SWIFT-Prospector Borrowing in AspenCat/Koha

Prospector Item Check in

When an item is requested via Prospector (indicated by the courier slip and/or the presence of a Prospector paging slip inside the front cover of the item – see the Sample Prospector Paging Slip), your first step will be to check in the item in Koha.  Scan the item barcode through the Check in function. A confirmation dialog will appear with the note: Prospector ILL. Click Yes, checkin (Y) to proceed. 

Within the Hold found dialog, click Print slip and confirm (P), or Confirm hold (Y) if you do not wish to print a slip. 

Once the Prospector request has been confirmed, the request will automatically be updated to a status of “Item Received” in the ILL Requests module. You do not need to update the request in the ILL Module. 

At this point, the item can be placed on the Hold Shelf for the requesting patron and the patron will be notified through the normal notification process. When the hold is picked up, follow your normal procedure to check it out to the patron. The Prospector due date will be automatically assigned. 

Check in and Return Requests

When items your patrons borrowed through Prospector come back to your library, you will need to check in the item – this action will automatically update the request to a status of “Item in transit from borrowing library” and the temporary bibliographic record that was created in Koha will be removed. You do not need to update the request in the ILL Module.

Scan the item barcode through the Check in function. A confirmation dialog will appear with the note: Prospector ILL. Click Yes, checkin (Y) to proceed. 

You will also need to manually create a courier slip. You can determine the lending library based on ownership stamps and stickers on the item, and using that information, look up their courier code.  A complete list of  courier codes can be found on the Prospector Document Delivery Committee Master Contact List.

Sample Prospector Paging Slip

All requests made by your patrons through Prospector should arrive with a Paging Slip like the one pictured below. 

Manage ILL Requests

While most updates to borrowing requests will happen automatically through normal Circulation activity (Checking in and Checking out), you still look up and take actions against requests that require special processing in the ILL Requests module.

To access the ILL Requests Module, go to Home → ILL Requests. 

This queue will load all Prospector requests that are active for any AspenCat library. To find specific requests you can use the search and filtering options on the left.

Receive Unshipped

If you receive an item from a Prospector library that does not trigger a hold in the system, you can use the Receive item (unshipped) function to check it in, provided there is a request in the ILL Requests module that is available to be updated. 

In this scenario, when you attempt to Check in the item in Circulation, you will receive a Check in message stating that “No item with barcode:[item barcode].” If you see this message, you can try to look up the request in the ILL Requests module.

To access the ILL Requests Module, go to Home → ILL Requests. 

This queue will load all Prospector requests that are active for any AspenCat library. To find the request you want to receive, use the Keyword search and/or other filter options on the left.

If you are able to locate a request for the item that you have in hand, click the  Manage request button to access the Manage ILL request page. 

Click the Receive item (unshipped) button.

To receive the item, input the Barcode and Call Number from the item that you have in hand and click Submit.

This will update the request to a status of Received, at which point the item can be placed on the Hold Shelf for the requesting patron and the patron will be notified through the normal notification process. When the hold is picked up, follow your normal procedure to check it out to the patron. The Prospector due date will be automatically assigned. 

If you are not able to locate a request for the item that you have in hand, you can reach out to swift-support@coloradovirtuallibrary.org for assistance. Please include the title and barcode for the item in your message.

Cancel ILL Requests

Provided that a request is still in “Item requested to owning library” status (i.e., no library has pulled an item and sent it in transit to fill the request), you can cancel the request on behalf of the patron. Within Koha, Prospector requests are available to view and manage within the ILL requests history area of the patron record. Retrieve the requesting patron’s record and select ILL requests history from the menu on the left. Click the Manage request button in the row for the requested item. 

From the Manage ILL request page, click Cancel request to let the Prospector/INN-Reach system know that the item is no longer needed. 

The request status will be updated to: “Item request cancelled.” Click Mark as complete to complete the request and clear it from the ILL Requests queue.

Complete Request

Once an item makes it back to the lending library and is checked in, the request status will automatically be updated from “Item in transit to owning library” to “Item checked in at owning library,” at which point the Mark complete button will become available. Click Mark complete to complete the request and clear it from the ILL Requests queue. This step is not required, but it is recommended to keep the ILL Requests queue uncluttered.