IDS Network

• 120 member resource sharing consortium
• Work primarily with ILLiad/Worldshare
• IDS Logic provides ILLiad automation
• Also, some development for Alma and RAPID
• Monthly IDS Forums
• Online Learning Institute
• Annual Conference

IMLS Grant

• National Leadership Grants – Libraries
• $232,817 to develop new resource sharing system
• Awarded July 27^th, 2023
• Completion, June, 2025
• The CrossLink IMLS grant was cancelled on April 8^th, 2025
• Requests for payments had been placed before the termination
• IDS Network has reserve funding
• Working with other consortia to continue development

Advisory Committee

• Sylvie Larsen, University of Pennsylvania
• Lucy Harrison, GALILEO
• Mallory Kasinec, Index Data
• Mark Paris, Brandeis University
• Mark Sullivan, IDS Project/SUNY Geneseo
• Sebastian Hammer, Index Data
• Sarah Shank, Ithaca College
• Tim Jackson, SUNY OLIS
• Zack Lane, Columbia University

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Need for CrossLink

• Many interlibrary loan (ILL) and resource-sharing systems operate in isolation, creating barriers
• Silos Between Systems: Libraries use different platforms that don’t communicate
• Rising Costs: Subscription fees make it difficult to afford multiple solutions
• Workflow Complexity: Navigating multiple systems leads to inefficiencies and delays.
• CrossLink unifies and connects different library systems, enhancing resource sharing across institutions and consortia

Public Libraries

• Small libraries without a systems person
• Small budgets
• No union catalog of other public libraries
• Some do not have an ILL solution and use ILL-l and regular email to send requests

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Academic Libraries

• Reduced budgets and staff
• Unable to keep multiple systems for working with different consortia
• Need to cut back on other systems and focus on one
• Have rarely worked closely with local public libraries due to siloed systems
• Primary systems currently used are becoming more siloed and reducing options to work together

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Current Discovery Options

• WorldCat
• Not all libraries are part of WorldCat due to cost
• Consortial Union Catalog
• High upkeep so many smaller organizations can’t maintain one
• Expense for system, support, and potentially staffing
• Individual Library Catalog
• Does not help with access to external materials

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ISO 18626 in Current Systems

• Manually configured peer-to-peer relationships
• Cannot by themselves support consortial borrowing at scale
• Massive overhead in multiple systems to get any large scale resource sharing started
• Firewall settings for peer to peer
• Multiple libraries need to be configured at each location

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Vision of CrossLink

• Improve the efficiency and lower the cost of resource sharing
• Help with the issue of reduced staffing at libraries
• Making discovery and resource sharing more accessible to smaller libraries
• Promote interoperability among different systems by creating a standards-based network
• Promote technology that will enable libraries to pursue consortial resource sharing while having flexibility to implement local library ILL workflows in the way that suits them best
• Leverage the ISO18626 (ISO ILL standard) functionality which is increasingly becoming available in LSPs and resource sharing management systems

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Three critical infrastructure components

1. a shared index of holdings for the group of libraries wishing to share resources
2. a directory of services and configuration data, to furnish access information and necessary parameters to guide the choice of, and access to, potential suppliers
3. broker – the business logic for handling requests between borrower and lender

POD MaRC Data

OAI-PMH Data

Reservoir

PostgreSQL

SOLR

VuFind

CrossLink

CrossLink Discovery Flowchart

API

API

Library Specific Logo

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Search Options

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Book Covers

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Basic Bib Information

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Library Search Limits

• Local Library
• Other Consortia Options
• All Libraries in CrossLink

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CrossLink Discovery

CrossLink Brokering Module

CrossLink is a broker system that:

• Can receive requests from one library
• Identify a list of suitable suppliers
• Try those suppliers in turn before returning a response to a requesting library

Supported Systems & Data Integration

• Works with multiple resource-sharing systems, including:
• Alma Resource Sharing
• ILLiad
• OpenRS
• Rapido
• ReShare
• Handles data from various ILS platforms:
• Uses OAI protocols for metadata harvesting and integration
• Leverages the Reservoir System to manage bibliographic data from diverse sources that do not support OAI

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Development Highlights

• Implemented REST JSON API for transactions and event logs
• Added peer caching and supplier load balancing for efficient request handling
• Developed SRU shared index Mock Service, establishing a universal holdings lookup protocol
• Additional test scenarios to the Mock: Cancel, Overdue, Renew, Retry cost, Retry on loan/after date, Retry loan condition
• Broker and Mock Services are now packaged as Docker containers for easy deployment

Development Highlights

• First series of tests against Alma were promising
• Index Data test server and help from Ex Libris
• Two issues were addressed through an Alma-specific ISO18626 implementation shim in the broker
• Implemented additional logging in the broker for troubleshooting

A Surprise

• Index Data was implementing ReShare for Trove in Australia
• Trove needed their Alma/Rapido libraries to communicate with ReShare
• Index Data implemented CrossLink to link Trove’s libraries
• Trove has been absolutely wonderful as our first CrossLink consortium
• Found issues with Alma’s ISO 18626 and Partner Data
• Ex Libris patched the issue
• We are hoping for some additional fixes from Ex Libris soon

The Road Ahead

• Deploying the IDS/SUNY CrossLink Server
• Currently working with SUNY OLIS to provide a test bed for CrossLink
• Adding more libraries in December/January
• Enhancing VuFind for streamlined discovery and request management
• Expanding network partnerships to include more consortia and library systems
• Additional testing with other ILSs and Resource Sharing Systems

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IDS Logic & CrossLink

1. Copyright Processing
2. Automated Processing
1. Availability Lookup
2. Data Import
3. Smart Routing
3. Remediated Articles

Title II and Remediation

Option 1:

• Using CrossLink and Logic to determine if we can purchase a remediated document

Option 2:

• The Arizona State University Artificial Intelligence Cloud Innovation Center partnered with The Ohio State University Libraries to improv the accessibility of the library’s digital collections.
• https://smartchallenges.asu.edu/challenges/pdf-accessibility-ohio-state-university
• RIT Document and Pattern Recognition Lab
• Mathematics and Chemistry processing
• https://www.rit.edu/facilities/document-and-pattern-recognition-lab
• We are looking into seeing if this can be integrated into CrossLink

Conclusion

• CrossLink is not another ILL system—it is an ISO 18626 network connecting libraries
• Enables seamless collaboration without requiring the adoption of new management software
• Works with existing systems to remove barriers in resource sharing
• Promotes equitable access by leveraging a flexible, interoperable approach
• Provides additional automation and support

Questions?