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Website Tutorial: Managing Resource Requests on Betacell.org

Last revision: May 6, 2011 by Thomas Houfek

Contact us with any comments, suggestions, or corrections for this tutorial.

Scope of this tutorial

Any registered member of Betacell.org can use the Resource Request System to request items related to some Resources in the BCBC Resource Collections. This tutorial explains how to make these Requests.

Overview of Betacell.org's Resource Request System

Betacell.org's Resource Request System was built to facilitate the physical exchange of reagents related to certain types of Resources from the BCBC Resource Collections. In version 4.4 of the website (April 2011) the system was expanded to include all types of Resources, including ones with no physical, shippable items associated with them (e.g. Protocols, Functional Genomics Studies, and some Miscellaneous Resources.) For these Resources what one requests is data.

Our aim is to encourage sharing of both tangible and intangible Resources by providing a system that helps investigators agree to mutually agreeable sharing terms. For instance:

  • A laboratory frequently requires a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) before it will transfer a reagent to another research group.
  • Investigators frequently have reason to negotiate matters related to publication, attribution, etc.

We assiduously avoid calling the Resource Request System an "ordering system." In a sense it is an ordering system. However, there is no financial accounting aspect to it. Rather, the system is built to expedite a negotiation process between researchers, and to provide a tracking system that serves both the requesters and suppliers of Resources.

Extending the Resource Request System to accomodate intangible data Resources has some consequences that demand explanation. First, there are currently two ways that someone is given access to an item related to your workspace's Resource when a member of your Workspace fills the Request:

  • If the Resource is a Functional Genomics Study, the Genomics team (through which such Resources are contributed to the BCBC Resource Collections) is notified by email that the requester should be given access to the study data. They will then contact the requester with instructions on how to access the Resource, typically by file transfer.
  • If the Resource is a Protocol or a Miscellaneous Resource, Betacell.org automatically and immediately grants access to documents associated with the Resource. Links to download these will appear in the Resource's Detail View for any user who has made a Resource Request that has been filled.

Also note that presently the requester is required to submit shipping and billing information for intangible data Resources. This is a slightly confusing consequence of expanding the old system to embrace Resources that do not need to be physically shipped. In the future we may eliminate the requirement; in the meantime we apologize for the confusion.

Managing Inventory Items for tangible Resources

Strictly speaking, what is Requested is not the Resource per se, but some item related to the Resource. The distinction is important because certain Resources may be represented by multiple reagents of different types. For example, when a Resource Request is made for a Mouse resource what is being requested may be a batch of live mice, or it may be a cell line, etc. Each mode in which the Resource is available is a distinct Inventory Item associated with the Resource. Inventory Items may be managed by any members of the contributor Workspace as well as by any members of any co-contributor Workspace. If no Inventory Items are defined for a tangible Resource, it may not be requested by other members.

As discussed above, for data Resources (Functional Genomics Studies, Protocols, and some Miscellaneous Resources) what is requested is all the documents or data associated with the Resource. Therefore an Inventory Item is automatically created for these kinds of Resources when they are created in a Workspace.

For other, tangible Resources there are two ways Inventory Items are created:

  • In the Repositories step of the Resource Wizard. This is covered in the Resource Wizard Repositories step section of the tutorial Annotating Resources on Betacell.org
  • Through a Managing Inventory Items popup on the Lab Resources (or Core Resources page) of a Workspace which is a contributor or cocontributor of the Resource. This is covered immediately below.

All Resources contributed by a Workspace are listed on that Workspace's Lab Resources page of a Laboratory Workspace (or the Core Resources page for a Core Facility Workspace). The Resource listing looks as shown in Figure A:

Figure A.

To manage the Inventory Items associated with a Resource, click on the leftmost button (the one with the building-and-pencil icon.) The number that appears next to the button is the number of Inventory Items currently asssociated with the Resource.

Clicking the button should raise the Resource Inventory popup shown in Figure B:

Figure B.

To create a new Inventory Item, fill out the following form fields and submit by clicking the the button:

  • Stock Number (optional). If the Repository has a stock number identifying the Resource or related item, it should be entered here.
  • State (optional). Some Resources are available as reagents in different states. If the Resource is of a type for which we have defined states, you may select them from the drop-down list. If the Resource is available in a state that is not listed, please contact us so that we can add that option to the list.
  • Availability Notes (optional). Here you may enter any notes concerning the availability of the item.

You may associate multiple Inventory Items with a Resource: with multiple entries you can indicate that your Workspace makes the Resource available in multiple states (possibly under different Stock Numbers, etc.)

For existing Inventory Items, these details may be edited by clicking the paper-and-pencil icon alongside the appropriate item in the list. Note however that once an Inventory Item has been Requested, it may no longer be deleted. (You may use the Availability Notes to let users know if you no longer make it available, however.)

Once an Inventory Item is created for a workspace Resource, any member able to view the Resource will also be able to Request the Resource. Now we will explain how you are notified of these Requests.

