Bringing patrons to library collections
The library puts in a considerable amount of time and effort to develop its collections and provide support for users. But are patrons always gaining easy access to these resources?
“We understand that users don’t necessarily go via library systems to access our resources and can then struggle to access the online resources we subscribe to. It can also be difficult to provide effective support to off-campus users when they have problems accessing resources.”
“It can be difficult to provide effective support to off-campus users.”
Lean Library, a powerful browser plug-in, solves access issues and provides patrons with content as and when they need it, all while protecting their privacy and promoting your library’s brand.
“Library staff are finding it useful in supporting off-campus users to access resources. The Library Assist feature is also useful for providing extra support when accessing resources – we plan to investigate using this across the library. Uptake has been good with nearly 4,000 engaged users each month and we’re pleased with the amount.”
Lean Library strives to deliver a product that continues to bring value to the library.
“The functionality delivers what was promised, it continues to be developed, it is easy for users to install and from the statistics we can see it is being used and helping users access resources.”
Lean Library requires users to download the plug-in. So, how do you get patrons to download it?
“We started with a soft launch over the summer with announcements on the library’s social media and did a full launch in October. We promoted it via social media, flyers on library service points, screensavers, a web page and information on library staff email signatures. We’re continuing to promote it particularly to coincide with new intakes of students. We are finding the statistics useful to be able to monitor usage and see where users’ research has been supported with the plug-in.”
At the end of the day, users need to see the value, and their feedback is important.
“We’ve had positive feedback from users via Twitter and also from our Academic Support Librarians. We’ll be focusing on gathering more qualitative feedback from users going forward.”
| University of Salford, Manchester
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Find out more about Lean Library.
If you’d like to hear more or receive a product demo, get in touch.
Lean Library Case Study: Erasmus University Rotterdam October 24, 2024
Bringing value to the library
The library puts in a considerable amount of time and effort to develop its collections and provide support for users. But are patrons always gaining easy access to these resources?
“We use EZproxy but it is difficult to explain how to use it. Even student support staff don’t understand.”
Lean Library solves access issues and provides patrons with content as and when they need it, all while protecting their privacy and promoting your library’s brand.
Lean Library strives to deliver a product that continues to bring value to the library.
The Lean Library tool really helps us. Due to issues around privacy, it’s important to have a good, trusting relationship. We have that with Lean Library. We are now going over the 6000 engaged users, which is great! This means we can contact these active searchers with scholarly information. We are able to prompt a message on each website that we want to talk about!”
Lean Library Lean Library requires users to download the plug-in. So, how do you get patrons to download it?
“At first, we used flyers and narrowcasting in our library. Now, we just promote by narrowcasting. The number of engaged users is going up every month.”
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Find out more about Lean Library.
If you’d like to hear more or receive a product demo, get in touch.
Lean Library Case Study: Mersey Care October 24, 2024
Accessing resources from home and a 45% increase in online journal usage
The library puts in a considerable amount of time and effort to develop its collections and provide support for users. But are patrons always gaining easy access to these resources?
“The installation and ongoing dialogue with Lean Library were exemplary; always consistently helpful and very responsive. I am not necessarily very technically minded but Daniel – our Lean Library contact – guided me through all the necessary steps at our end.”
Lean Library, a powerful browser plug-in, solves access issues and provides patrons with content as and when they need it, all while protecting their privacy and promoting your library’s brand.
Lean Library strives to deliver a product that continually brings value to the library. Does it match your expectations?
“The product has exceeded our expectations in terms of increased user satisfaction and increases in OpenAthens sessions across the Trust.”
Lean Library requires users to download the plug-in. So, how do you get patrons to download it?
“Initially we directly emailed all registered OpenAthens users within the Trust about Lean Library – about a fifth of our user base – and we continue to do this with new software developments such as Highlight and Search. Beyond that, we ran a poster campaign across the organisation informing them of Lean Library and the arrival of the Chrome browser.
Lean Library also promotes itself and our service in an ambient manner as potential users in remote locations are now made aware of our service and the availability of online resources through our Lean Library popups. In our organization, our users wouldn’t necessarily identify as students – as they will have existing OpenAthens account registered under their professional group.”
Collection usage grows when access is simplified
“The implementation of Lean Library in Mersey Care has contributed towards a 45% increase in online journal usage.”
At the end of the day, users need to see the value, and their feedback is important.
“The feedback is uniformly positive – and it is reassuring to know that if for any reason the user did not want to see the popups anymore, we can give them instructions on how to easily disable it.”
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Find out more about Lean Library.
If you’d like to hear more or receive a product demo, get in touch.
