Brandeis decided to move from its previous resource sharing systems to the Rapido platform in order to streamline resource sharing and provide a better experience for both patrons and staff. With Rapido, Brandeis can fulfill requests more quickly and lower costs significantly.
Centralizing resource sharing through one platform gave Brandeis a better experience while lowering the administration burden through integrated systems
“Moving from ILLiad and WorldShare to Rapido and centralizing everything through our existing library services platform makes sense so we are not administering more platforms than we need to.” Mark Paris, Brandeis Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources and DiscoveryAbout
The need for a more streamlined, cost-effective resource sharing platform
Brandeis University went live with the Ex Libris Rapido resource sharing platform in July 2021. A participant in the Rapido early adopter program, Brandeis decided to move from its old broker- based system to the Rapido platform to streamline resource sharing and make it more efficient for both patrons and staff. With the new system, Brandeis can fulfill requests more quickly and lower costs significantly.
Thanks to its position as a leading research institute – Brandeis is ranked as an R1 (highest level) research institute by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education-and a member of the Boston Library Consortium. Brandeis' library deals with large amounts of high-level research and resource sharing requests.
The Brandeis Library, which houses more than 2 million volumes (both electronic and physical), has a strong, positive reputation on campus amongst students and faculty. In fact, the library, which is also an early adopter of Esploro, has been able to enhance its scholarly communications footprint on campus and work with the Provost's Office on issues of bibliometrics to strengthen the university's overall profile and ranking.
While Brandeis has a world-renowned reputation as a top- tier research institution, it is also a modest-sized university and modestly funded. "We have to walk a tightrope when it comes to budgetary issues," said Mark Paris, Brandeis Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources and Discovery. "In fact, we have one of the lowest collections budgets among R1- ranked institutions. So, I'm really looking for efficiency and that's where Rapido fits in.
“The discovery-to-delivery pipeline is seamless from the patrons’ point of view and is more efficient on the staff side, so it's a win-win situation for all.” Mark Paris Brandeis Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources and Discovery"
In addition, to the costs saved thanks to discontinuing the multiple systems they previously used for resource sharing, Rapido integrates with other Ex Libris products used by Brandeis such as Primo, Alma, RapidILL and Esploro . This integration provides users and staff with a more streamlined experience as they can do everything from within one environment.
"My focus is on making sure that we are not administering more platforms than we need to. Moving from ILLiad and WorldShare to Rapido and centralizing everything through our existing library services platform just makes sense. We have achieved that centralization and are administering fewer systems. The discovery-to-delivery pipeline is seamless from the patrons’ point of view and is more efficient on the staff side, so it's a win win situation for all,” added Mark.
Rapido provides a stronger user experience
Rapido's user services, embedded in the Primo discovery, provides a better experience for users and saves library staff time. "With the Rapido system, users can just click and get an article delivered digitally within 24 hours. The terms of use are specific, especially with digital content. They know exactly what they are going to get and when. Implementing Rapido draws us closer and closer to providing our patrons with an Amazon-like experience—one that users have come to expect," said Mark.
"This is such a huge improvement on the user experience side. It's just a couple of clicks and you're done. I think the vision that Ex Libris has for resource sharing and providing resources quickly, efficiently and with very little burden to the user is a
significant vision and one that I wholeheartedly buy into," added Mark.
Streamlining library systems
Brandeis already uses the Ex Libris Alma library services platform, Primo discovery tool, and RapidILL interlibrary loan system, all of which are now integrated with the Rapido solution. The streamlining of the Rapido library workflows means that Brandeis Library staff and patrons no longer have to switch to another system for resource sharing.
This provides a more direct and efficient requesting process. The result is a more user-friendly and "on-demand" experience – for both patrons and library staff.
"Recognizing how quick and efficient it was in terms of getting our patrons materials made the switch to Rapido easy. It was also easier for staff to get used to Rapido when they had experience with RapidILL and a background understanding of the system's dialogue and how it works," said Mark.
"We've seen a flurry of requests since going live. I think the requesting process has gotten easier and staff are able to handle more requests."
Mark said: "There was a certain inefficiency to our old system. With Rapido, the direct requesting process will ultimately be more efficient. There's a big difference moving from broker- based to peer-to-peer.
"Our previous resource platform, ILLiad, had technology that was either outdated or required our staff to maintain skills in technology infrastructure not commonly used within libraries, like Windows Server. Also, its rate of development simply did not keep pace with current technology. An additional pain point of our previous platform was that users were bounced out to another platform. That's painful from the end-user perspective.
The Rapido interface is certainly a step-up from how the" lending process worked previously in ILLiad. Now, users can go in, enter a digital request, click on the row's action item and simply click 'download this resource.' It does the downloading right then and there, and users can simply upload it for delivery. Those couple of clicks are far easier and faster than with ILLiad, which involves external players, platforms and servers, which means far more extra steps."
Benefits of being a Rapido early adopter
Participating in Ex Libris's early adopter Rapido program helps a smaller institution like us have the opportunity to influence in terms of direction of the product and gives us the ability to provide feedback," said Mark. "The Rapido development team most definitely gave us a lot of support as part of the early adopters program. It has been a very positive experience all around but especially in terms of receiving help and providing feedback," he concluded.
Want to learn more about Ex Libris Rapido and how it could help improve the resource sharing experience for users and staff at your library? Visit the website here
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