Join us for two lightning talks. Presentation 1, "Partner shipping: Collaborative models for cost reduction," and presentation 2, "One chapter at a time: Improving the discovery-to-delivery process for book chapter interlibrary loan requests."
Session 1
Partner shipping: Collaborative models for cost reduction
1:00 –1:30 pm, EDT
In 2023, an accidental misunderstanding of a niche shipping policy led to the development of a "Partner Shipping" pilot at the Boston Library Consortium (BLC). What began as a small operational hiccup evolved into a collaborative shipping model/buddy system that pairs BLC member institutions within and outside the MA/RI courier system to bundle resource sharing returns, leverage existing courier routes, and reduce redundant shipments. By increasing efficiencies within pre-existing workflows, the pilot achieved more than $10,000 in shipping cost savings while significantly reducing the overall number of shipments across the consortium.
This session will explore the happy accidents that led to Partner Shipping, outline the planning process and data collection BLC used to execute the pilot, examine the operational, financial, and environmental impacts of the program, and discuss the pilot's transition into a standing resource sharing initiative. Presenters will also discuss alternative collaborative shipping models that libraries can adapt to their own contexts.
From this presentation, attendees will gain practical strategies for identifying potential efficiencies in current shipping workflows, adapting the Partner Shipping model to their own library or consortium, and building low-barrier collaborations that reduce costs and environmental impact while maximizing shared workflows.
Speakers:
- Angie Batson, Resource Sharing Specialist, Wellesley College
- Marc Hoffeditz, Deputy Director, Boston Library Consortium
- Jana Pietrzyk, Interlibrary Loan Specialist, Connecticut College
Session 2
One chapter at a time: Improving the discovery-to-delivery process for book chapter interlibrary loan requests
1:30 – 2:00 pm, EDT
Due to resource metadata and linking settings between the University of Memphis Libraries' EBSCO discovery layer and ILLiad request form, the Interlibrary Loan office repeatedly received loan requests for entire books when their users only needed one or two book chapters. To refine the workflow for these requests, the Interlibrary Loan and E-Resources librarians worked together to develop a "request individual book chapter" option in the EBSCO discovery layer, which would appear on all book records in addition to the standard "request this item through interlibrary loan." Making this distinction visible to users has helped to eliminate ambiguity in book loan requests, saving time for both the Interlibrary Loan office and library patrons. This lightning talk will demonstrate the settings configuration of this added request option and discuss outcomes for the delivery of books and book chapters to Interlibrary Loan users.
Speakers:
- Sofiya Dahman, Interlibrary Loan and Resource Delivery Librarian, University of Memphis
- Marie Peeples, Electronic Resources Librarian, University of Memphis
Open discussion
2:00 - 2:30 pm, EDT
