DOCLINE Library Groups and FREESHARE

Posted by Margot M on August 12th, 2024 Posted in: NLM Resources
Tags: DOCLINE, hospital librarians, National Library of Medicine

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DOCLINE® is the National Library of Medicine’s interlibrary loan (ILL) request routing system. The purpose of the system is to provide efficient document delivery service among DOCLINE member libraries. Join us for a webinar that explains the concepts of reciprocal Library Groups in DOCLINE.

The webinar will be held on Thu, Aug 22 at 3pm ET. The webinar will be recorded. Registration is open now. We will review the guidelines for participating in FREESHARE, the largest no-cost Library Group in DOCLINE. We will review Routing Table tips for Library Group placement.

The Basics on Library Groups

Library Groups are available in DOCLINE to make it easier for group members to route requests to one another without having to individually add and maintain group members in their routing tables. Groups may be formed by a professional association, such as a Chapter of the Medical Library Association; around a medical specialty, such as nursing or pediatrics; focus on a geographical area, such as New York City; or shared trait, such as federal libraries. Library Group members agree to provide each other no-cost or low-cost interlibrary loan fulfillment.

New Library Groups may be added to DOCLINE if the proposed group has at least ten members. Groups that were in the system prior to October 2018 may have fewer than ten members. We recommend ten as a good starting place for a new Library Group. The National Library of Medicine requires one person to be named as the Owner for each Library Group.

Members of the Library Group FREESHARE lend to other FREESHARE libraries at no-cost ($0.00 base fee). To participate in FREESHARE, your library must follow these guidelines:

• Review your licensing agreements to make sure your library is legally allowed to provide for no-cost lending for interlibrary loan.
• Participate in FREESHARE by lending and borrowing in equal measure.

In the coming months, we will be distributing a FREESHARE renewal form for members to attest that they can legally share and that they will borrow and lend in equal measure. Please contact me (email below) with any questions about your circumstances.

Adding a new Library Group, joining an existing Library Group, or leaving a Library Group is an Administrative task that you will not be able to do on your own. Please contact your Region for assistance. Each Region assigns staff to be a contact for DOCLINE support.

If you join or leave a Library Group, please remember to update your Automated Routing Table to reflect the change. During the webinar, we will review how to Update Your Automated Routing Table. The webinar will be recorded. All registrants will receive a link to the recording. Library Groups and Routing Table information is available in the DOCLINE manual. The manual is frequently updated. Please bookmark the link, rather than download a copy, for updated information.

We hope you will join us at the DOCLINE Library Groups and FREESHARE webinar.