What does Harvard lend to Borrow Direct, and who can place requests?

Patron Authentication

When a patron clicks on a record of interest from the search results in Borrow Direct, the system executes a new search based on standard numbers or other relevant data to create a merged bibliographic record with holdings/item information for all Borrow Direct partners    At this time, the system also determines if the patron is eligible to place requests. 

Borrow Direct authorization has three parts:

1. User is passed through HarvardKey – if they don’t have an active HarvardKey or can’t log in, they aren’t authorized for BD access.

2. Successful HarvardKey login is passed through Grouper/EZProxy for e-resource eligibility – if user isn’t eligible for e-resources login access, they aren’t authorized for BD access.

3. Successful e-resource authorization is sent to BD (Relais) with Alma patron class – if user doesn’t have an eligible patron class, they aren’t authorized for BD access.

  For Harvard, the following users are eligible (if not blocked or expired):

Please note, certain subsets of the above special borrowers patrons do not have access to the service.  Only special borrowers who have access to e-research will be able to use Borrow Direct.

Material type evaluation

Next, the system checks the format of the item. Books, theses, and music scores, (and some recordings, videos, and journals) can be borrowed. The following criteria, defined by the Borrow Direct discovery environment vendor Index Data, are used to establish whether an item is one of the formats eligible for borrowing:

The system then checks to see if any items at Harvard are eligible for lending.  Please note that items which do not have a call number are not evaluated for eligibility (due to a Relais limitation) and therefore are considered ineligible. BorrowDirect requires a call number in the item record (i.e. the callNumber in z39.50 output), with or without a call number type specified. Consult the charts below to identify the collections and Harvard libraries that participate in Borrow Direct.  All other libraries and collections are not eligible for lending.  Please note that all items from Harvard, along with current circulation status, are listed in the results list, but only those listed below are evaluated for eligibility.

Harvard lending criteria are used to establish whether a patron from outside Harvard can borrow an item. Eligible items are outlined below. Also, if an eligible item is available at Harvard, a Harvard user cannot borrow it from another institution.

Location/Item Policy eligibility 

(NOTE: Borrow Direct evaluates z39.50 display text, rather than our local library codes.)

Items must be be in locations below AND have 01/blank item policy in order to be eligible for Borrow Direct. New locations must be added by Relais; contact Resource Sharing or LTS to add additional locations.

Notes

If the Harvard item is on loan to a Harvard patron, a user from another institution cannot request it.

Z39.50 field used by Borrow Direct for availability determination:

• AvailableNow: 0               [item is on loan]

• AvailableNow: 1               [item is not on loan]

Note:  the system does not check for active hold requests or whether an item is on the hold shelf.   Due to this system limitation, a user from another institution may request an item even if it is on hold for or requested by a Harvard user.  Likewise, a Harvard user will not be able to request an item via Borrow Direct if the local copy is on hold or requested.   Borrow Direct requests to borrow Harvard items that are on hold for or requested by Harvard patrons are manually cancelled by Harvard Borrow Direct staff.  A notification is sent to the user at the requesting institution that the Harvard item is not available.