Reimagining Document Delivery after a Health Care System Library Merger: Virtual Poster at MLA-2022

This virtual poster was presented at The Medical Library Association 2022 Meeting April 27 - May 2022. [Posted here by permission.]

Poster Title:  Reimagining Document Delivery after a Health Care System Library Merger

By: Brenda Fay, AHIP – Library Manager, Advocate Aurora Library

 
Background: Two healthcare systems with separate libraries merged into one. After the merger, there was a great need to unify and reimagine the processes for Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan. Multiple accounts, separate systems, and desktop programs were no longer serving our geographically spread-out staff. In addition, COVID-19 shutdowns began just several months after the merger, solidifying the need for 100% cloud-based tools to manage ILL processes.
 
Description: We began by consolidating DOCLINE accounts, resulting in only two accounts with a shared login, so any staff can access, place requests, or look up information. Each library was using their own client-based document delivery management software, which needed installation and updates managed by HIT. Over time , this became more difficult to manage as client-software can come with security risks. After researching alternative online tools within our limited budget, we chose to use Springshare's LibAnswers and LibInsight. LibAnswers is used to send and receive document delivery and ILL requests, and LibInsight is used to track borrows for annual copyright reporting. This piece has been particularly useful as a replacement for QuickDoc and CLIO copyright tracking.

Conclusion: Nine months into the switchover, we've seen several positive results using the cloud-based tools. When staff is on unexpected leave, we can easily resend tickets or files to users without needing access to individual library staff email accounts. This has saved time for us and our users. Analytics tools in LibAnswers and LibInsight have allowed us to compare document delivery usage by location, patron type, cost, and unowned titles borrowed. This information will enable data-driven decisions about collection management (what do our users need that we do not own) and staffing workload (is traffic changing at sites and do we need more staff to cover those requests).

Contact Brenda Fay for more information.

Medical Library Association 2022 Conference Program.