Available with the Vega Discover October 2026 release, an integrated Interlibrary Loan workflow for both Sierra and Polaris libraries that have a WorldCat Discovery subscription expands resource-sharing options and allows patrons and staff to discover and request materials held by libraries beyond your catalog. In the ILL search, WCD titles are returned inside Vega Discover, simplifying the interlibrary loan process. Requests for materials are passed to the ILS ILL requests queue in Sierra and Polaris for review and fulfillment by ILL librarians.
Configuration settings allow each member library to control whether the WCD search option displays in their collection site and whether ILL requests are allowed. The workflow can also be set to display only for Staff Users if the library wants to maintain tighter control over ILL requesting.
Note that the Vega Discover’s Patron Assist functionality also allows staff users to place ILL requests on behalf of patrons during Patron Assist sessions.
Provide a more complete search experience
Patrons can begin their search in Vega Discover and gain visibility into a broader network of library resources, helping them locate specialized materials, hard-to-find titles, and items not available locally.
Support resource sharing and interlibrary loan
When an item isn’t available in the local collection, patrons can expand their search beyond their local library and place an ILL request, making it easier to support interlibrary loan and resource-sharing services.
Workflow customization
Libraries and librarians have full control of the display of WCD searching, who can place interlibrary loan requests, and how to handle the requests on the ILS side through acquisition or ILL processes.
We asked Matt Hammermeister, Director at Pinnacle Library Cooperative, what he thinks about this integration:
“We’re very excited to see this feature get added to Discover. The ability to search WorldCat and place holds directly through Vega Discover has been a long-awaited feature for us. This functionality has existed in the Polaris PowerPAC for years, and our patrons have grown to love it. Requesting materials directly from WorldCat expands the scope of what our libraries can offer, and placing this functionality in Discover creates a seamless experience for our patrons while continuing to leverage Polaris’ ILL functionality to save staff time.”
With this new Interlibrary Loan integration, Vega Discover expands discovery beyond local collections while maintaining the simple, familiar search experience patrons already know. Whether searching for specialized research materials, hard-to-find titles, or items not held locally, patrons can discover and access more resources directly within the Vega Discover search experience.
Available with the Vega Discover October 2026 release. If your library has an active WCD subscription OCLC requires that you submit this form OCLC Mutual, Customer Access Authorization Form (Innovative Vega) 1.docx to legal@oclc.org so that they can enable the WCD Search API access for this integration.
Contact your account team to learn more about enabling WorldCat integration for your library.