Relax. According to Gail Wanner, communication and collaboration among systems is about to get easier

You want your library to provide faster services with more materials. Your patrons want immediate access to materials owned by other libraries (but you downplay interlibrary loan for fear of being overwhelmed by costly requests). You need to make it easier for users to authenticate access to proprietary content wherever they are. How can you make it all happen? A new standard, called NCIP, is the answer.

With the NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol (NCIP), you can link your local circulation system to self-check machines, to other circulation systems in a regional or statewide resource sharing consortium, and to traditional interlibrary loan (ILL) systems. Unlike earlier linking protocols like SIP, NCIP supports two-way conversations between systems, offering unlimited interoperation. Patrons and staff benefit because NCIP services are more robust and more automated, offering increased self-service features and immediate results.

How does one standard do all this? Imagine a Swiss army knife with different blades for various functions. Similarly, the NCIP standard has three main areas of functionality, or large blades: self-service, direct consortial borrowing, and circulation to ILL. Within each, published profiles, or smaller blades, define the specific usage of the 45 NCIP messages and their paired responses.

Support for specific profiles is the key to the flexibility of NCIP, so it is important for librarians and vendors to refer to specific profiles in discussing this standard. There is little meaning in saying that a system is "NCIP compliant" without identifying which profile(s) the system supports.

Self-service

The Unmediated Online Circulation Application Profile enables communication between self-service applications and the library's circulation system. Self-check stations and kiosks are obvious applications, but there are other self-service actions like renewing loans, placing or canceling holds, checking in materials, and more. Communication is always from the self-service application to the circulation system. The self-service application initiates messages to support the functionality it offers, and the circulation system must be able to respond to all of those messages.

The full range of self-service messages fall into three categories: user-related (authenticate, lookup, create, update, create fiscal transaction), item-related (check in, check out, undo check out, lookup, renew, request, update request, cancel request), and agency-related (lookup).

Reality check: In a self-service application that enables most of the NCIP Self-Service messages, a patron could accomplish a variety of tasks. Consider a patron who has three items to check out and who wants to renew two others.

First the patron identifies himself by scanning the barcode on his library card. The self-service application and the circulation system exchange lookup agency and user messages—their paired responses confirm that the patron is a valid user of that library.

Next the patron checks out some items. This transaction causes the self-service station to send the "check out item" message to the circulation system for each item checked out. Suppose one of the items is a video that requires a circulation fee. The circulation system tells the self-service system about the fee. The self-service system asks the patron to OK the fee and sends the circulation system the "create user fiscal transaction" message so that the circulation system updates the user's fees-owed account.

Next the patron indicates he wants to renew two items. The self-service application takes his renewal request and sends the "renew" message for each of the items to the circulation system. Our patron leaves the self-service application with all tasks completed.

Payoff: Support of this profile simplifies interoperation of various patron service components. Benefits for the library include a maintainable way to integrate a variety of self-service applications with the library management system. Benefits for the patrons include direct access to transactions without the necessity of being physically in the library or in contact with staff.

Circulation to interlibrary loan

This NCIP application profile, commonly referred to as C/ILL, allows automated ILL systems to communicate directly with library circulation management systems about what's being loaned or copied.

Actually there are two C/ILL profiles, one for the Borrowing interactions and another for the Lending interactions. The Borrowing profile uses the Accept Item, Checkin Item, Renew Item, and Lookup Item messages and their respective responses, while the Lending profile employs the same messages and adds a Cancel Request Item message set. In both profiles, the interaction is always between an ILL system and its local circulation system. Unlike the Direct Consortial Borrowing model (see below), the C/ILL profiles do not assume that the requesting and responding circulation systems are communicating with each other directly.

Reality check: As a lender, an ILL application receives an incoming request for an item held by the owning institution. The ILL system checks the library's local holdings database. If the item is in stock, it automatically places a hold on the item in its local circulation system and returns an ILL message to the requester.

When the ILL staff ships the item to the requesting institution, the ILL system automatically performs a checkout of the item in the local circulation system. Finally, when the loaned item is returned to the owning library's ILL desk, the ILL system can automatically check in the item to the local circulation system.

For borrowers, when an ILL application receives a requested item, it can automatically hand over the item to its local circulation system for temporary circulation to the requesting patron. The circulation system is now responsible for managing the library/patron circulation transaction, including any notifications and overdues.

Once the item is returned to the requesting institution, the ILL application informs the system that the item has been checked in. Any temporary records created to support the circulation transaction can be cleared up as the library management system sees fit.

Payoff: Instead of maintaining two separate item tracking systems, C/ILL messaging enables the collaborating applications involved in the transaction to play to their strengths: the ILL application manages the ILL transactions and issues the ILL-specific user notifications; the library management system manages the circulation of loaned items and issues the circulation-specific user notices.

In a consortial environment, NCIP C/ILL messaging allows a single centralized ILL application to integrate with the consortium members' various different systems without supporting a large number of proprietary programming interfaces.

Direct consortial borrowing

Direct Consortial Borrowing (DCB) enables member libraries in a consortium with diverse circulation systems to offer seamless access to all consortium materials. Requesting an item from a member library can be as simple as placing a local hold. All of the activities can occur in real time, which is a significant difference between NCIP DCB and the ISO ILL standard.

Initial implementations of DCB use brokering applications as initiators for all messages. Local circulation systems act as responders to the messages and perform the actions requested in the fashion appropriate for that circulation system. Messages used include lookup agency, lookup item, lookup user, accept item, checkin item, checkout item, request item, cancel request item, renew item, and optionally recall item. A well-designed NCIP broker can be configured automatically to use local circulation policies to alter loan periods, fees, and other terms by user type and location.

