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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] > > >