New chapter for library system
New loans, new search, new requests – find out about how the Library system change affects you.
Find out how changes to the Library system will affect you
After 22 years, the Library has said goodbye to our old system and now welcomes Alma – a fully modern system that will provide more efficient access to e-resources and streamline many processes.
Jane Saunders, Head of Collections Services, who led the project, said: “This transformation was years in the making and culminated in six months of intensive behind-the-scenes building, designing, data preparation and testing.
“From the initial tender process all the way through to mapping processes and testing the search, teams across the Library joined forces to work on all aspects of implementing the new library system.”
What’s changed?
The Library has looked for ways the new system can improve and simplify the experience of using the Library for colleagues and students. There are some key changes to the way you interact with the Library:
More books for everyone
The number of books you can borrow has been increased – colleagues and students can have up to 50 items for a guaranteed seven days.
Keep the book as long as you need it
Items on loan will keep on renewing your due date until you’re ready to return the book. If someone requests it, you’ll have seven days from the request to return it.
Request the book you want
If a book is on loan, you need to request it. If you don’t, it won’t come back into the Library as the borrower can keep the book as long as they want.
Putting you in control of your Library search
There are combined elements of the classic catalogue search with the Library Search on the homepage. If you know exactly what you are looking for, use the drop-down boxes on the homepage to focus your search results and make them more relevant. If you want to explore, just type your search terms and go – you can still refine your results after searching.
Hazel Lee heads up the Customer Services Team. She said: “It’s been great having the opportunity to really think about how the new system could improve our service to staff and students.
“We’ve reviewed a lot of our processes and discussed the options with staff and student representatives. We’re really pleased with the new borrowing system, it improves access to our resources and has simplified many of our transactions.”
Find out more about the new borrowing and search.
Big changes are being made to improve our Library service
The Library looks forward to making the most of improved functionality behind-the-scenes as the new system will give us:
- better e-resources management
- significantly improved acquisitions and cataloguing
- superior reporting and analytics capability
- simpler integration with other University and external systems
- more resilience with less support needed as the system is cloud-based
- more regular updates to functionality and the means to request new developments; and
- more integrated search and data for quicker and more accurate information.
Elly Cope, Access and Acquisitions Team Leader, said: “We are keen to influence how the system develops in the future – one of the plus points of Alma is that there is regular developmental work and a lot of the suggestions to improve the system come from us as customers.
“Now we’re all using the same system, it will also enhance networking and exchange of experience with our White Rose Libraries colleagues. We also can’t wait to get working with the much more powerful analytics tools, so we can work on bigger batches of data to improve our collection management.”
The new system is in place and all user and bibliographic data has been carried over, however there may be some disruptions to services during the next few weeks. Take a look at the services affected page and keep an eye on the Library Twitter account for regular updates and details of any disruptions.
Please contact the Library team if you have any feedback about the new system.
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