Interlibrary Loan

Managed by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, the statewide interlibrary loan (ILL) program assists Texas public libraries in meeting the accreditation criteria to offer to borrow and lend materials with other Texas public libraries.  ILL services enable library users across the state to access materials not available at their local library, and no library can own every item. 

New Interlibrary Loan System Selected

Participating Libraries will continue to use Navigator for their borrowing and lending activity through the next fiscal year and will begin using the new system by September 2024.

Earlier this spring the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC)  solicited responses for a new statewide interlibrary loan system to replace Navigator/NRE, which is being discontinued by OCLC in the summer of 2024. After an evaluation process by internal and external team members, TSLAC’s  Commissioners approved the award of a contract with Auto-Graphics, Inc. to implement SHAREit as the statewide interlibrary loan solution for Texas public libraries. Auto-Graphics has been providing consortial ILL services for more than 35 years and SHAREit is used by 16 other statewide resource sharing groups in the United States.  Libraries will continue to use Navigator for their borrowing and lending activity through the next fiscal year and will begin using the new system by September 2024.  

To stay updated, please subscribe to the  ILL mailing list here: Navigator-ILL Info Page (state.tx.us)

Texas Group Catalog and Navigator

Accredited Texas public libraries use OCLC's Navigator system to monitor and manage statewide interlibrary loan requests locally.  In addition to the Navigator library staff portal, the Texas Group Catalog allows Texas library patrons and staff to discover materials in Texas libraries, and libraries worldwide, that may not be available locally.  There are over 550 Texas libraries live on the Navigator system and available to share resources through interlibrary loan.  

Navigator Resources for Libraries

• Texas Group Catalog 
• Navigator Staff Request Engine (NRE)
   
• NRE Help
• OCLC Navigator Support Site
• OCLC Glossaries
• Texas ILL Protocol
• Creating a Local ILL Policy
• ILL Program Agreement form

Navigator Training Materials

• Recorded Navigator Training Tutorials for Staff
  • Submitting Requests in WorldCat Navigator (15 minutes)
  • Definition of Work Queue Categories (15 minutes)
  • Borrower Request Processing in WorldCat Navigator (15 minutes)
  • Lender Request Processing in WorldCat Navigator (15 minutes)
  • Request Search Demo & Exercises in WorldCat Navigator 
  • Borrower Exceptions Processing in WorldCat Navigator
  • Lender Exceptions Processing in WorldCat Navigator
• Navigator Quick Reference  Print Guides
  • Creating Requests on Behalf of a Patron
  • Texas Barcode Prefixes
  • Searching for Requests in NRE
  • Accessing Statistics through OCLC Usage Statistics
  • Accessing Statistics through NRE
  • Shipping Items to Borrower
  • Receiving an Item from the Lender
  • Returning Borrowed Items
  • Checking In
  • Borrowing Work Queue
  • Lender Work Queue
  • Search Tips for Texas Group Catalog
  • Trouble Shooting
     
• Checklist for creating a WorldCat data sync collection for updating records (Texas libraries)
• Data Sync Collections Webinar recording (1 hr 16 min 24 sec) *No password required
  Data Sync Collections Webinar Slides

Statewide Courier Program

• TExpress Courier Program

Resource Sharing News and Updates

• Subscribe: Navigator ILL listserv
• Subscribe: TexShare Users listserv

Interlibrary Loan Lending Reimbursement Program

The annual ILL Lending Reimbursement Program reimburses eligible Navigator and academic libraries a flat rate for each lend made to Texas public libraries using the OCLC Navigator system.  The FY 2023 program, covering lends made between August 1, 2022- July 31, 2023, will be open in our Grant Management System on April 26, 2023.   More information is available here: FY 2023 ILL Lending Reimbursement Program | TSLAC (texas.gov)

Register for a program overview webinar on April 26, 2023, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3005408812027858526

Please contact Sara Hayes at  shayes@tsl.texas.gov with any questions.

Contact Information

If you have further questions, please contact Sara Hayes, Interlibrary Loan Program Coordinator, at 512-463-5406 or by email at shayes@tsl.texas.gov.

Request an Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan services are available for registered customers of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.  Requests may be made from the Texas Group Catalog.  Detailed instructions can be found here. If you have any questions, please contact the Information Services staff at the Reference Desk or by telephone at 512-463-5455.