Ex Libris, part of Clarivate, is delighted to announce that the University of Liverpool has integrated Rapido, its new intuitive borrowing solution designed for modern library experiences.
Boasting a vast collection of unique items with a focus on science fiction, the University of Liverpool's library partners with the University's museums and galleries to offer a total of over 3,000,000 records of various items, from physical to digital and stream content. The adoption of Rapido aligns with the University's ongoing efforts to provide users with access to the largest possible pool of resources:
"Rapido allows us to build on our existing interlending practices and facilitate access to content currently not held by the library. I do believe that its automated workflows and system integration will help further support the Higher Education community and its ILL practices. Moreover, drawing on its capabilities and analytics, the system can also help us (as a library) identify areas for future collection development."
Dr Rachel Schulkins, Library Content Services Lead at University of Liverpool
With Rapido automating most of the requests, the library staff have seen a significant reduction in the efforts required to source hard-to-find items, a process that used to take up to 15-20 minutes for each title. Rapido has allowed the Library to improve its process efficiency and enabled users to enjoy a more seamless borrowing journey:
"We are seeing strong engagement from our users, so much so that in a period of 7 months we have received as many requests as we did last academic year. This shows that the users find the Rapido tiles informative and helpful in navigating their needs. […] The automation workflows that Rapido offers allows us to grow our services and meet the high demand we are experiencing. Rapido helps us ensure that our services are quick and efficient for our users."
Dr Rachel Schulkins, Library Content Services Lead at University of Liverpool
As Dr Schulkins' mentions, the more the resource-sharing community expands, the easier it will get to meet requests and satisfy users: "the impact will only grow over time, as partners join the Rapido UK pod". The University of Liverpool envisions resource sharing as a crucial aspect of collection building, eventually becoming the primary source of resource supply, and is looking forward to seeing new members joining the Rapido community.
About Rapido:
Rapido is an integrated borrowing solution for modern library experiences.
- For users, Rapido acts as an extension of the library's collection to provide a simplified digital borrowing experience. Instead of looking for an item on the web, searching it on the library's app, filling in a request form, and waiting for an update, students manage the borrowing journey in a few clicks, without ever leaving the library's interface. Its transparent delivery dates let users know whether items will arrive in time for their paper or exam.
- For libraries, Rapido extends the collection without extending the budget with automated access to the resources of the resource-sharing community. In addition, with its automation of the borrowing and lending processes, staff manage a higher volume of requests with less effort.