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Interlend Conference 2022 - SWRLS report by Naomi Hobb


Report for SWRLS Members by Naomi Hobb, Bibliographic Services, Somerset Libraries and LibrariesWest


1. Rapid ILL-workflows: Carl Jones from Edinburgh University


Carl Jones was taking about the implementation of Rapid ILL, how it works and the pro and cons of the new system. The system was started in 2020 and took 6 months to work in full. Rapid ILL is a system that deals with inter library loan requests for electronic copies of chapters of books or articles; it does not deal with requests for a physical copy of a book.


The borrower (student) places the request online via a link on the library catalogue. There are 2 forms: one for articles and one for book chapters. The only problem has been encouraging the borrower to place an ISSN/ISBN. Staff can log on and edit the request or there is an option for staff not editing the request at all if the right limits/parameters are set up during the installation. This is an advantage for saving staff time, especially with staff shortages and staff increasingly working hybrid.

Rapid ILL automatically checks if there is already a copy available if not, or it cannot match the ISSN/ISBN then it appears as bad citation or rejected by partner. The main advantage of Rapid ILL is the speed in which requests are supplied. Some are supplied within minutes with the supply time averaging 13.5 hours. This provides the borrower with an efficient and better inter library loan system.


Another advantage is that Rapid ILL searches several sites that provide items for inter library loans, such as British Library and OCLC. Edinburgh university saw the number of requests fulfilled from 52.2 % to 93 %.


One thing I personally noted is that Carl Jones and most speakers emphasised the issue of the significant drop in number of requests been placed since Covid. This is a concern with budgets been potentially at risk due to the current economic downturn.


2. Rapid ILL and Worldshare: Alison Dyer from the University of East Anglia


UEA migrated from Aleph to OCLC Worldshare in 2019 and started to use Rapid ILL in April 2020. The main reason they moved to Rapid ILL was the increase in the use of inter library loan requests from researchers due the rising costs of journals. Alison stated that one huge advantage of rapid ILLs was the staff time saved as there is no staff processing of requests. The automation features have enabled requests to be sent straight out potential lending locations and proven sender functionality means the article when found goes directly to the user. This also provides a quicker, better customer experience not only due to the quick supply time but also the fact requests can be placed on 24/7.

A big change for UEA deciding to implement Rapid ILL is that the budgets have been integrated into one rather than separate facility budgets. Alison stated the other benefits have been removal of barriers to borrowers, a simpler and more efficient administration and the cut to costs that have been passed onto the students. The disadvantages have been the number of teething problems when setting up Rapid ILL and having to re-educate the users how to use the new system.


3. NULJ-National Union List of Journals: Stuart Glover from University Hospitals, Leicester

Stuart gave a talk on the history of NULJ based in NHS Leicester Hospitals. NULJ was created in 1987 as a nursing and print catalogue and by 1996 it had 102 members. In 2004 the catalogue moved online and 2017 it launched its current form. You can join for less than £60 a year and is a great source for any requests around medical, nursing and health articles.


4. Document supply at NICE (National Institute of Health and Care Excellence): by Wesley Hubbard

NICE main role is to improve outcomes for people using health and care services by:

· Producing evidence-based guides and advice for health, public health, and social care practitioners.

· Developing quality standards, as well as advice and guidance.


They have small libraries in London and Manchester. They have limited journal collections and 130 e-books. They have access to databases Medline and Embase.

They provide the following services to users:

· Teaching information skills

· Current awareness bulletins

· Copyright advice

· Access to NHS knowledge and hub

· Around 1,500 journal subscriptions

· Advice programs

Staff (non-library) process receive requests via document supply and process requests manually.


5. Alma resource sharing: A hub for multiple on demand services. Talk given by Lee Blythe, Amanda Foster (Northumbria University) and Amanda Foster (Leeds University)


Northumbria University has 32,000 students and campuses on London, Newcastle and Amsterdam. The biggest advantages to Alma is it is free at the point of need and encourages the system to search everything. Alma has access when searching to the following sources:

· OCLC Worldshare

· Library hub discovery

· British Library

· Rapid ILL

· Whelf ISO


A student places a request either on a web form where no log on is required or on an automated form where a log in is required. A request placed on a web form is then transferred onto Alma including adding rotas by staff. Any request places via the automated form is processed instantly by Alma. Alma then decides where requests go and everything from notifications to sourcing the request is all automated. Alma deals with requests for photocopy and physical items; whilst Rapid ILL deals with requests for electronic copies.

When joining Alma staff can decide on branding and customising templates. So when an item arrives Alma produces a notification to the user that the item has arrived or can be accessed. Staff put on due dates and costs etc. They then can print off a slip via a printer. What the staff like about Alma is:

· Automation

· Clear facets

· Monthly updates/ fixes

· Analytic dashboard

The dashboards are found in resource sharing analytics and at Northumbria were set up by internal data analyst staff. The dashboards show feature statistics such as graphs showing requests per month. Then the second dashboard have more breakdowns i.e requests numbers per faculty. The third dashboard shows breakdowns of ILL partners, number of requests and number fulfilled.


