How librarians leverage Rialto to connect and simplify workflows

How librarians leverage Rialto to connect and simplify workflows

Librarians are at the heart of a vast user network, working tirelessly to ensure the success of the students and faculty they serve. At the same time, they manage many tasks behind the scenes: overseeing the library's systems and software; supporting staff members as they navigate the new technologies; creating documentation and evaluating processes to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. They serve as a human bridge to connect the entire library ecosystem.

In May, the Ex Libris User Group of North America (ELUNA) held its annual meeting, the theme of which was aptly named, "Building Bridges." Libraries from around the country gathered in Minneapolis to share how they are building bridges every day: between their communities, between library products and systems, and among their staff.

Leveraging technology to build better bridges

Across various sessions, academic librarians demonstrated how they're embracing technologies that integrate and streamline processes and reduce manual workloads to help them build those bridges more effectively. Among the technologies they're finding effective is the Rialto marketplace solution.

Rialto integrates with key resources such as the Alma library management system, the Leganto course management system and the Rapido resource sharing system on the Ex Libris library cloud platform. It helps library team members search and acquire content to support research and curriculum needs, anchoring those important buying decisions with the right context. Importantly, it's all within one workflow.

Read on to learn how these integrated solutions can help libraries bridge gaps and create a more unified approach to collection development.

Making book requests a reality in less time

How can libraries leverage technology to ensure student success? By choosing solutions that help them get the right content, delivered to the right users, at the right time. Rialto's seamless integrations reduce manual efforts and shorten the path from request to fulfillment, delivering a better patron experience.

Being unified with Alma and integrated with Leganto means important insights-such as library holdings, fund balances and reading list information- are automatically visible throughout the purchasing process. Ordering titles becomes more efficient, duplication and errors are drastically reduced, and books get into the hands of users faster.

Robin Miller, Associate Director for Collections and Scholar Services, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Libraries, said: "The moment a book is selected to the moment it gets on the shelf is a long journey. Rialto has helped us shorten that journey."

Prior to Rialto, Miller says their library's workflow "needed a refresh." Rialto's transparency, especially the fund visibility from Alma, appealed to their staff and transformed their processes.

She added, "Rialto came to us at the perfect time. It has revolutionized our methods and has been really effective for us."

Supporting collection strategies

Libraries have many different sources to consult for potential purchases: purchase request forms, course reading lists, and borrowing requests. Rialto's integrations make it easier to acquire materials from each of these sources in a single workflow, eliminating bouncing back and forth between tabs.

At the University of California, Riverside, library team members explored how Rialto can update and streamline their "suggest-a-purchase" workflow - a complex and manual process.

Carla Arbagey, Collection Strategist for Arts & Humanities at University of California Riverside Library said: "The cool thing is that the purchase requests are integrated with Rialto. Rialto allows the user to link requests and add to cart, which brings in the patron's information and links to the account in Alma - it's all automated."

More ways Rialto's integrations simplify library workflows:

• Rialto's purchase request workflow with Alma allows staff to easily search the market from a purchase request, maintaining the context of the request while browsing available offers. Rialto automatically links the order back to the request and notifies the original requestor when the item becomes available.
• Similarly, Rialto's integration with Leganto allows users to search the market from a reading list, with a clear view of the course requirements to make the best decision for format and licensing model.
• Finally, Rialto's newly added integration with Rapido allows staff to purchase highly requested materials or books unavailable from lending partners directly from Rapido without changing their established workflow

Join the community

Over 500 libraries around the world have chosen Rialto to save staff time and create user-focused collections. Unified with Alma, it makes selection and acquisition fast, accurate and transparent by surfacing essential library data throughout the purchasing process. Plus, Rialto uses the power of AI to deliver relevant search results and recommendations to selectors, allowing staff to review best-fit titles with minimal effort.

Build stronger bridges to support your community. Learn more about how Rialto can support your library or contact us for a demo.

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