Hi Kyle,

Thanks so much for your reply. Our patrons currently must choose from our
combined ILS CBBCat (III's Sierra), which we share with two other colleges;
three consortial systems, NExpress, MaineInfoNet, and as of tomorrow,
ConnectNY (all III's INNreach); and then, if they have searched all of
those systems and not been able to locate/request their item, interlibrary
loan (WorldCat/Illiad).

I'm probably not articulating it well, but I am trying to find a solution
similar to what I understand Easy Borrow to be - a program that automates
searching across those disparate systems, presenting a request option to
the patron at the point which the item is found.

I hope this clarifies it a bit. I know that this is a point of frustration
for patrons, so am hoping to find a solution to streamline the process. I'm
sure it is much more complex that I even imagine :)

Thanks,

Darylyne

**************************************
Darylyne Provost
Assistant Director for Systems, Web, & Emerging Technologies
Colby College
207.859.5117
[log in to unmask]

On Mon, Dec 15, 2014 at 2:26 PM, Kyle Banerjee <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>
> The answer depends on your objective. The quick answer to your question is
> that union catalogs are easier to maintain and generally work better than
> federated searches.
>
> Can you say a bit more about what catalogs need to be searched and what
> needs to happen? For example, do the catalogs in question belong to a
> consortium and is the mechanism used to get patrons books from libraries
> other than their home libraries more circ or ILL based? What kinds of
> systems are involved and how have you been dealing with the need you're
> hoping to meet so far? Thanks,
>
> kyle
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 15, 2014 at 11:02 AM, Darylyne Provost <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > I'm new to Code4Lib, so just want to say "hi" first of all :)
> >
> > I've searched the archives but didn't find an answer. I am wondering if
> > anyone has experience with Easy Borrow
> > <http://library.brown.edu/its/software/easyborrow/>, or can anyone
> suggest
> > other potential solutions to automate searching and requesting across
> > multiple catalogs?
> >
> > I'm sure many other libraries have similar issues: our patrons have so
> many
> > disparate catalogs to search/request it is confusing and cumbersome. I'm
> > not a programmer, and we don't have one on staff at this time. So, I am
> > trying to find an existing solution for which we might be able to
> outsource
> > customization and then turn to internal (campus) support for help with
> > maintenance.
> >
> > Many thanks in advance for any suggestions!
> >
> > Darylyne
> >
> > **************************************
> > Darylyne Provost
> > Assistant Director for Systems, Web, & Emerging Technologies
> > Colby College
> > 207.859.5117
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
>