MLA LAUNCHES PLANS FOR NEW EFTS PLATFORM In May 2019, the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) which had been operating the Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTS) since 1996, announced that it would sunset its EFTS operations on December 31, 2019 (a date that was later changed to December 31, 2020). EFTS online billing system for interlibrary loan (ILL) transactions collects fees from borrowing libraries on behalf of the lending libraries, and pays the lenders, minus transaction fees. The National Library of Medicine's (NLM) automated ILL request routing and referral system, DOCLINE, provides document delivery service among libraries in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. In response to concerns voiced by the system user libraries, the Medical Library Association (MLA) and NLM announce that they would work together develop a new and enhanced platform to assure continuity of EFTS services. A “kickstarter” plan, requiring a minimum of 750 user commitments to a $275 activation fee and to a "user agreement" from MLA, was needed to launch the development and implementation of the new EFTS platform; this threshold happily was reached in November 2019, well ahead of the January 10, 2020 deadline set by the MLA.
Healthline
Newsletter of the Hospital Library Services Program Long Island Library Resources Council
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Volume 33 Number 1 ISSN: 0887-3739
Winter 2020
March/April 2016 Page 2
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The LILRC HealthLine is published 4 times a year by the staff of the Hospital Library Services Program. Editor: Sally Stieglitz sstieglitz@lilrc.org
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