6. Talk by Rebecca Turpin

Alma was introduced at Leeds Brotherton in 2019 and all records were integrated into Alma. Leeds joined Whelf and Alma ILL lending in September 2021, this was followed with Rapid ILL in January 2022. Requests come into the unassigned tab and then are moved by a staff member into the assigned tab. If the request appears on the locate failed tab this means Alma has failed to match with the details on the request. A staff member then clicks on locate option and add locations to the rota or amends the details. When a request arrives or sent electronically the item is dealt with via received tab. When dealing with outgoing requests physical copies come up with a class number, a staff member finds the item, scans the barcode and it is sent with a date. Alma changes the item to shipped and automatically sends an e-mail to the requesting location. With electronic requests the article is downloaded as a PDF format and sent digitally.


7. House of Commons library: Talk given by Gregory Howard and Annabel Gladstone


In parliament there are two libraries: the House of Commons library and House of Lords library, plus 6 member suite rooms. The libraries are available to members only. There is a general enquiry service and inter library loan service. Many of their enquiries are passed onto the libraries research sections. Enquires from the public are dealt with by a different department. All library research is publicly available online.

Inter library loan requests have dopped since Covid but slightly starting to increase. They have a reciprocal arrangement with the House of Lords library, Westminster public libraries and the Courts of Justice library and The London Library. When looking for a lending location staff also search British Library, public libraries, academic libraries and world cat. A standard loan is 8 weeks and each book received as in inter library loan is recorded on their catalogue. There are no overdue charges but they do issues charges for any lost items.


8. British Library Updates by Jo Cox


Boston Spa is undergoing major renovation works currently with the demolishing of the old and construction of a new records building. From September 2020 lower floors will be moving and the construction of building 6 will commence. With 70% of the collection in storage, stock is currently being moved daily from trolleys to shelves resulting in sometimes requests being delayed. Other work includes a new grand source heat pump and LED light replacements on the upper floors.


The other major update is the price increases from 1st August, see Pricing - The British Library (bl.uk) for new prices. Jo also warned that postal costs may also have to be increased as well. Jo also stated one of the reasons for the price increase was the number of requests has dropped since Covid. BL on demand requests have dropped overall by 6 % last year. Another change is that the Adobe digital edition and pay CFP pilot have been stopped. Looking forward, BL on demand are looking into the supply of e-books in their 2030 vision.


9. Pro-Quest e-book lending: Talk given by Whitney Murphy (Ex-Libris)


Why whole e-book?

· Content regardless of budget or space

· Can fulfil niche requests

· Huge content was acquired in e-book format during the pandemic


Expected outcomes

· Gather information to compare whole e-books inter library loans to print book inter library loans

· Co-ordinate trilateral discussions between libraries, publishers and vendors

· Define requirements for a scalable whole e-book ILL model.

· Use data from pilot, along with customer interviews to define model.


ILL pilot

· What is it? Using e-book central, whole e-book ILL is available for libraries to lend/borrow e-books

· Participating? 100 US libraries and 6 publishers are part of the pilot.

· How long is the pilot? Lunched November 2021 and will last 12 months.

· Publishers involved are Oxford University press, Bloomsbury, Taylor & Francis group, Duke Uni press, Nyo press and Sub Degide Pallas.

· Library cohorts include prospector library system, New York University, new school and California state libraries.


Included in the pilot

· V intra-cohert libraries

· Owned titles

· All licence options

· Reading, printing and copying text plus offline downloads


Excluded from the pilot

· Cross-cohort lending

· Subscriptions and unnamed DDA pool title

· Highlighting, note taking and bookmarks as they required users accounts

· No fees during ILL pilot

·

Pilot functionality

· Lending libraries need to activate their eligible whole e-books ILL titles in their ILL LMS platforms

· ProQuest works with each lending library to determine preferred titles list format; currently sending title lists in marc records excel and working on support for other options.

· The lending library determine which of their eligible titles they will activate and put into system.

· There is a link on the library catalogue which the borrower can fill a request form and click submit.

· The lending library visits library central and searches for title, ILL message and link are present for eligible titles for pilot participants only.

· The lending library selects borrowing library from dropdown list.

· The URL is generated, and lending library will share this with borrowing library. At this point the lending location lose access to that title.

· Upon clicking, the borrower bypasses login screen and lands onto title detail pages where they can read the item online or download to read offline.

· The borrower has access to the e-book for 2 weeks then the title automatically expires with no renewal option.

There have been 450 loans so far covering 30 subjects and 77 % of these requests were for titles published between 2011-19. Of the participants the breakdown for borrower groups are as follows:

· 47 % university students

· 26 % doctoral students

· 10 % associated colleges students

· 8 % public library users

· 9% college students



Next steps

· Continue student discovery

· Identify requirements for scalable solutions

· Define plans for future this year


10. Article Galaxy for Academic (reprints)

Founded in 2006 Article Galaxy provides a solution that simplifies and streamlines how organisations discover, acquire and manage scientific articles and data. They employ 154 staff who serve 1,700 customers from research driven organisations including universities. Article Galaxy provides access to 800,0000 books and 40, 000 journal titles. They deliver an article within 1 minute and charge $5.30 cent per article.


The spokesperson stated the advantages are access to collections including BL, National Library of Medicine, Technischnade and more. They are tailored to academic supplements, subscriptions and ILL services. Other advantages includes time savings, cuts costs and improving the user’s experience. They do have a website if further interested in what they do. Many of the other participants who were at the conference stated that they have this service and it is very fast and efficient.


The next conference is in November 2022




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