Bedding in a new ILL Management System

Bedding in a new ILL Management System

I thought I would start my blog off with a picture of the kind of tidy quiet corner I would like to be in!  Sadly it is not where I am at the moment.

In the summer I blogged about managing without an ILL management system as a new library discovery and management service was being implemented at my library.  This has now happened. The new ILL management system has been in place since August.  My remit now is to get the most efficient workflow in place and make the most of the ILL management system’s functionality.  These are some key lessons that I have learned so far working on this process.

·        Get IT on board – technical support is essential as there will inevitably be some tweaks that IT can do to help you.  I am still asking my IT colleagues (if you are reading this LSE IT thank you for patience with me!) questions.

·        Start slowly – although it can be frustrating for your customers it may be worth considering offering a very basic service for a short time, and then gradually adding in services such as requesting from libraries outside the UK and renewals.  It is better to offer a consistent but basic service at first rather than try to do everything at once and end up struggling under a mountain of problems.  As a naturally quite cautious person I have taken a bit longer than I maybe should to get all services up and running, but I doubt if our service would have been as stable as it has been without a gradual lead in to full service.

·        Keep colleagues informed – This is really obvious but I am sure many will agree is not always the easiest thing to do.  If I could start the process off again I would have spent more time on informing colleagues of what of what is going on.

·        Training – Train staff as quickly as possible.  This is not always easy.  In the modern world of ILL few libraries have the luxury of staff dedicated to ILL only.  Most of us have other duties to fit in.  Arranging training around busy and part time schedules can be a nightmare.  It took me a long time to get colleagues trained up.

·        Don’t be afraid to play – Time spent creating dummy requests to see if your planned workflow is efficient is never wasted.  Spending time doing this, even after the new ILL system was introduced has saved me creating problems.  The flaws in your ideas are clear before they can cause problems on live requests.

·        Be in for the long haul – this is a never ending process

Happy ILLing

Karen

Bedding in a new ILL Management System