Responding to Resource Request System notifications

When a user makes a Resource Request, a notification is sent to the administrators of the workspace. For Core Facility workspaces this includes the Core Director and all Core Managers. For Laboratory workspaces this includes the Leader and all Delegates. The email will contain a link to the Request Detail Page. (discussed below)

Also, all workspace members will see the number of Pending and Unfilled Requests reported by the Requests for Resources contributed by your Workspaces widget on their Dashboard, as shown in Figure C:

Figure C.

Observe that the tallies are hyperlinked. Clicking these will take you to the appropriate tab of the workspace's Requests for your Resources page, where Requests may be reviewed and managed. New Requests, along with any Requests for which both parties have not yet agreed to the terms of the Request, will appear in the Pending Requests tab, shown in Figure D:

Figure D.

Observe now that each listing has a hyperlinked RQ# (It appears in the leftmost column.) This is the Request ID that uniquely identifies a Request. Clicking on the link takes you to its Request Detail page, where you will perform all the actions related to managing the Request. The Request Detail page is shown in Figure E:

Figure E.

The Detail View always contains the following elements:

  • At the top of the view is a navigation "cookie crumb" which you can follow back to the appropriate tab of the workspace's Requests for your Resources page (i.e. to the Pending tab if you are looking at a Pending Request.) Clicking on Resource Requests always takes you to the Pending tab. Clicking on the name of the workspace always takes you back to the workspace's Overview page.
  • Immediately below the cookie crumb is the request summary, identical to what was displayed for this Request in the list on your Requests for your Resources page.
  • Below the request summary is a pane with two tabs. The Contact Information tab just recapitulates the shipping and billing information that you entered, and probably does not need any further explanation. The Request Tools tab has a few elements that should be explained:
    • In the upper left hand corner of the tab are buttons for any action you may take concerning the Request in its present state. In this example, the Request has been made but the supplier has not yet responded it any way. The actions available to the supplier in this case are , and .
    • The Request agreement status is a simple report on the current status of negotiation of terms for the Request.
    • At the bottom of the tab appears a list of all the Notifications associated with the Request. Notifications are automatically inserted here when terms are commmunicated, when the Request goes from one state to another, and when either party sends a message.

Attaching MTAs and sending the terms of the Request

You start the process of responding to a Request by sending the terms under which your workspace agrees to fill the Request. Clicking invokes a form for doing this, shown in Figure F:

Figure F.

You may agree to fill the request without requiring any Terms. To do this, change the radio button selection to Not Required, and click the button. The Request will pass into the Unfilled state, indicating that you have agreed to fill the Request, but have not done so yet. The user that made the Request will receive an email notifying them of this. If you are ready to actually fill the Request, continue to the Filling the Request section of this tutorial.

Note that if MTAs have been associated with an Inventory Item, they will be shown as in Figure G:

Figure G.

If you need to require MTAs not shown here, you may still do so by returning to the Resource Inventory popup. However, only the head of the workspace (the P.I. or Core Director) may upload the MTAs that may be associated with Resources using the popup, and this is beyond the scope of this tutorial.

Before you hit , you must place a check mark next to each MTA to be required as one of the Terms of the Request. (You may require different MTAs under different circumstances.)

You may also use the Additional terms information text field to specify other terms.

When you click (having indicated that terms are required) the proverbial ball goes back to the requester's court. That user will receive an email notification communicating your Terms. They now have to indicate that they agree to the terms. When they do this, the administrators of your Workspace will be sent an email notification in turn.

When this happens (assuming the Terms really have been met, and signed MTAs have been transmitted to you), it is time to for a member of your workspace to indicate that you agree to fill the Request.

Agreeing to the Request

Once the requester agrees to the Terms of a Request, you should make sure that you have received signed copies of any MTAs you required. When you are ready to agree to fill the Request, return to the Request Detail page. A new action button should be available: , as showin in Figure H:

Figure H.

This will bring up a form which allows you to enter an optional message to accompany the notification of you agreement. When you click the button, the Request will pass into the Unfilled state, indicating that you have agreed to fill the Request, but have not done so yet. The user that made the Request will receive an email notifying them of this. If you are ready to actually fill the Request, continue to the Filling the Request section of this tutorial.

Filling the Request

After both parties have registered their agreement concerning the Terms of the Request, the Request is in the Unfilled state. This is because the supplier may or may not be in a position to immediately fill a Request to which they have agreed (i.e., they may not be ready to actually ship a reagent.)

When you are ready to fill a Request, find it in the list of Requests in the Unfilled tab of the Requests for your Resources page, shown in Figure I:

Figure I.

Click on the RQ# to return to the Request Detail page. You should now have an action button labelled . Clicking this button will raise the form shown in Figure J:

Figure J.

Here you may record the quantity of the requested item that you are sending. This is optional information that you only need to record if doing so is useful to you. The quantity can refer to any kind of unit, as appropriate to the way you ship the reagent. In the case of data Resources, it will not even apply.

You may also enter a message to accompany the notification that the user requesting the Resource will receive when you hit .

After the Request is filled

After a Request is filled, there is typically nothing more to do. However, either party may still concerning the Request. This facilitates ongoing dialog about the subsequent use of the Resource, any difficulty with shipments, etc.

If you experience undue delays or difficulties with any aspect of managing Resource Requests, please contact us so that we may assist you.

This concludes the tutorial Managing Resource Requests on Betacell.org