Tag Archives: resource sharing

Indiana resource sharing update – May 2024

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A lot of positive things have been happening in resource sharing these past few months, so we wanted to provide an update on how books are currently moving around the state.

InfoExpress courier service
We are pleased to report that the InfoExpress Courier Service, currently operated by Indianapolis’s NOW Courier, has almost completely recovered, and over 90% of expected stops are being made weekly. The Indiana State Library truly appreciates everyone’s patience and willingness to help with the recovery process, whether it was reporting missed stops, or visiting the Indianapolis warehouse to collect items.

The renewal period is open for participation for the 2024-2025 service year, with registrations being due June 1. Claims for lost materials are still being collected for any materials that were lost last summer during the courier transition. Indiana State Library staff encourage any libraries with extra shipping bags to return those to the State Library at their convenience, as supplies are running low. Finally, please let the InfoExpress coordinator know if your library will be closed for any portion of the summer.

Discovery to Delivery Conference
Plans are underway for this year’s Discovery to Delivery Conference, tentatively scheduled for Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. Two big changes this year will include a change of venue – Ivy Tech Community College – Bloomington – and a new virtual attendance option for many sessions. State Library staff are happy to be working with members of ALI and their Resource Sharing Committee on plans for the conference. A save the date announcement will be shared widely soon, as well as a call for proposals for conference sessions for anyone interested in presenting.

SRCS
The current SRCS contract with Auto-Graphics, Inc. expires Sept. 30, and the Indiana Department of Administration is currently completing the request for proposals – also known as an  RFP –  process for the continuation of the service which is required to be bid out periodically. A committee of State Library staff and volunteers from public and academic libraries statewide have reviewed the proposals, have participated in product demonstrations and have submitted recommendations to IDOA. The results of this RFP are still forthcoming, and the State Library will notify libraries about any upcoming changes to the service or its providers as soon as they are known.

Evergreen
Evergreen Indiana continues to grow, most recently welcoming the Morrisson-Reeves, Jasonville and Owensville Public Libraries, for a total of 132 of Indiana’s 236 public libraries sharing a catalog and transiting materials between each other.

The consortium also welcomes Courtney Brown, previously the Indiana State Library’s Southeast regional coordinator, as the new Evergreen Indiana Consortium director. We truly thank Ruth Davis for all her years of service and dedication to the consortium and Resource Sharing Committee, and wish her well in Virginia!

This blog post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office.

Discovery to Delivery 2023!

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The Indiana State Library and the Academic Libraries of Indiana will be hosting the 13th annual Discovery to Delivery conference, a free one-day in-person conference dedicated to resource sharing. This year’s theme is “Exploring New Pathways to Sharing,” and will take place on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET.


The agenda includes updates relating to resource sharing services hosted by the Indiana State Library, including Evergreen Indiana, as well as updates by vendors, including OCLC and Auto-Graphics. Scott Garrison, executive director of MCLS, will present the keynote address “The State of Resource Sharing Today: From Pain Points Toward Potential.” During his keynote, Scott will discuss the current and potential future state of library resource sharing and will engage Indiana’s resource sharing community in a look at topics including resource sharing in Indiana and Michigan, current and emerging technology and other developments, current pain points for libraries and desired future directions.

Breakout sessions include presentations Abby Chumin from the Talking Books division at the Indiana State Library, who will discuss the different methods of delivery of library materials for library users with a print disability, and Holli Moseman and Melissa Gustafson, from Indiana State University, who will present on how ISU ILL works with other library units with the goal of providing better services to ISU patrons and other libraries. Please check out the full agenda here.

D2D is open to all Indiana libraries – public, academic, school, special, institutional and more! Register here for free! Registration must be completed by Friday, Sept. 29, to be guaranteed a lunch. Location and parking information can be found here.

Please send any questions about D2D to the Conference Committee.

This blog post was written by Stephanie Asberry, deputy director of public and statewide services at the Indiana State Library.

Resource sharing in Indiana libraries

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There are 236 public library systems and nearly 90 academic libraries in Indiana. Most have their own catalogs and own their own materials. However, for the benefit of their readers, most of these libraries participate in at least one method of resource sharing. Resource sharing, or interlibrary loan as it is sometimes called, is when one library provides materials for users of another library. For example, if you visit your small town’s public library and can’t find any books about 3D game design, your library can probably borrow several from another library within a few days. Or, if you’re writing a research paper for a psychology course, rather than paying $24.95 to download the article from the publisher, your university’s academic library can likely quickly request a scanned copy from another library. School libraries, institutional/prison libraries, and even some special/corporate libraries are welcome to participate in many of Indiana’s resource sharing services.