Reality check: In a typical brokered system, a patron places her own requests online after searching a catalog. The brokering application sends a message to an owning library to place the item on hold. When the hold is filled in circulation, staff fills the DCB request and the broker can automatically check the item out via NCIP.

When the item arrives at the user's library, the DCB broker sends an Accept Item message, which can be used to ask the local circulation system to create a temporary bibliographic and item record for the item automatically, mask it from the local OPAC, and place a hold on the newly created item. When staff fill that hold from the local circulation system, a local notice can be sent to the patron. The item is checked out as if it is the borrowing library's own. On return, the local circulation system should remove that item when it is sent the Checkin Item message.

It is also possible for consortium members to allow a patron to go directly to other libraries, select materials from the shelves, and borrow with his home library card. This aspect of DCB is referred to as reciprocal borrowing. In this situation, staff initiate an NCIP Lookup User message to authenticate the patron at his home library, verify the card, and determine that no blocks exist. They then send a Create User message that causes the circulation system to create automatically a new user record with the appropriate user type and expiration date.

Payoff: Patrons are able to obtain more materials with less hassle. They can access an online service to place requests or to check on the status of requests from anywhere. This is ideal for distance learners, students, researchers, and public library patrons. Renewing borrowed materials and canceling unneeded requests can be done instantaneously through the same interface.

Libraries benefit, too, since most of the traditional workflow can be automated, while profiles enforce local and consortium resource sharing policies. Because DCB requests function like local holds, they don't require borrowing or lending mediation, and materials can be delivered faster than with traditional ILL. Libraries can manage far more requests without adding staff.

Remote authentication

Using NCIP for remote authentication by a gateway application is proposed by the NCIP Implementers Group but not yet approved. This application would support the exchange of messages for looking up patron information from a remote server and authenticating patrons for access to services that are provided on one server yet authenticated on a different server. Only three pairs of messages from the NCIP protocol are invoked for Remote Authentication.

The gateway application would be the NCIP Initiator and would use Lookup Version, Lookup Agency, and Lookup User. The remote authentication target would perform the role of NCIP Responder and, when queried by the Gateway, would reply respectively with Lookup Version Response, Lookup Agency Response, and Lookup User Response

Reality check: Many libraries are part of statewide resource sharing systems that allow patrons to place their own requests for interlibrary loan. The resource sharing system might have a standalone piece of software that serves as both a metasearch portal for multiple databases and as a gateway to the requesting system. Rather than storing a centralized patron database that is used to ensure that patrons are authenticated, the gateway might do a simple look up of the patron using NCIP to confirm that the patron is indeed a registered borrower at the home institution. All of this would be a self-service process. That is, the patron would be able to interact with the gateway interface so that it triggers the exchange of messages with the remote authentication target without any direct intervention by staff of either library or resource sharing system.

Another use of remote authentication might involve looking up patrons to authenticate them for access to licensed commercial databases. When resources are licensed for library cardholders statewide, it's problematic to ensure that all users are authenticated. Remote authentication using NCIP would be easier to implement than some other solutions such as issuing digital certificates to all bona fide users.

Payoff: Patrons benefit from Remote Authentication in much the same way as with DCB—the ability to obtain more information with less hassle. In the case of physical items, it streamlines the process of requesting materials from libraries other than home institutions. With electronic materials, it means instantaneous access online once the NCIP protocol has done its job. Consortia and state library agencies that support statewide resource sharing benefit hugely—they don't have to update large, unwieldy patron databases culled from multiple institutions. Libraries that participate in consortia benefit because only currently registered patrons can request materials remotely.

NCIP's fab future

As the boundaries among the circulation, ILL, and online database access blur, NCIP messaging allows an institution to present a seamless and integrated resource sharing environment. One protocol, one set of rules, one set of data elements, one central place to make changes as the standard evolves—all this widens the library's choice of self-service options. No longer is specialized software integration required for each service added. Troubleshooting becomes easier, and downtime is lessened. Because integration is easier, costs are contained and the resources of automation vendors can now go toward developing new features.

Any data of interest to circulation systems could eventually be accessible through NCIP, allowing an application to become an extension of the circulation system. Potentially, this opens more self-service options to patrons, including purchasing items online and scheduling use of resources.

When local circulation systems become NCIP initiators, even more changes can be realized. Today, brokering applications are used to initiate NCIP communications. Combined with easily accessed directories for policy information, future releases of local circulation systems could initiate messages and treat consortium members on different automation systems as "remote branches." After checking the local catalog, the circulation systems of preferred consortium partners could be contacted directly to determine their ability to deliver the desired item.

Enhanced communications between applications are also likely. When a loaned item is reported lost, the user agency could initiate an alert to the owning agency and other agencies in a consortium. Fines and fees could be posted directly to the user's record at the home library. New holds placed at the item agency could automatically initiate recalls or shortened loan periods.

Librarians have worked toward resource sharing and collaborative collection development for decades. NCIP can make this dream a reality. Initially, as all parties move into implementation of the NCIP standard, there may be some delays, but standardized interoperation and new levels of patron service make it all worthwhile.

Author Information

Gail Wanner is Resource Sharing Product Specialist, Dynix. She was assisted in this article by Brenda Bailey-Hainer, Director of Networking and Resource Sharing, Colorado State Library; Ed Davidson, Product Manager for VDX, Fretwell-Downing Informatics; and Candace Zemon, Senior Product Strategist, GIS Information Systems