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VIVA: COVID-19 Resource Sharing Recommendations

Virginia's Academic Library Consortium

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COVID-19 VIVA Resource Sharing Recommendations

April 23, 2020 (Updated October 28, 2020)

This document outlines resource sharing recommendations for VIVA Libraries in response to COVID-19. These recommendations were compiled by the VIVA COVID-19 Resource Delivery Task Force and can be adjusted to local needs. Dates and timelines proposed in these recommendations were determined based on the fall 2020 academic calendar and are subject to change as the landscape evolves.

Billing and Returns:

  • Extend interlibrary loan due dates to October 1, 2020. Your institution might want to consider using this date for circulated materials as well, to keep patron communication consistent. Awareness of patron expiration dates may be important for your local system. 

  • Start billing for items lost through interlibrary loan no earlier than October 1, 2021. 

  • Allow courtesy returns that permit academic library patrons to return materials to the nearest VIVA library. Courtesy returns would include materials borrowed through ILL or directly via circulation. When mailing the books, confirm that the library is ready to receive mail and use the address on the institution’s OCLC policy directory. If costs become a concern, institutions can write the home institution for their UPS (or other carrier) account code so that the home institution will be charged for the shipment. The Courtesy Returns Messaging to Library Patrons document provides messaging for VIVA Libraries to use or adapt at their institutions, as well as a Courtesy Return Form for the patron to use when returning library books to another college/university in Virginia.

Lending Indicators: 

  • Set your library’s Days to Respond for loans as a visual cue to other libraries about what you are able to supply. Sixteen days indicates you can supply copies from both print and electronic holdings; 20 days indicates you can provide copies from your electronic collections. 

  • Consider joining the two new profiled groups that help identify libraries that can supply electronic documents (ACOV) and whole e-books (BCOV). To add or remove your library from ACOV or BCOV, complete this short form.

  • Update your institution’s lending status on the COVID-19 institutional statuses - VIVA ILL institutions spreadsheet.  

  • Update your institution’s lending status on the national list maintained by OCLC.

  • To facilitate lending among VIVA member libraries, the COVID-19 Resource Delivery Task Force drafted the documentation, Lending Physical Items to VIVA Libraries: Editing a Deflection in the OCLC Policies Directory. This document outlines steps on how to edit a deflection in the OCLC Policies Directory that excludes VIVA institutions in the Coronavirus Crisis deflection and serves Tipasa, WorldShare, and ILLiad users.

Safe Handling of Materials: