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Shared Services Platform, More Than A Technological Change, It Is An Increased Collaboration

Shared Services Platform, more than a technological change, it is an increased collaboration

Enhanced user experience

The partnership fully implemented the WorldShare Management Services (WMS) Shared Services Platform (SSP) and the Sofia search tool in the summer of 2020. In addition to streamlining and enhancing access to the 18 academic institutions’ resources with shared collections, the SSP enabled the integration of new services, and implemented new features, including:

  • Integrated online payment service;
  • Improved collection discoverability for users by managing facets in Sofia and extending searches with similar or translated terms;
  • Simplified access to all the copies of a title by grouping records in both languages, and displaying a single record in the user’s chosen language.

Throughout the project, the libraries relied on a dedicated support team, which will be operational until March 2023. Over 200 people, assigned to 14 working groups and committees, contributed to implementing the SSP. These working groups currently oversee the product’s evolution, and identify enhancement opportunities for libraries.

Increased access to digital content

Quebec University Libraries licensed the complete Third Iron suite to enhance the browsing experience of digital content. The partnership and vendor collaborated to develop an interface that will be available entirely in French and integrated into Sofia by the end of summer 2021. These tools allow users to: 

  • Easily browse in different journals and periodicals;
  • Access articles in one click on the web or mobile applications;
  • Track titles of interest and receive a notification when new articles are published;
  • Read saved articles offline;
  • Integrate with EndNote, RefWorks, Mendeley and other bibliographic management services.

Successful collaboration with OCLC

Thanks to the driving force and collaboration of our partnership with OCLC, the WMS platform continues to evolve in line with the needs of academic consortia. Several optimizations of internal operations are completed, including solutions to interface the Acquisitions module with a financial system, a new mechanism to enhance bibliographic records, and the automatic creation of authority records. Other developments are expected in 2022.

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