You can tell that we've been busy bees here at the new centralized OutLook OnLine helpdesk, with the flurry of messages and updates that have appeared in your inboxes these past few months! An ILL management system used by libraries across the province, OutLook OnLine is an important part of provincial resource sharing. We are striving to make it the best it can be, so we've been looking at ways to improve usability and user experience for staff and patrons alike.

Some changes that you might already know about include:

• A refresh of the union databases, to improve record accuracy and reduce ILL request errors.
• The implementation of ERTI (Enhanced Request This Item), a more powerful matching algorithm for generating lender lists and forwarding requests to lenders.
• The ability to enable lending policies, to deflect requests for non-lendable material types.
• Canadian hosting: OutLook OnLine is now hosted entirely on Canadian servers, to open up possibilities for patron requesting.

Our work with OutLook OnLine is just beginning though! Working with the OutLook OnLine vendor, Auto-Graphics, and gathering feedback from the larger community, we've identified new enhancements that will move OutLook OnLine closer to supporting streamlined patron-initiated requesting. This will ultimately simplify patron and staff workflows, and who doesn't like simple?

Here are some of the changes that the future will bring:

Out of Province Requesting

OutLook OnLine will soon expand to include out-of-province libraries. This means that you'll be able to submit/receive ILL requests to/from libraries outside of BC, using OutLook OnLine. This is exciting news because it's a feature that libraries have asked about.

Initial setup will begin in the coming months. Once out-of-province requesting is in place, staff and patrons will be able to use OutLook OnLine for most, if not all, of their ILL requesting needs.

Desktop Delivery of Electronic Documents

Auto-Graphics is in the earliest stages of developing enhanced desktop delivery in OutLook OnLine.  

Enhanced desktop delivery functionality in OutLook OnLine would allow lending libraries to upload electronic documents to the system and requesting ILL staff/patrons to download them with copyright disclosures and customizable access restrictions (e.g., number of downloads, time restrictions, etc.), simplifyiing the lending of electronic documents for both staff and patrons.

Simplified ILL Request Form for Patrons

Earlier this year, we championed a simplified ILL request form specifically for patron use. In response, Auto-Graphics prioritized the creation of a ready-to-use simplified patron form and also a fully customizable request form that can be configured differently for patrons and staff. The new forms will be available towards the end of the summer, and will have a significant positive impact on libraries that already have or wish to implement patron-initiated ILL requesting in OutLook OnLine.

New Support Website

A new OutLook OnLine support website is being created for post-secondary and public libraries. The website will include guides, documentation, and possibly video tutorials, in addition to general information about OutLook OnLine.

The website is being developed by the Administrative Centre, and should be live in the fall. It will be a single portal to meet all of your OutLook OnLine needs--but the helpdesk will of course continue to welcome support questions via email or phone!

BC ELN took a cutting-edge step in 2001 by implementing a system-wide process for partner libraries to suggest potential resources for consortial licensing. The two-part suggestion forum and ranking system was consultative and democratic. Early years of polling partner libraries then collectively ranking the results yielded large numbers of potential resources for licensing, and BC ELN pursued many of these either alone or with other consortia. As a result, the options for opt-in licenses grew quickly through the early 2000s.

In the last few years the resource selection process has been on hiatus at BC ELN. Resources for licensing were suggested by other means, for example through multi-consortial initiatives. At the same time, the ability for partner libraries to take on new licenses has diminished due to shrinking or even frozen collections budgets.

And yet, feedback gathered via the 2014 Licensing Activities Survey made it abundantly clear: partner library staff members feel that it is important that BC ELN have some kind of resource selection process in place. Additionally, staff members believe that the BC ELN resources forum and the ranking survey give libraries a democratic opportunity to share opinions about which resources the consortium should pursue for licensing.

So BC ELN heeded the call. The resource forum, an online suggestion box for libraries to propose resources for potential consortial licensing, reopened in late 2014 and remains open year round, thanks to requests from partner libraries to do so. BC ELN staff took the resources suggested last fall and researched which would be most suitable for consortial licensing. The resulting list was shared recently with libraries via survey. Libraries ranked the resources by preference for consortial licensing, and indicated how likely the library would be to license the resource should an opportunity arise through BC ELN.

The 2015/16 ranking survey was just completed and BC ELN staff are reviewing the results to understand which direction to take next. Look for results to be shared soon!

New York in the summer CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 photo [cropped, edited] by Aaron van Dorn

The hot summer days and thoughts of vacation haven't slowed down progress on the BC Institutional Repository (IR) Network. The Implementation Working Group, made up of representatives from early adopter sites and sites with existing IRs, is working hard through the summer months to develop the basic look & feel, theming, workflows, and defaults for the BC IR Network repositories. The IR Advisory Committee also continues to meet through the summer to ensure the project is progressing apace. All parties are toiling hard to have a "big reveal" in the fall of new IR Network name, logo, URL, and content loaded into IRs.