ILLiad and Resource Sharing in the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions Consortium of Libraries

Abstract

The mission of the USMAI (University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions) consortium is to support effective access to library resources by providing and promoting a range of resource sharing services which support the objectives and maximize resources of the individual libraries of the member institutions. The consortium has a long-established service through which patrons can request that books be sent from one campus to another via a patron placed hold function, most recently within the Aleph OPAC. Beginning in 2004 the consortium’s Council of Library Directors (CLD) established a Resource Sharing Task Group (RSTG) to “address issues relating to USMAI resource sharing activities, including patron placed holds, direct borrowing, ILL, and delivery systems.” This group was established particularly to ensure the continuity of ILL services as Passport and the ILL Microenhancer were ‘sunsetted.’ As part of its charge the RSTG undertook an analysis of applications available to enhance member ILL services, and also to enhance article delivery between consortium members. At the time of the analysis, the consortium had 6 separate live or planned ILLiad implementations. In 2005 the RSTG recommended to the CLD that ILLiad be implemented consortium wide during the fall of 2005. A panel of USMAI librarians and staff will present our vision for resource sharing, how the combination of ILLiad, Odyssey and Aleph are being used to request materials between our campuses, the various approaches to authentication used across the consortium, and how support is being done for a consortium in which 7 members have separate ILLiad installations and the remainder are supported from a newer central site.