Ex Libris Acquires RapidILL, Provider of Leading Resource-Sharing Solutions

JERUSALEM and FORT COLLINS, Colo., June 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ex Libris^®, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce that it has acquired RapidILL, the provider of industry-leading document-delivery and resource-sharing solutions.

Developed by staff at the Colorado State University (CSU) Libraries, RapidILL's flagship product, also named RapidILL, serves more than 330 institutions, which benefit from a fast, cost-effective request and delivery service for interlibrary loans. RapidILL will continue to offer its current solutions, with support from Ex Libris. At the same time, the two organizations will work together to significantly enrich resource-sharing services for the academic library market.

RapidILL offers users enhanced services at significant cost savings, by eliminating various fees, expediting processing, making maximum use of the libraries' own print and electronic journal holdings, and reducing the amount of staff time required for processing interlibrary loan requests. The integration of the RapidILL solution with Ex Libris solutions, including the flagship Ex Libris Alma^® library services platform, will enrich services and increase library efficiency and collaboration. The Ex Libris and RapidILL teams will also combine efforts toward a shared vision of an advanced resource-sharing solution that is based on a user-centric design and workflows, intuitive discovery, and innovative delivery options.

"We are extremely proud of our success with RapidILL resource sharing and are very excited to join forces with Ex Libris," said CSU Dean of Libraries Pat Burns. "Together, Ex Libris and RapidILL will be able to develop advanced resource-sharing solutions and greatly expand the reach of RapidILL, to the holistic benefit of the library community."

Ex Libris President Bar Veinstein noted, "We are thrilled to welcome the RapidILL user community to Ex Libris, and we are fully committed to the continued success of RapidILL users. This acquisition is an important step in executing our strategy to broaden our higher education offering. RapidILL's solutions complement and enhance our resource-sharing capabilities, and will enable Ex Libris to bring librarians and libraries the world-class tools they need for collaborating, developing their library collections, and focusing on learning affordability and patron experience via better fulfillment."

About RapidILL
RapidILL is a unique resource-sharing system that was developed by the Colorado State University Libraries. Created in the wake of a 1997 flood that devastated CSU's main library, RapidILL was conceived and developed by ILL staff as a way to provide fast, cost-effective article requesting and delivery through interlibrary loan. In 2014 RapidILL moved beyond article sharing and began facilitating the exchange of "returnables" (physical library collections) among participating libraries, through a service called RapidR.

RapidILL is built around groups of libraries, called "pods," that are created to support peer or consortial resource sharing. All RapidILL participants belong to at least one pod, and most belong to more than one. (For example, the CSU Libraries belongs to a general academic pod, a pod of ARL institutions, and a pod for the GWLA consortium.) Participating libraries sign a contract that includes peer-to-peer service commitments without charging fees. RapidILL incorporates automatic processing, routing, and load-leveling to ensure fast, efficient service.

Today, RapidILL includes a suite of services that facilitate interlibrary lending, including articles, returnables (via RapidR), and open-access materials. More than 300 libraries now participate in RapidILL, including libraries in the United States, Canada, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

To learn more, visit the RapidILL website.

About Ex Libris

Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is a leading global provider of cloud-based SaaS solutions that enable institutions and their individual users to create, manage, and share knowledge. In close collaboration with its customers and the broader community, Ex Libris develops creative solutions that increase library productivity, maximize the impact of research activities, enhance teaching and learning, and drive student mobile engagement. Ex Libris serves over 7,500 customers in 90 countries. For more information, see our website and join us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

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SOURCE Ex Libris