Lending Rules for the Shared Collection
The Shared Collection is a centrally managed collection available to participating schools.
Its loan limits and reserve rules are managed by ePlatform. They are not replaced by the lending settings configured for your school’s own digital collection.
On this page
- Private vs Shared Collections
- Rules managed by ePlatform
- Your school’s local lending settings
- What readers experience
- Why a local setting did not change ePlatform
- Fair usage questions
- Need help?
Private vs Shared Collections
| Collection | Lending settings | Managed by |
|---|---|---|
| Private Collection | Uses the applicable loan and reserve settings configured for your school’s ePlatform portal. | Your school’s ePlatform administrators |
| Shared Collection | Uses centrally managed loan limits and reserve rules. | ePlatform |
Because the collections use different lending rules, readers may see a different borrowing or reserve experience depending on the collection containing the title.
Rules managed by ePlatform
ePlatform manages the following rules for the Shared Collection:
- loan limits; and
- reserve rules.
These rules are managed centrally and cannot be replaced by changing your school’s local Global Site Settings.
Your school’s local lending settings
Administrators can review the lending settings for their school’s own collection under:
Admin area → Manage Library → Global Site Settings
Within Global Site Settings, review the Loans and Reserves areas.
Changes made here apply to the relevant local collection settings. They do not replace the centrally managed loan limits or reserve rules for ePlatform.
What readers experience
Readers borrow and reserve ePlatform titles through the same ePlatform portal they use for the school’s collection.
When a copy is available, the reader can select Borrow. If no copy is currently available, Reserve may be offered according to the shared collection’s reserve rules.
Readers can review their current loans and reserves from Loans.
Why a local setting did not change ePlatform
If you changed a loan or reserve setting but a Shared Collection title continues to use different rules, check which collection contains the affected title.
A setting changed under Admin area → Manage Library → Global Site Settings does not override the centrally managed rules for Shared Collections.
Test the setting with a title from your school’s own collection when checking a local configuration change.
Fair usage questions
The shared collection uses centrally managed rules so that participating schools can access the collection under the applicable Shared Collection arrangements.
For information about the Shared Collection Fair Usage Policy or the rules currently applied to the shared collection, contact ePlatform Support.
Need help?
If you are unsure which lending rules apply to a title, or have questions about the Shared Collection, contact support@eplatform.co.
Please include:
- your school or library name;
- the affected title and author;
- whether you believe the title is from your school’s private collection or Shared Collection;
- the borrowing or reserve behaviour you are asking about;
- the local setting you reviewed, if applicable; and
- a screenshot of the relevant title or settings page.