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Dragonfly Fall 2002 -- Volume 33, Number 3

First Pacific Northwest Library Joins EFTS

By Susan J. Barnes, Network Coordinator
NN/LM PNR

Virginia Mason Medical Center's Medical Library is the first library in the Pacific Northwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine to begin its participation in the Electronic Fund Transfer System (EFTS).

EFTS-What Is It and Why Should I Care?
An "eft" is the terrestrial phase of an aquatic newt, which is a small salamander. But that's beside the point.

EFTS (Electronic Fund Transfer System) is a transaction-based electronic billing system for interlibrary loan. Libraries that participate in EFTS establish a deposit account and have their charges for lending and costs of borrowing credited and debited each month, based on DOCLINE data. The system reduces the need to create invoices and to process reimbursement checks for interlibrary loans between participants.

Benefits:

• Reduces Costs
• Improves Cash Flow
• Reduces Human Error
• Increases Efficiency
• Provides Management Reports

When Will the Pacific Northwest Join EFTS?
We already have, with Virginia Mason Medical Center, the first EFTS participant in Region 6! Any DOCLINE library in the U.S. is welcome and encouraged to join at any time. In the Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic, and South Central regions almost all DOCLINE libraries are EFTS libraries, and EFTS use is growing in other regions. The National Library of Medicine will enter the system in early 2003; Canadian libraries will be invited to join some time after that.

What If My Library Doesn't Charge for Interlibrary Loans?
Even if your ILL traffic is based primarily on reciprocal agreements or FreeShare, there will always be libraries that will charge you for the documents they send to you-in particular, most resource libraries and the National Library of Medicine. If you are an EFTS library, you will not have to receive or pay bills from libraries that participate in EFTS; your EFTS account will simply be debited.

How Does EFTS Know about My ILLs?
Libraries that charge other EFTS libraries submit Transaction Data Files to the EFTS server at efts.uchc.edu, where lenders' accounts are then credited and borrowers' accounts are debited. If your library uses QuickDoc, ILLIAD, or CLIO, your ILL management system can save your DOCLINE transaction data in a format ready to be transmitted to EFTS. Otherwise, you can use the free EFTS Transaction File Builder program to input your DOCLINE data in EFTS format.

What Libraries Are Participating in EFTS?
Find out at http://nnlm.gov/libinfo/docline/efts.html

OK, How Do I Get Started?

1. Go to http://efts.uchc.edu/forms.html to find the forms you need to complete.
   
2. Fill out a registration form.
   
3. Complete the Memorandum of Agreement.
   
4. Send these completed forms with a deposit of approximately three months' worth of ILL charges, or $100, whichever is greater, to:

   The Electronic Fund Transfer System
   The University of Connecticut Health Center Library
   263 Farmington Avenue
   Farmington CT 06034-4003

For More Information, Visit the EFTS Web Site at: http://efts.uchc.edu

• "EFTS Is Moving Right Along…" PSRML Latitudes. 11(6): November/December 2002, http://nnlm.gov/psr/lat/v11n6/efts.html
• "EFTS Aids ILL Operations." Plains to Peaks Post. 1(2): Summer 2002, http://nnlm.gov/mcr/news/newsletter/2002-2/3.php
• "Routing Tables." E Sources. (5): July-September 2002, http://nnlm.gov/gmr/newsletter/5/doclineupdate.html
• "Electronic Fund Transfer System (EFTS) for Your Library." SEA Currents. 20(2): March/April 2002, http://nnlm.gov/sea/seacurrents/2002/2002n2.html#5
• "Electronic Funds Transfer (EFTS) Arrives in the Midwest." E Sources. (4): April-June 2002, http://nnlm.gov/gmr/newsletter/4/movingfromefts.html
• "What Do Libraries in the Midwest Think of the EFTS Program?." E Sources. (4): April-June 2002, http://nnlm.gov/gmr/newsletter/4/efts.html
• "So, You Think You Got It Bad? We Moved from a Coupon System to EFTS." E Sources. (4): April-June 2002, http://nnlm.gov/gmr/newsletter/4/movingfromefts.html
• "Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTS)." Network News. May/June 2002, http://nnlm.gov/scr/scnn/may-jun02/docline_update.htm
• "EFTS Comes to the Pacific Southwest." PSRML Latitudes. 11(5): September/October 2002, http://nnlm.gov/psr/lat/v11n5/efts_psr.html
• "EFTS (Electronic Funds Transfer System) Increases Staff to Serve New Members, Docline 1.4 Enhancements Help, Too." SEA Currents. 20(5): September/October 2002, http://nnlm.gov/sea/seacurrents/2002/2002n5.html#5
• "The Technical and Management Changes in ILL." Start of Message. (94): December 2001, http://www.tulane.edu/~matas/HSOCLCUG/som/proceedings2001illchanges.htm
  

And See Also:

• Questions and Answers about EFTS, the Electronic Funds Transfer System (http://nnlm.gov/psr/pdf/QAefts.pdf)
• Guide to EFTS in the NN/LM Pacific Southwest Region (http://nnlm.gov/psr/efts.html)

Dragonfly, Fall 2002 - Volume 33, Number 3
(posted on PNRNews on November 13, 2002)

This publication is funded in whole with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. N01-LM-1-3516.

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NN/LM | UW HSL | NN/LM PNR | Contact us: nnlm@u.washington.edu | Revised: November 13, 2002

URL: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/news/200209/efts.html