RTAC allows us to display real-time locations, call numbers, and statuses (i.e., “Available,” or “Checked Out”) for Catalog items. To set this up, we need to establish a connection to your OPAC via a z39.50 or REST service. If you’re not sure whether you have either of these, we recommend contacting your ILS provider for assistance.
If your institution uses a firewall, you will need to grant EBSCO access to your z39.50 server to set up RTAC for your Catalog. In order to make sure that your RTAC service is uninterrupted, please add the following EBSCO IP address range to your firewall:
IP Details with Wild
Card notation: 140.234.*.*
You should open your z39.50 server’s specific port number in order to allow RTAC to connect to it. If you are not sure what your port number is, we recommend contacting your ILS provider’s support team for assistance.
Please note: Real-time information retrieved via RTAC overwrites the static call number and location mapping set up in questions #7 and #8, as well as the “Copy_Display” column of your Location Lookup Table from question #9. Instead, RTAC will display real-time call numbers directly from your z39.50 / REST server.
Real-Time Availability Checking (RTAC) User Guide:
Here’s an example of what RTAC looks like when enabled in EDS (Classic):
Here’s an example of what RTAC looks like when enabled in EDS (New UI):