Home delivery now available through WorldCat Resource Sharing
WorldCat Resource Sharing now includes an option for users to request delivery of books to their home or office. This feature continues the partnership between OCLC and Better World Books that began during a 2009 pilot of the service. The new option is available to libraries in the United States.
Libraries that offer the new delivery option to their users will pay for the service through the interlibrary loan Fee Management (IFM) feature. Books will be priced at two levels:
- The majority of items in Better World Books’ collection are available for $15. Use the OCLC symbol BWBKS to request these items.
- Newer books in Better World Books’ collection are available for $ 25. Use the OCLC symbol QUICK to request these items.
Why use WorldCat Direct?
- Improve service and convenience of home delivery to patrons while saving library staff time
- Easy return of loaned items by mail
- Library users have the opportunity to purchase the loaned items
How WorldCat Direct works:
Library staffs that wish to provide this option to their users will enable access by selecting the “WorldCat Direct” option under “Staff ILL Settings” in the WorldCat Services administrative module. Participating libraries should add the symbols BWBKS and QUICK to custom holdings groups and paths and make sure they have enabled use of IFM to manage payments. In addition, libraries that plan to automate user-initiated requests will need to establish or review an update a Direct Request profile.
Each book will be shipped directly to the user’s address with a postage-paid envelope enclosed. This envelope can be used to return the item to Better World Books. The due date is located on the label attached to the book. The loan period for these items is 30 days and they are not renewable. Information about how to purchase books from Better World Books is also attached to books when they are shipped to users.
For detailed instructions about enabling or using the WorldCat Direct feature, consult WorldCat Resource Sharing User Guide.
Contact OCLC Customer Support at support@oclc.org, +1-614-793-8682 or 1-800-848-5800 (USA) for personal assistance with this feature.