Using Doc Del to Better Serve your Patrons

How many of you get borrowing requests for items that you own? Oh look--everyone has their hand up. So take heart you are not alone, but what's the best way to handle these requests? 

Many times these requests are cancelled, and patrons are asked to retrieve the item themselves. Sometimes the cancellation message provides a link if the material is available electronically. While this workflow meets the need, there are some underlying problems to this approach.

• This method method affects your fill rate. The statistics will show a request being cancelled when in reality, you have provided the material--just not through ILL. The result is a negatively skewed fill rate.
• Additionally, the work for this type of fulfillment is not readily tracked. You can go back and remove requests from your stats based on a particular cancellation message, but that requires additional data manipulation.
• Also, and maybe most importantly, sending a cancellation message also a subtle--"You Failed"--message to the patron. You can almost hear the game-show buzzer when you read the notification--"Sorry, try again." 

If you use the Doc Del module to fill these requests, however, you can easily track the requests that are filled from your collection and provide better service to your patrons. Because these requests end up in the Document Delivery module, you can use the web reports for quick access to results and better knowledge of the materials that your patrons are having a difficult time finding. Give yourself credit for the work you did!

An easy first step is to use the Doc Del module to fill requests found in your electronic resource collection. This video walks you through the the process to fill a request that starts in Borrowing and ends in Doc Del.

https://atlas-sys.wistia.com/medias/3ev6kl8oc1

Are you using Doc Del? Share your experiences with us. Are you nervous to get started? Post your questions or concerns for some community encouragement.