Library Consortium Resource-Sharing Software Consultation

Conducted environmental scan of resource-sharing products currently in production that would be suitable for RAILS (Reaching Across Illinois Library Systems) given that the objective of the group was to find a resource‐sharing discovery and fulfillment system that builds on the existing technology environment, allowing libraries in consortia and libraries with standalone integrated library systems (ILS) to participate.

 In partnership with Melissa Stockton of Quipu Group, Lori Ayre identified six consortia that represent the universe of resource sharing products currently in production in the U.S. At that time, there were four such products including INN-Reach from Innovative Interfaces, RelaisD2D from Relais International, SHAREit from Auto-Graphics, and OCLC’s Navigator. In some cases, there were two separate software products used for discovery and requesting. Of particular interest to RAILS, was the degree to which the requesting software made use of NCIP as a way to reduce the workload for library staff responsible for managing resource sharing requests. Since support for NCIP is required on the ILS side as well as the requesting software side, it was important to tease out the particulars of the integration for the various combinations of ILS and resource sharing software.

Ayre and Stockton provided a Final Report documenting their findings. In addition, Ayre made an in-person presentation at RAILS headquarters in Burr Ridge, Illinois.