Library systems impact almost everyone on our campus to at least some degree. Students search for information through the library's website or connect to our paid content discovered through Google Scholar, faculty link to an article or book for their class in Canvas that the library has purchased, researchers request an OhioLINK book to be delivered to them at our Help Desk, or an article to be sent to them through Interlibrary Loan, and our users check out video equipment, phone chargers, or keys to the Graduate Student Lounge, to name a few examples. All of these tasks require various library systems to support them.
Our current systems represent a combination of products from a variety of vendors. Some of these systems predate the usage of electronic resources on which our library users now heavily rely, and no longer suit the library's needs. The systems don't always integrate well with each other, and some will soon no longer be supported by the vendor. Having this variety of siloed systems also forces our users to navigate many different interfaces to discover the library's many resources.
Through the Ohio Department of Higher Education, OhioLINK (of which JCU is a member) is receiving funding for replacing our shared ILS, which will move us closer to the user-focused system envisioned in the 2020 OhioLINK whitepaper. After a year-long competitive RFP process, in August 2023 OhioLINK announced its selection of Ex Libris Alma/Primo VE as its next shared library services platform (LSP), replacing Sierra and INN-Reach. Additionally, members will be able to implement a suite of related products from Ex Libris.
This library services platform upgrade will position libraries to: support 21st century teaching, learning, and research; streamline day-to-day operations; and enhance stability and security. The cloud-based, multi-tenant structure also will enable OhioLINK to provide more direct support for member libraries in such areas as systems and e-resources. The consortium will go live together in mid-2025. The implementation will proceed in four phases: Onboarding; Vanguard; Main Implementation; and Post Implementation. Grasselli Library is excited to have been chosen to participate in the Vanguard phase of the migration project, which will inform workflows, configurations, and training approaches for other OhioLINK members.