The goal of resource sharing is to help patrons get access to the materials they need as quickly and reliably as possible, at a cost as low as possible and with as little intervention needed from staff. In addition to the Evergreen Indiana consortium which connects the holdings of over 100 Indiana public libraries, here is a description of some of the other services available to facilitate interlibrary lending in Indiana.

Indiana Share
Indiana Share is a statewide resource sharing service that connects participating libraries to all the materials available though OCLC’s WorldCat. Many larger libraries in Indiana have their own individual OCLC subscription, but through Indiana Share, smaller public and school libraries can benefit from the state’s subscription and request these same materials. An ILL staff person at the Indiana State Library reviews incoming requests and sends them to potential lenders, who then ship the books. With Indiana Share, we are able to borrow items from libraries all over the United States.

SRCS
Indiana’s Statewide Remote Circulation Service, or SRCS, debuted in Indiana in 2016 and has since connected readers with nearly 300,000 books at no cost to them. SRCS works similarly to Share, where library staff and patrons search a catalog of available holdings and select items to borrow. SRCS is unmediated, which means the requests go directly to the potential lenders. Staff at the library receiving the requests then locate the materials and ship them to the requesting library. The patron is then notified when their item arrives. This service is limited to participating Indiana public and academic libraries and is offered at no cost to those libraries.

InfoExpress
Indiana public libraries have benefited from InfoExpress, the dedicated statewide courier service, for decades. This involves a fleet of cars, vans and trucks that pick up materials from and deliver materials to hundreds of libraries statewide. The Indiana State Library currently contracts with Indianapolis-based NOW Courier to provide courier service, and participating libraries pay a subscription fee for service. The courier company maintains a schedule of which libraries receive service each day and then bills the Indiana State Library per stop – not per book, or based on weight. Over half a million parcels are shipped each year, bringing hundreds of thousands of books and other materials.

INSPIRE
Known as the lifelong learning library for Hoosiers, INSPIRE is the statewide virtual library available 24/7. The Indiana State Library sponsors access to dozens of databases and publications for residents of all ages to complete personal, academic or work-related research.

The future of resource sharing
The Indiana State Library’s Resource Sharing Committee, comprised of library staff from all types of libraries and supporting organizations around the state, meets regularly to discuss these existing services while planning for the future. While the future is unknown, the committee continually seeks to secure more efficient methods of lending with increased collaboration. The committee also continues to host informational webinars and conferences for staff working in resource sharing.

For information on any of these services, please contact the Library Development Office.

This blog post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office director. She can be reached via email. 

Resource sharing update recap

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On Oct. 2, the Indiana State Library hosted a resource sharing update for the Indiana library community. The two-hour webinar detailed the latest resource sharing information in the state. This took the place of the annual Discovery to Delivery conference which is normally held in-person each year. This abbreviated virtual conference featured sessions from State Library staff and vendors, and was attended by public, academic, school and institutional library staff. State Librarian Jacob Speer and Nick Schenkel, director of the West Lafayette Public Library, kicked off the conference by welcoming attendees.

Sessions included:

EBSCO – Rick Rybak, Academic Regional Sales Manager, EBSCO
As of July 1, the INSPIRE virtual library has been updated to feature EBSCO databases, including an upgrade to Academic Search Complete. Rick explained some of the newer additions to EBSCO’s offerings, including eBooks and LearningExpress.

Teaching Books – Nick Glass, Founder and Executive Director
Nick introduced the group to the resources available through TeachingBooks, which is also part of INSPIRE. While TeachingBooks’ primary audience is educators and caregivers, Nick introduced the new Book Connections interface, which is intended for every reader. Resources on these sites include background information on books and authors, including complete audio and video book readings.

InfoExpress – Nicole Brock, Indiana State Library Resource Sharing Coordinator and NOW Courier Staff
Nicole gave an update on the courier service beginning with the shutdown in March to the gradual reopening this summer. Nicole passed along some best practices related to shipping. NOW Courier staff shared some insight on how their mission is aligned with the Indiana State Library’s and gave a preview of some upcoming developments, including an upgrade to a new platform which will reduce unnecessary stops.

SRCS and Indiana Share – Nicole Brock, Indiana State Library Resource Sharing Coordinator
Nicole Brock gave an update on participation in both interlibrary loan services, and a preview of upcoming SRCS enhancements. Following the presentation, Nicole also hosted an informal lunch discussion for SRCS libraries.

