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How a tweak here and there made substantial changes

Finetuning Alma Workflows at Charles Sturt University Library

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A bit about us…

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Our ExLibris journey:

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Originally using Aleph (Consortium)

Migrated to Alma in 2015 (Consortium)

Migrated to Alma + Primo VE (ExLibris Direct) in 2017

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We had the ‘power’ to tailor the system to our specific needs however we were still using outdated and inefficient processes.

We were not using the system to its full potential.

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With the ever present pressure to do more with less, we knew we had to bring our processes into the 21^st century

Little did we know but there were also some major events just around the corner that would ramp up that pressure.

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Our solution…

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We decided to enlist the experience and expertise of ExLibris Professional Services to determine the best way to setup and use the system.

After a week of non-stop process review, questions and clarifications, we were provided with a report outlining all of the discussions and a comprehensive list of recommendations.

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This report became the basis for a massive program of improvement activities that took place over 18 months across the entire Division of Library Services.

Over 115 recommendations ranging from small tweaks - a simple change in which icon we click on, to a massive technical integration with the University’s financial systems.

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Breaking down all the activities into functional areas allowed subject matter experts to investigate relevant recommendations:

Where improvements were found

We implemented

Where issues were found

Tickets were raised and followed up

Where no improvement was found

It was a learning experience: �We developed knowledge in how the system could work if required in the future�

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Functional area breakdowns

Fulfillment Roshan Thapa

Inter-Library Loans Kirrarne Ianson

Acquisitions Jacqui Evans

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Fulfilment

One area which was already functioning well. An opportunity to investigate existing issues and further enhancements, for example:

Fulfilment of home delivery requests from any campus
Mandatory fields in request forms
Digitisation request priority

Alma Digital Implementation to manage eReserve and copyright, and making use of Primo Collection Lobby

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Interlibrary Loans

Our original Resource Sharing setup was quite complicated and duplicated across our multi-campus University. To reduce the workflow and expediate requests we looked at:

Locate Functionality for lending requests including auto adding to pick lists, rejects, direct loaning and digitisations.

Consolidation of RS library setup – from 5 RS desks reduced to 2.

Reduced workload for staff ensured we were able to continue on with BAU when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the majority of staff were working from home.

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All Lending (Before)

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Print Lending (After)

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Acquisitions

In addition to small tweaks such as the SpineOMatic Cloud App for label printing, the biggest improvements for our acquisitions team was through Rialto:

An early adopter of Rialto in the ANZ region and have been ordering since Sept 2020.
Streamlined the purchasing process �(one stop shop)
Visibility of holdings when shopping for items
PO and portfolio automatically created

We will also be looking at how purchase requests can be utilised in the near future

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The resolution…

Little changes can make a huge difference

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Through the changes implemented and the constant tinkering over the 18 months we developed the skills and confidence to modify Alma to the changing needs of the Library and the Institution as a whole.

This was especially helpful when COVID-19 hit:

Physical collection was locked down
Changes to fulfillment rules / fines and fees to support extended loans
Rapid transition to working from home
Absorbed staff attrition through process efficiencies

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ExLibris Professional Services provided invaluable system knowledge, expertise and guidance on how we can improve our processes.

Small incremental changes have led to a huge overall improvement across our Library

This put us in a good position to deal with the rapid changes brought about from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Contact list

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Andrew Press Manager Information Resources	apress@csu.edu.au
Roshan Thapa Coordinator Discovery Services	rthapa@csu.edu.au
Jacqui Evans Team Manager Acquisitions and Licensing	jacqevans@csu.edu.au
Kirarrne Ianson Librarian Collection Services	kianson@csu.edu.au

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Thank you

Charles Sturt University