RACER FAQ
What is RACER? RACER is the name of the VDX interlibrary loan system currently being implemented in OCUL member libraries (Ontario Council of University Libraries). RACER is an acronym for "rapid access to collections by electronic requesting". What is VDX? RACER is based on Fretwell-Downing Inc.'s VDX (Virtual Document Exchange) software. The VDX software provides the simultaneous search interface to OCUL library catalogues and the Web-based interlibrary loan requesting and management system that Ontario university libraries are implementing. How is it funded? RACER is one component of the Scholars Portal project. Another component of the Scholars Portal Project is the mounting and access to ejournals through a common Ontario server. Scholars Portal is a cooperative venture, partly funded by the Ontario Information Infrastructure and Ontario Universities, to expand access to scholarly resources. When will RACER be implemented? It is anticipated that TUG will go into production with RACER on June 18th, along with Windsor, Ryerson, Brock, and Western. Other OCUL libraries will follow in phases. What is the relationship between the OCUL catalogues search interface and the ILL requesting and management system? Anyone can search the library catalogues of Ontario universities and selected other catalogues using the Z39.50 simple or advanced search options. Current faculty, students, and staff of Ontario universities who are logged on to RACER can submit an ILL request for a title retrieved in a search. When ILL staff authorize such a request, an internal search engine called DocFind does another search of the catalogues for the requested title. The DocFind search targets specific lending libraries according to rules determined by each institution. Will the users of the TUG Books and Articles Retrieval Service (TUGbars) use RACER? TUG books requests made through the holds and recalls options in TRELLIS will continue unchanged. TUG articles requests will now be made through a TUG documents option. This option will present users with a new TRELLIS form. When the user submits this form, its contents will be received in RACER. TUGdoc staff will process these requests on RACER. Users requesting TUGdoc articles will have no need to log onto
RACER. They may wish to log on in order to track the status of their request. However, this will not normally be necessary, as users will receive email notices when their material is available. Will interlibrary loan patrons use RACER? Yes, patrons initiating an interlibrary loan request will log onto RACER. They can search the OCUL catalogues and submit a request for a title retrieved in a search, or they can fill in a blank form. Simply filling in a blank form is similar to what they do now. The other option, requesting a title found through a search, saves the user having to key in the information. In this option, the form is “auto-populated” by the contents of the record retrieved. They’ll still have to supply the volume and issue, in the case of journal articles. But it will likely save them some time. It may be a matter of user preference. Some may prefer not to perform the search. If they’re sure of the information, they may want to simply enter the author, title, etc. Will RACER users require instruction? RACER users may require some instruction. For example, they may need some guidance with regard to catalogue selection. It might also be useful for them to know that their request is for a particular title, and will not necessarily come from the location where they found it in their search. They may also be interested to learn how to access their record in order to check on the status of their request. The TUG VDX group is collaborating with the TUG OPAC group to provide instructional materials. Where will users go to access RACER? There will be links to RACER from different places within TRELLIS. In many cases, the links will first take the patron to an intermediary page that is being developed, to encourage patrons to consider questions such as how quickly they need an item before they proceed to place an ILL request. Library websites can also provide direct links to RACER.