Oxford and Cambridge Universities Choose Ex Libris RapidILL Interlibrary Loan Service to Improve ILL Speed and Collaboration

JERUSALEM, Oct. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce that the libraries at two renowned institutions in the United Kingdom—the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge—have adopted the Ex Libris RapidILL™ interlibrary loan service. With this acquisition, the universities have also become members of the global RapidILL community, opening their collections to institutions in the UK and around the world.

As an interlibrary loan system built around a community of reciprocal users, RapidILL has an outstanding request fulfillment rate of 95% and an average delivery time of less than 12 hours. Institutions using RapidILL not only enjoy greater access to other collections but also increase the visibility of their own collections. Improving the efficiency of interlibrary loan services supports the advancement of research and makes teaching more effective, both on campus and remotely.

"Currently, many of our interlibrary loan systems are manual, and lending is decentralized," said Sharon Dyas-Correia, Head of Collections and Resource Description, Collections Management, the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries. "With RapidILL, many of our transactions will be automated – and the system will also enable us to fully participate in national and international resource sharing activities. It will also save valuable time for our staff, especially since we envision that our ILL activities will possibly increase in the future."

"Major research libraries like ours have historically been 'just-in-case' collectors, and now, driven by the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, we're moving further into the 'just-in-time' paradigm," said Michael Williams, Head of Collection Development and Management, Cambridge University Library. "Interlibrary loan is a significant part of maintaining access to content. RapidILL was the best peer-to-peer option available to us and will help us get content to the end-user as seamlessly as possible."

Ofer Mosseri, ProQuest and Ex Libris Corporate Vice President and EMEA General Manager, said "Ex Libris is thrilled to have University of Oxford and Cambridge University join the RapidILL interlibrary loan and resource sharing community, befitting both Oxford and Cambridge users and library users around the globe. RapidILL services will save staff time and increase the accessibility of resources – both domestic and international – for librarians, faculty and students."

About the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
The Bodleian Libraries is the library service supporting the University of Oxford. The Bodleian Libraries is the largest academic library service in the UK and one of the largest library services in Europe. Read the full 'about' section.

About Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library (the UL) is one of the world's oldest university libraries – and home to one of the world's great collections of cultural treasures and research materials. Read the full 'about' section'.

About Ex Libris
Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is a leading global provider of cloud-based SaaS solutions that enable institutions and their individual users to create, manage, and share knowledge. Read the full 'about' section'.

Media contact:
Roni Shandalov
[email protected] 
+97226499100

SOURCE Ex Libris

Related Links

https://exlibrisgroup.com/about-us/our-story-about-ex-libris/