running a server application on a client machine or purchasing any other software.
• The sending and retrieving of Electronic Delivery files to and from the server is automated using the Odyssey protocol. This is the same protocol that allows you to send from ILLiad server to ILLiad server. This allows ILLiad licensees who don't have share-level access to their server, or whose server is hosted by Atlas Systems, to automate the Electronic Delivery process further.

What Makes Odyssey Special?

• ILLiad Electronic Delivery is based on an open standard. We created and documented the processes we use for Electronic Delivery in ILLiad. This information is posted on our website and available for users and vendors alike. This allows other systems to be compatible with ILLiad's Electronic Delivery process if they choose to be.
• It's great for Consortia. ILLiad's Electronic Delivery is perfect for consortia who use ILLiad as their ILL system. This allows delivery between separate sites without additional costs for external document delivery software, decreasing turnaround time, with the ability for same-day service.
• Support for modern scanners. ILLiad is fully twain-compliant and supports 24-bit color scanning, delivering compatibility with the majority of scanners on the market today. ILLiad will control the scanner, making it easy to automate the scanning process. ILLiad also gives you the flexibility to use the driver built into the scanner if it affords better control over the scanning process.
• An eye towards security. ILLiad's Electronic Delivery was created from the ground up with security concerns in mind. ILLiad uses a single port to communicate with other ILLiad servers. Also, connections are restricted to an approved list of IP addresses that you designate in ILLiad while doing the normal processing.