Project ReShare – Scott Garrison, Executive Director, Midwest Collaborative for Library Services
Scott capped off the morning by providing an update on Project ReShare, an exploratory service that has the potential to breakdown barriers between consortia and systems, putting the patron in the center and increasing access to library materials.

The recording of the workshop and presentations is posted to State Library’s Resource Sharing page.

This post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office, Indiana State Library.

Restarting resource sharing

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As Indiana libraries closed their doors this spring during Gov. Holcomb’s stay-at-home order, resource sharing between libraries ground to a halt. As libraries across the state closed, the Indiana State Library made the difficult decision to suspend interlibrary loan delivery service. In fact, no delivery service was provided by the statewide courier during April and for most of May.

As public libraries began reopening their doors as early as May 4 – when allowed per the governor’s Back on Track Indiana plan – delivery service resumed shortly after on May 11. With academic libraries reopening later this summer, nearly 90% of our libraries are now back on InfoExpress and sharing books via Evergreen Indiana and our numerous resource sharing services.

During the shutdown, books in transit were safely held either at the borrowing libraries or at NOW Courier’s statewide hubs. Most materials have since been returned to their home libraries, but the company’s staff is still working to sort through a backlog of parcels, while working to accommodate libraries’ shifting schedules and reduced hours.

In response to the virus, and following industry best practices, NOW Courier has implemented safety measures for handling and delivering materials including wearing face masks and gloves and limiting contact with library staff. Additionally, safety precautions are being taken at libraries such as hand washing and quarantining of shipped materials and books. While some research suggests the COVID-19 virus cannot survive on most print materials for more than 24 hours, many libraries are opting to quarantine items for 72 hours or longer. Liquids and other disinfecting methods like heat and UV light are not recommended as they may damage materials. Fortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared in a March 30 webinar for library staff that they do not believe library materials are a transmission route for COVID-19.

Now that most libraries are back to sharing, we encourage Hoosiers to take advantage of the resource sharing options offered by their library. If your library doesn’t have a book you need, ask circulation staff if it is available electronically or via interlibrary loan. Finally, all Hoosiers have access to INSPIRE.IN.gov, a free online library that includes research materials, news publications, eBooks, and K-12 resources.

A fall resource sharing update for Indiana library staff is scheduled for Oct. 2. Additional information and a link to registration can be found here.

This post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office, Indiana State Library.

Discovery to Delivery VIII – The Bigger Picture: Resource Sharing with a Broader Brush

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The Indiana State Library, in partnership with the Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI), hosted the eighth annual Discovery to Delivery conference (D2D8) on Friday, May 11, 2018. Discovery to Delivery is a yearly conference centered on resource sharing in the state and was attended by over 90 staff representing public, academic and special libraries.

The day kicked off with a welcome from State Librarian Jacob Speer. OCLC’s Tony Melvin then provided a list of the ten most-requested interlibrary loan titles in the U.S. and Indiana, as well as updates about changes to OCLC’s lending platforms including FirstSearch, WorldShare ILL and Tipasa, the replacement for ILLiad. Matt Straub, director of business development at NOW Courier, gave attendees an inside look at operations at the company that provides InfoExpress book delivery service. The morning wrapped up with a presentation from Debbie Hensler from Auto-Graphics, the company that provides SHAREit, which is the SRCS platform. Debbie shared information about new enhancements and a peek at the new platform, V6, anticipated for release in Q3 2018.

During lunch, participants were given the option to participate in a SRCS user group discussion for either public or academic libraries, an institutional libraries discussion or they could lunch on their own.

Following lunch, participants had the option to attend one of three breakout sessions:

  • Party Time: Resource Sharing Cataloging Shelf – Anna Goben, Indiana State Library – Participants learned about Evergreen Indiana’s success hosting catalog parties around the state in an effort to crowd source the cataloging of new member libraries.
  • Sharing Your Greatest Resource, You!: Developing and Hosting a Campus-wide Librarian’s Meet & Greet for Faculty & Staff – Courtney Block, Indiana University Southeast – Courtney discussed the importance of creating opportunities for access to the library’s greatest resource: the librarians themselves, and shared her experience hosting a “Librarian’s Meet & Greet” for faculty and staff.
  • Are Your Statistics Lying to You? – Larissa Sullivant, Indiana University, Ruth Lilly Law Library – This session summarized the Indiana University Ruth Lilly Law Library’s recent inventory process, their challenges and successes and the effect of the inventory process on the collection and catalog.

