ILLiad Setup Guide and Functionality

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The ILLiad integration is developed by ATLAS Systems using the LibKey API and is available to any library who has LibKey API Access. To request an API Key for use in ILLiad, just contact our support desk.

The integration concept is to use LibKey’s fast and precise lookup potential to automate what would otherwise be human effort to evaluate a DOI-bearing article being requested via ILL and to see if holdings are available and if so, to provide a link back to the user indicating that this item is held by the library (or is available as an OpenAccess version of record).

This concept should help minimize ILL staff churn allowing them to focus on more important tasks and providing users with an extremely fast turn around of assistance.

To get started with this integration please see the documentation available over on the ATLAS website.

ILLIAD Integration FAQ

If the article is OA, will users be provided with non-VoR (non-Version of Record) like an accepted manuscript?

No – LibKey’s API in the context of ILLiad integration returns only VoR links to OA material. This differs from “unpaywall integrations” into ILLiad which will provide ANY version of open access it is aware of resulting in users sometimes being linked to poor quality copy (Word documents, etc.) and incomplete, non-peer reviewed versions of the article. This integration will not do this.

If the article does not have a DOI or PMID will the article continue to be reviewed as normal?

Yes - this process is a very fast, seamless check that helps ILL staff quickly fulfill article requests in an automated way. If there is no DOI or PMID, or the LibKey check for availability comes up negative, then the request will continue through the rest of the your established ILLiad workflow.

Our library ILL staff downloads the PDF and uploads it back to the requesting users ILLiad account, even if its subscribed by us or open access. Would this integration help with that process?

It would not create that same experience, but it will create an arguably comparable one which will still up save staff time. In the above described experience, patrons must receive notifications to go to their ILLiad account, sign in, and retrieve the article. With the LibKey integration, ILLiad will email patrons a link that brings them to the LibKey Format Chooser page, which has a link to download the article. So in terms of end-patron experience, the amount of effort to get to an article is the same. However, the LibKey integration removes the time consumed for ILL staff having to find an article that is immediately available from library subscribed or Open Access sources.

Will this integration benefit users who upload an attachment as a “bulk request” of articles if there are DOI/PMID’s in the citations they upload?

No, this integration only benefits single item requests.

Can this integration be scheduled within ILLiad to only run at certain times?

No, the integration itself is not individually adjustable in this way but it can be activated and deactivated with a single click so if you want it turned off for a set period this change is easy to do from within ILLiad.

Does LibKey Nomad need to be installed for the user to take advantage of this integration?

No - this integration is not reliant on LibKey Nomad. While both the LibKey API and LibKey Nomad utilize the LibKey algorithm to function, they are designed for different use cases and function completely independently.

How does this integration benefit from other article level intelligence that LibKey is known for like highlighting retractions, expressions of concern or integration with Cabell’s Problematic Journal data?

If LibKey provides a positive response to ILLiad on the API and thus a link to LibKey.io is generated, when the user is directed there they will see linking options including any article-level intelligence warnings. As such, this is an added benefit to LibKey in this scenario to inform the user about this bit of intelligence at that time which they may not be aware of!