This is an announcement regarding the launch of EFTS Custom Pricing Groups for lending libraries.
A primary objective of the EFTS Powered by MLA platform is to help lending libraries automate their billing. To that end:
- MLA and NLM developed an API connection, so that all DOCLINE transactions between EFTS libraries are imported nightly into the EFTS system.
- EFTS also imports the DOCLINE library group information and associates a specific ILL pricing table for each of those groups, in addition to the default ILL pricing table.
- For each transaction, EFTS computes the lending price by identifying the lowest price, including taking into account the maximum price specified by the borrower in their DOCLINE request.
Assuming lending libraries have completed their pricing tables, the computed prices have been accurate, except in the instances where two (or more) libraries have a reciprocal agreement but that agreement is outside of a DOCLINE group. In those situations, EFTS had been unable to take that special agreement into account, resulting in unbilled transactions at the wrong price.
Lending libraries have been able to override the price before billing by either importing an EFTS file (e.g., from ILLiad) or manually changing the price. In a situation where the loan is at $0, systems such as ILLiad have not included those transactions in their export, resulting in a large number of unbilled transactions needing manual correction. June 10's informational email on unbilled transactions indicated that any transaction over 180 days would be marked as system-approved at $0, so that will resolve the backlog of unbilled transactions as time moves on.
Going forward, lending libraries who have to apply special pricing to one or more libraries, and that cannot do this via a DOCLINE group, can now create a custom pricing group with an associated ILL pricing table.
Here is how:
- In EFTS, click on Settings (top right)
- In Settings, click on "Customer Pricing Groups"
- In Customer Pricing Groups, click "Create Group," then name your group (which you can edit later), and save it
- You can create as many custom groups as you want: those will appear in the list (in Customer Pricing Groups)
- You can add and remove libraries by picking their LIBid in the dropdown of all libraries in DOCLINE (EFTS members and non-members) and pressing "Add Member." If you made a mistake, you can remove a member of the group by clicking on the "x" next to their LIBid
- For each group you create, a new ILL Pricing Table is created, which you need to fill out (that too is in the Settings menu)
If, for example, you have a list of libraries that you do not charge, and which aren't already in a DOCLINE group (e.g., FREESHARE), create a group, call it whatever you want as it is only visible to you, add those libraries, go to the pricing table, and fill out 0s in all the columns. Done!
A few important items to note:
- Custom Pricing Groups are local groups to your library only: all libraries in the group should create their own local group and fill out the associated pricing table.
- If your group is already a DOCLINE group, you don't need to create a custom group: it's best to have DOCLINE continue to manage the group membership, which will be reflected in all library settings.
- The creation of Custom Pricing Groups and completion of ILL pricing table is not retroactive: only transactions going forward will take that table into account.
Suggested action item: if you are part of a group of libraries with reciprocal pricing (and not already registered as a DOCLINE group), communicate with the entire group to make sure all members, including you, create a custom group and enter the correct pricing in the ILL table.
The faster you create those groups and complete the associated pricing table, the faster we will get to 100% accuracy in price calculations, which will then result in fewer refund requests, and significantly less time for lending libraries to review and adjust pricing. That will result in less admin time for you.
Ultimately, when our analysis of the EFTS data will indicate near perfect level of accurate pricing, we will give you the option to switch to automatic billing for your loans, which will eliminate the need for you to upload EFTS files or enter information manually, and deal with outlier pricing issues via a refund.
Thank you for your support of the EFTS Powered by MLA platform.
Please contact Stacy at efts@mail.mlahq.org for support on EFTS.
Regards,
EFTS Powered by MLA