A second session was then held with the following choices of presentations:

  • Does (No) Discovery Lead to (ILL) Delivery? – Sherri Michaels and Rachael Cohen, Indiana University – This session presented the results of a study at Indiana University to determine the persistence of library users in obtaining known items.
  • 10 Months of Tipasa – Meg Atwater-Singer, University of Evansville – Meg discussed how UEL’s staff were trained by OCLC, the “good, the bad and the ugly” aspects of migration and how the migration has impacted department workflows.
  • Interlibrary Loan 101 – Holli Moseman, Indiana State University – Holli provided an introductory session that covered the basics of borrowing, lending, document delivery and copyright.

Since it was difficult to choose which session to attend during each breakout, plenary discussions and reports from each session were provided after both. The presentations are also posted on the conference program page.

The day wrapped up with a final plenary discussion and attendees returned to their home libraries, hopefully, having a better understanding of the bigger picture of resource sharing in Indiana and of the changes on the horizon.

The Indiana State Library would like to thank the Academic Libraries of Indiana, Ivy Tech Community College, OCLC, NOW Courier, Auto-Graphics and members of the Resource Sharing Committee for their contributions to the day.

This post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office, Indiana State Library.

The Indiana statewide triad: InfoExpress, IN-SHARE and SRCS

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Part of the mission of the Indiana State Library (ISL) is to strengthen the services of all types of libraries by developing new services and consistently re-evaluating existing services. During the last six months, ISL has updated the rules governing two of its long standing state library services and introduced a new one, which promises to re-invent the way resource sharing is managed within the state.

InfoExpress

Since 1997, ISL has provided a heavily subsidized courier service, InfoExpress, to a wide variety of libraries around the state. Each courier stop costs the state $625 per year, but we subsidize that service so most libraries pay only $100 a year for one-day-a-week service.

A typical year will have an average of a half million parcels moving around the state. Each of those parcels contains somewhere between one and 20 items, so the total number of books, videos, etc. that are circulating around the state each year easily exceeds five million items. One of the high points of this service is that our cost per item is a fraction of the cost of similar systems in other states.

On Jan. 1, 2017, new public library standards went into place. These standards changed the way that the minimum number of service days is computed. This means that in July, when you renew your subscription to InfoExpress, all libraries will be required to subscribe to one-day-a-week of service for every 2,000 parcels shipped out.

IN-SHARE

Thirty years ago one of my first library jobs was processing interlibrary loan requests for libraries that couldn’t afford to subscribe to the new OCLC ILL system. This state-library funded service still exists today under the name of IN-SHARE. In the years since that service was launched, very little has changed about the way we manage that system. It currently costs the state library approximately $25 for each and every request submitted. Since we had no limits on the membership or the number of requests they could place, this amounted to basically asking the state library for a blank check each year to provide a very expensive service to a small number of libraries.

At the recommendation of the Resource Sharing Committee, IN-SHARE is adopting some new rules and guidelines starting this July. These guidelines will offer most libraries a set number of free requests each year, with a preference for the service going to the smaller libraries who normally would not be able to offer interlibrary loan service to their patrons. Any IN-SHARE requests that exceed that threshold will be billed at $5 for each additional request, far below what it costs the state library to process. These bills will be sent out quarterly and only apply to IN-SHARE requests that exceed each library’s threshold.

SRCS

The third part of this resource sharing triad is Indiana’s new Statewide Remote Circulation System (SRCS). This is a new way for streamlining interlibrary lending requests between Indiana libraries. Instead of having to pay a staff member to search for, and request, each title, authorized patrons can place their own requests. Patrons search a statewide union catalog combining the holdings of nearly 200 Indiana libraries and identify the item that they want. If one of these libraries has a copy of that item currently available, and it is in a loan-able location and format, then the patron sees a Request This Item button. A SRCS request is still an interlibrary loan, but it cuts across the differences between the many different ILS in use by Indiana libraries and streamlines the requesting and processing steps.

One of the drivers for the IN-SHARE changes has been the advent of SRCS. It has been estimated that approximately 75 percent of the items currently being requested through IN-SHARE could be filled faster and cheaper using SRCS. By combining SRCS and IN-SHARE, most libraries will be able to expand service to their patrons, while reducing their dependence on IN-SHARE. People often ask, “Does this mean IN-SHARE is going away?” The answer is “no.”  By reducing the demand, and the cost, for IN-SHARE, the ISL plans to use the savings to underwrite the setup any annual connection fees for participating in SRCS. IN-SHARE will, of course, continue to provide the items that SRCS can’t provide, such as photocopies and out-of-state materials.

This blog post is by Steven J. Schmidt, Library Development Office supervisor. For more information, contact Steven at (317) 232-3715 or send an email to StatewideService@library.in.gov.