Collaborate to launch a new consortial borrowing solution

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) has a long history of collaboration, particularly with resource sharing. When it came time to improve how they share their collections, BTAA members engaged in a lot of visioning to figure out the next best idea. In 2023, the BTAA decided to partner with OCLC to implement OCLC Resource Sharing for Groups—a move that has significantly improved their operations and expanded visibility of their collections. A core team of OCLC, Atlas Systems, and BTAA staff collaborated to launch the solution across all 14 BTAA institutions.

“All of us in the BTAA use ILLiad to manage our requests, and the fact that OCLC’s Resource Sharing for Groups seamlessly integrates with it and the global WorldShare ILL network has been extremely helpful,” said Brynne Norton, Head of Resource Sharing & Reserves at the University of Maryland Libraries, a member of the BTAA. “These integrations also allow for modular workflows, opening up more possibilities for our libraries with multiple consortial commitments.” 

For BTAA library users, the solution enables them to search the collective collection of the group and experience improved fill rates and faster turnaround times, including faster delivery of e-resources.

Execute advanced automation features

One of the major advantages of Resource Sharing for Groups is the enhanced automation. Requests can now be routed from ILLiad through the automated request manager, streamlining operations and reducing manual intervention.  

Other automation features, such as the enhanced requestability feature, work behind the scenes to find the best possible lender within the BTAA group for an item by assessing factors like whether the item is on the shelf, the format, loan policies, and turnaround times. By leveraging historical request data, the system identifies which libraries are the fastest at delivering the item and adds them to the lender string. This leads to 90-95% of requests being filled by the first lender, resulting in higher fill rates and, most importantly, faster delivery times for the BTAA’s library users.

“The automation has been extremely helpful for our workflows. It significantly reduces the amount of time ILL staff spend manually sending out multiple requests for an item,” Norton said. 

BTAA libraries now also benefit from improved request processing, with features like the automatic addition of call numbers and the shelving location to requests, allowing the requests to be managed much more efficiently. ILL staff can get more work done with less effort.

Examine policy harmonization

“This initiative also prompted us to examine additional opportunities for policy harmonization in our resource sharing agreement with the Big Ten. We have renewed our commitment to treat all patrons of the Big Ten as though each patron attends our institution,” Brynne said.

This renewed focus on policy harmonization to streamline resource sharing across its member institutions ensures that all patrons within the BTAA are treated equally, regardless of their home institution, and fosters a more cohesive environment. The harmonized policies emphasize sharing as much as possible, including bound journals and reference books, while considering tiered access for special collections and off-site materials. This approach not only enhances efficiency, but also serves as a potential model for other consortia looking to improve their resource-sharing practices.

Watch the video of the panel discussion from OCLC’s Resource Sharing Community Breakfast during the ALA Annual 2024 Conference in San Diego.

Location

• College Park, Maryland, USA

Library at a glance

• Is the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore area
  
• Serves 37,000 part-time and full-time students and faculty
  
• Has over 6.7 million titles in their collection, including online books, journals, archival manuscripts, photos, recordings, and books, and easy access to 100+ million titles in the combined collections of the libraries of the Big Ten