Didn't find what you were looking for?

Email questions or documentation suggestions to info@projectreshare.org.

Basic System Configurations

Owned by Krista Higham
Last updated: Jun 16, 2022 by James Robinson
3 min read

ReShare Returnables allows libraries to manage physical/e-mail addresses, staff contacts, pickup locations, and institutional patron account barcodes themselves, eliminating the need to submit or wait on support tickets for simple configuration changes. The guides linked below will help you configure your initial ReShare setup and begin using ReShare Returnables.

1. Create a Root Directory Entry *

The root directory entry contains basic information about your institution, including your institution’s International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations (ISIL) symbol, physical and electronic mailing addresses, and primary contact information. This information will be used by the system in a variety of ways (e.g. populating information on pull slips) and will be visible to other library staff members using the ReShare staff portal.

*_Root directory entries will be created by your ReShare service provider and are populated with information provided during the implementation process. Please review your library’s entry to confirm the configured information is accurate and up-to-date. If changes need to be made to your library’s root directory entry, contact your ReShare service provider.

2. Create Pickup Locations

Pickup locations are the delivery options displayed to library patrons when submitting a request. Libraries can add, edit, or remove pickup locations in the ReShare Directory app, and those changes will go into effect immediately. All ReShare tenants must have at least one configured pickup location.

3. Configure Institutional Patron IDs

If you are using the “Check out item” integration as a supplier, you will need to configure one or more institutional patron identifiers in ReShare. ReShare will tell your LMS to check out the item to this patron account. The institutional borrower represents the university or interlibrary loan program to which the item is being lent, rather than an individual patron.

ReShare can be configured to check all loaned materials out to a single default generic patron account (e.g. ReShare Loans) or to check out materials to individual generic patron accounts based on the library requesting the material (e.g. East Central University ILL).

NOTE: The Alma LMS automatically checks items out to the Resource Sharing Lending Library as opposed to individual institutional patron accounts.

  • Alma users who want to use the Resource Sharing Lending Library can populate the default institutional ID with a “-” character.

  • Alma users who prefer to manually check outgoing loans in and out/create on-the-fly records for incoming requested materials and do not want to use the Resource Sharing Borrowing and Lending Libraries for these functions can turn off NCIP functionality for the appropriate actions under Settings>Resource Sharing>Host LMS Integration settings.

4. Configure Automatic Patron Notification Templates and Triggers

ReShare is able to automatically send out a notification message to a patron when:

  • A patron has submitted a request, after that patron’s account has been verified by ReShare

  • When none of a request’s potential suppliers are able to supply the requested materials

  • When a request has been canceled.

Library staff can decide which of these events will trigger patron notifications and edit the notification templates.

Note: A library can create multiple notification templates, and multiple notice policy triggers can be included in a single notice policy, but only one notice policy can be active for a library at any given time

Operated as a Community Resource by the Open Library Foundation