ALA Email Partner Workflow

Requesting materials from an ALA Email partner (or just Email partner) is a bit different from normal workflows but isn't very complicated. Use the following steps to request items from partners not on Rapido using the ALA form and an Alma Letter:

Step 1: Pursue All Other Options

Before sending a request to an ALA Email partner, try using the Enrich from Global Index feature to switch the request to a duplicate record. This may help you find a Rapido partner who can fill the request, avoiding the need to go outside the system.

If no pod partners are available after enriching, then it's time to send the request to an ALA Email partner.

Step 2: Find a Library with the Book

Once you have determined you cannot get the book through a Rapido pod, regardless of the record used, it is time to request the item from a library using the ALA Form. The trickiest part of the process is finding a library who owns the book you are trying to Borrow for the patron. There are several ways you can go about this:

• Search your ALA Email Partner's catalogs: If you already have ALA Email partners configured in Rapido then you might want to search their online catalogs to see if they have the book. If you find a library with the book proceed to Step 4.
• Google: You can do a general Google search for libraries with the item you are searching for. For example, I Googled "US libraries with Educated by Tara Westover" and many of the search results were library catalogs
• WorldCat.org This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.: You can search holdings for the item through WorldCat to find a library with the item. 

Once you find a library with the item, you will want the following information if you are going to add them as an ALA Email partner:

• Email address
• Shipping address

Step 3: Add the Partner

If you find a partner who isn't already in your system you will need to add them to Alma. Use the following guide to manually add an ALA Email partner: 

• ALA Email Partner

Step 4: Request the Item 

Once you have a partner in Alma it is time to request the item:

• Go to the Request in Rapido and click Edit.
• Scroll to the top and switch to the Rota tab.
• Click +Add Partner.
• Search and Select the partner and then click Add Partners.
• Click Save. 

The request should now be at the Request Sent to Partner status with the Alma Email partner listed. Within a few minutes Alma will send an email to the partner library with a prefilled ALA form requesting the item. This works with both Physical and Digital requests. 

You may occasionally receive an email from another library asking you to loan an item. There are a couple options you can use to loan an item from your library. 

Option 1: Self Registration

You can respond to the request by asking the Borrowing library to use the Self Registration form to create a Primo account and request the book from your collection. This has three main benefits:

1. The library can use this account to request more materials in the future.
2. An Email Partner is automatically created for the library registering.
3. The Lending request is processed exactly like any other Lending request. 

Option 2: Add the Partner and Fill the Request

Step 1: Add the Partner

Go to Alma > Fulfillment > Resource Sharing > Partners and search for the library who placed the request. If they are already added as a Partner proceed to Step 2, otherwise you will need to add them as a partner.