2019 Charleston Library Conference

In January 2018, NC LIVE, a consortium of 205 North Carolina member libraries, began partnering with ProQuest/ Ex Libris to offer the Summon discovery solution to its members. At the time, many of NC LIVE’s libraries did not have an existing discovery service and this opportunity gave them the chance to implement a discovery service at no additional cost. By implementing Summon with NC LIVE, libraries were able to take advantage of existing consortial relationships for shared print and electronic resources in an implementation process that was streamlined for NC LIVE. NC LIVE is a multi-type library consortium with public libraries and academic libraries of many different sizes, and a wide range of technical skill sets. Ex Libris and NC LIVE designed the implementation process and follow-up support plan to meet the diverse needs of NC LIVE libraries. The objective of this session is to detail the benefits and challenges of a statewide implementation of a discovery system with a wide range of libraries.

Attendees can expect to learn how a discovery system can be an effective solution for academic, community college and public libraries alike; how to manage implementation on a large scale for a diverse group of libraries with a range of technical abilities; how to support adoption in libraries that are struggling with an implementation process; and how to build a library community of support for a shared system within a statewide consortium. During the session, we’ll hear from an NC LIVE community college library about their experiences with the shared implementation process. We’ll informally poll the audience to gather feedback on their experiences and open it up for discussion at the end of the session.