Library's new borrowing system allows patrons to browse virtual catalog
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
A reservoir of books
The University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Library, a member of the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA), is excited to launch BorrowItNow, a consortial borrowing system based on the Relais International D2D product. BorrowItNow allows patrons to discover library materials via a virtual union catalog, which spans across all participating members’ ILS (integrated library systems). BorrowItNow provides for unmediated requests, transmitting real time availability and call numbers to the lending library, while balancing request loads across the consortium.
Said GWLA Executive Director Joni Blake, “Resource sharing is GWLA's oldest program, and one that our members value greatly. This project is in keeping with GWLA's core values of leveraging our collective strength and improving services through innovation and experimentation. We are very excited about the enhanced access to collections and faster service that the Relais D2D platform will bring to the patrons at our member libraries.”
Added Program Office for Resource Sharing Anne McKee, “Relais developed a pricing model for GWLA members that facilitated a very high level of engagement for this three-year project. GWLA is very pleased to have formed this dynamic partnership with Relais.”
UH Mānoa's Naomi Chow, Chair of the GWLA Resource Sharing/Document Delivery Committee, is thrilled with members’ adoption of the system. “The response from the libraries within our consortia has been very enthusiastic -- over 90% of our partner libraries will be participating in the pilot project during its first year! This is in part due to great support for the project from the GWLA Board of Directors. Our libraries are eager to offer our patrons a streamlined and efficient method of unmediated ILL requests. We look forward to working with Relais during our three- year pilot, and hope that GWLA's project, with its size and geographic complexity, will contribute to further innovative system enhancements of value to the library community at large.”
Noted Ryan Litsey, Vice Chair of the GWLA Resource Sharing/Document Delivery Committee, “GWLA continues to raise the bar for ILL (inter-library loan) with the addition of the Relais D2D system. GWLA has a long tradition of setting the standard for turnaround times, consortial cooperation and efficiency. The Relais D2D discovery layer allows GWLA to increase their interconnectedness. BorrowItNow is the largest implementation of Relais D2D to date. Our patrons can now efficiently access one of the most complex and far-reaching Relais D2D systems.”
Participating institutions in the three-year pilot are:
- Arizona State University
- Baylor University
- Brigham Young University
- Colorado State University
- Iowa State University
- Kansas State University
- Oklahoma State University
- Oregon State University
- Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
- Southern Methodist University
- Texas A&M University
- Texas Tech University
- University of Arizona
- University of Arkansas
- University of Colorado
- University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
- University of Houston
- University of Illinois-Chicago
- University of Kansas
- University of Missouri-Columbia
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- University of New Mexico
- University of Oklahoma
- University of Oregon
- University of Southern California
- University of Texas
- University of Utah
- University of Wyoming
- Utah State University
- Washington State University
- Washington University in St. Louis
The Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) is a consortium of 33 research libraries located in the central and western United States. GWLA is a dynamic, effective, project-oriented consortium, nationally recognized as a leader in the transformation of scholarly communication, and a facilitator in the application of new information technologies.
Relais International, based in Ottawa, Ontario, provides solutions for all varieties of libraries or groups of libraries, and offers a full range of interlibrary loan, document delivery and consortial resource sharing services.
For more information on BorrowItNow at UHM Library, go to:
http://guides.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/content.php?pid=496313&sid=4094149