Engineering a Powerfully Simple Interlibrary Loan Experience with InstantILL

Abstract

IUPUI University Library (UL) has long recognized the need to advance open access and the crucial role resource sharing services play in bridging between the subscription-based world and an Open world. Resource sharing professionals frequently use library services to search for and retrieve known items, and thus have a key role not only in the provision of services but in demanding better discovery systems, promoting new and better discovery and delivery tools, and educating users. As services such as Primo, EDS, and Google Scholar combine with library website design to promote central indexes, it is increasingly unrealistic to expect the average user to search multiple unpromoted channels for what they need, and so libraries must work to make all aspects of discovery and delivery similarly straightforward. Resource sharing professionals can make significant inroads in improving discovery and delivery of open access and subscription content by partnering with Open projects to improve the library user’s experience when searching for known content. This paper will share how UL has taken a concrete step in this direction by working with the Open Access Button to develop InstantILL, a simple, community-owned, search tool for students and researchers to get free, fast, and legal access to articles. With a simple interface that users expect, InstantILL integrates searching library holdings, searching open access materials, and submitting interlibrary loan requests into a single action. Attendees will learn why the library chose to pursue this project, what InstantILL is and how it was designed and developed, and the results of the implementation.