Examining the ILL Wizard The growth of the open source movement offers the library community a unique opportunity to both benefit from and contribute to the development of tools and ideas to move forward our profession. The ILL Wizard, a tool that replaces paper ILL submission forms with electronic forms, is a good example of some of the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing open source software. Today, we’ll take a quick look at how the ILL Wizard works and talk a little bit about its characteristics within the larger open source movement. Terry Reese Oregon State University NWRSILL 2002, Portland Oregon
Where are we going? What is the ILL Wizard? Who developed it? Where can I get it? What do I need to make it run? How does it work? How can I make it work for me? How does it relate to open source? The Good The Bad Conclusion In reality, a discussion about open source and the open source community is a big topic—bigger than the time we have here today. As such, I will be limiting my conversation to the ILL Wizard and how it illustrates some of the benefits and ills within the community.
What is the ILL Wizard? It’s a web-client application developed by Byran Wilhelm in Available for download from: The program is a Java applet (fig.1), meaning that it runs from a user’s browser.(fig.1) It’s designed to allow users to request materials directly through its ILL service provider. Removes the need for paper submissions. Offers three different ILL request reporting options: 1. Send requests directly to an OCLC review file. 2. Send requests directly to the first lender in a string of five which are generated. automatically based on priorities set by library staff. 3. Send requests directly to a pre-determined list of ILL lenders.
How does it work? Uses International Interlibrary Loan standard, ISO in making requests. Designed to work with OCLC’s Direct Request service. Replaces paper ILL request by offering request forms for: Books (fig. 2)fig. 2 Articles (fig. 3)fig. 3
Making it work for Me Working with OCLC (or your ILL vendor) 1. To send output to the OCLC Review file, nothing needs to be done. 2. To use the Direct to Profile or Direct to Vendor options, you will need to access the OCLC Direct request planning guide available at: Do I need to modify the program source? No – no modification of the source is necessary for this program to work. (I’ll focus on OCLC for the example)
Making it work for Me So how do I modify this applet for my library? While no source code modification is necessary, one can adapt the applet to his or her own library through the applet’s parameters. 34 customizable parameters. Parameters are set via the HTML Modifying Parameters: Fig. 4Fig. 4 Viewing the applet: System Requirements: Java Enabled web browser.
Relating to open source In a lot of ways, the ILL Wizard is a good representation of both the benefits and the difficulties associated with open source. On the one hand, the ILL Wizard is free software that requires little to no development time to start use. On the other hand, support and future development of the project oftentimes remain up to the individual user or larger user community.
Relating to open source: Good Free software. Access to and ability to modify source code. Primary access to the developer. Grass roots user and support base.
Relating to open source: Bad Application support falls primarily to the individual user (or library). Author may move on to other projects. Example: ILL Wizard is not compatible with JRE 1.4 and must use Microsoft’s VM (which is no longer available) to function. Modification can be somewhat difficult. Example: ILL Wizard and signature files.
Conclusion The ILL Wizard offers libraries still reliant on paper ILL submission forms the opportunity to provide its users a more direct method for requesting materials from a pre-developed, free application. For those wanting to download the application or the source, it can be found at:
ILL Wizard (fig. 1)
ILL Wizard (fig. 2)
ILL Wizard (fig. 3)
ILL Wizard (fig. 4)