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Alma Resource Sharing Guide

This guide explains the various components of FLVC's current resource sharing processes also known as UBorrow.

Out of State P2P Resource Sharing

P2P Resource Sharing in Alma Outside the Florida 40

FLVC has been working with SUNY, PASCAL, and WRLC consortia representatives to come up with policies that allow quick and easy addition of interested member libraries. Institutions wishing to expand their print resource sharing outside of the Florida 40 can add other Alma institutions to a new rota within Alma that comes into play if a request cannot be filled in state.

It is also possible to add other Alma institutions outside of these consortia, however, policies may need to be negotiated separately. 

If your institution is interested in participating, or if you have any questions, please send an email to help@flvc.org.

 

What will adding institutions to my institution's rota do?

For Borrowing

UBorrow borrowing requests from your institution that can't be filled within the Florida 40 get sent to the institutions that are added to your rota if they own the title. 

For Lending

Resource Sharing requests that can't be filled by the consortia members of the institution that has added your institution will be routed to your institution if you own the title. 

 

What are the policies and responsibilities for borrowing and lending with outside consortia members?

The Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States will be followed.

Reciprocal: When you add an institution to your rota, you are added to their rota.

Loan Period: The loan period for patrons will be 16 weeks (112 Days) with no renewals.

Recalls: Recalls are limited to items needed for course reserves. 

Turnaround time: Requests that can't be filled should be rejected as quickly as possible. A good faith effort should be made to begin processing all lending requests within 2 days and shipped within 3 days, with the acknowledgement that this may sometimes be delayed due to items being in remote locations. 

Shipping: Participants will ship items using the fastest shipping method their budget allows. Our TBLC agreement does not apply to out of state shipments.

If an item is lost or damaged during shipment and a commercial delivery service is responsible for reimbursement for losses in transit, the shipping library will make good faith efforts to secure payment from the delivery service and apply the payment toward the replacement costs as appropriate.

Costs: No requesting fees, no overdue fines, and no postage fees will be charged to borrowing libraries using the Alma/Primo platform. If an item is not returned, the lender may charge the borrowing library for replacement and/or processing costs. If damage or loss occurs, the lender may request replacement or compensation.

Violations: Repeated violations by a member institution of the policies and responsibilities may result in suspension of borrowing privileges for that institution.

 

Which institutions are currently participating in and with our consortium?

Institution Description Consortium
University of Central Florida

 

 FLVC
FGCU   FLVC
New College   FLVC
The Citadel
  • Description: The Citadel is one of the 6 senior military schools in the United States, this does not include the 5 military academies.  Not only do we have a Corps of Cadets, but we also have a large number of veteran students, graduate students, evening undergraduate students, and we are building our online student degree programs.  We have some very unique items that we are very happy to lend to any patron.  We use a hybrid demand driven acquisition model so not only do we get the most current editions but sometimes they are very unique older editions.  We are always looking for the best ways to support our students, faculty and staff whether it be by purchasing or borrowing from another library.  We want our students to have access to the largest amount of information as possible, and because of this we want every student in the United States to have access to same information. Even though we are a small school we are quick in getting items that are asked of us out to requesting libraries. Our OCLC policy says 4 days we usually have the item on the way within 24 hours. We love sharing our collection with anyone that asks.  
  • Areas of focus:  The Citadel’s major focus areas are Military History, Intelligence and Cyber Security, Engineering and History.  We are building our Nursing program, so we have started to build that area.  We also are always looking at our other programs to ensure we have the most up to date material.  Those programs are Business, Education, Political Science, Criminal Justice and Health and Human Performance.  Our liaisons to these programs help in the collection development of them. 
  • FTE from Fall 2021: 3,066
  • Approximate size of circulating monograph collection: 126,107
  • FY22/23 ILL data:
      • PASCAL Delivers (consortial resource sharing): 185 borrowing, 284 lending
      • ILL outside of PASCAL: 865 borrowing, 1,777 lending
 PASCAL
Tri-County Technical College
  • Description: Tri-County Technical College is a public, two-year community and technical college serving Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens counties in South Carolina. Offerings include university transfer associate degree programs and applied technical associate degrees, diplomas and certificates in more than 70 majors associated with business, health, public service, and industrial and engineering technologies. The College also offers developmental courses for students who need to improve their basic academic skills as well as a variety of academic and support services. About 80% of our students originate from the local community where they are pursuing associate level degrees and certifications or a transfer to a four year college/university. The other 20% are participants in bridge programs which feature full partnership with four year institutions (Clemson University, Anderson University, Lander University, etc.). The TCTC Learning Commons strives to be in the vanguard of resource sharing in order to maximize our collection. Whereas our resource sharing borrowing statistics indicate modest use, we are proud to offer access to collections well beyond the walls of our owned collection. We equally pride our willingness to share our collection with others and constantly seek reciprocal partnerships.
  • Areas of focus: TCTC's Learning Commons has a collection development philosophy that champions access to both print and digital materials appropriate for undergraduate, dual enrollment (high school), corporate and community education audiences. Our print collection is modest, but current and relevant to support the programs at TCTC. Our print collection consists of about 16,000 items. The collection tends to focus on nursing, allied and health sciences, business and public services, humanities, general interest and corporate and community education. Whereas the overwhelming majority of our collection is electronic, the print resources serve to provide context, variety, and accessible options to a diverse student population.
  • FTE from Fall 2021: 3,976
  • Approximate size of circulating monograph collection: 14,519
  • FY22/23 ILL data:
    • PASCAL Delivers (consortial resource sharing): 74 borrowing, 78 lending
    • ILL outside of PASCAL: 240 borrowing, 140 lending
 PASCAL
Winthrop University
  • What makes Winthrop a great partner?
    • The quality within the collections listed below
    • Track record of processing lending requests within 1 day of receipt
       October 2016—October 2023: Average Turnaround Time for Filled Requests = 0.98 days [OCLC Statistics]
    • Flexibility re: renewals, materials lent, overdue materials, etc. 
  • Areas of focus:
    • Literature
    • History
    • Fine Arts
    • Biology
    • Philosophy & Religion
    • Performing Arts
  • FTE from Fall 2021: 4,369
  • Approximate size of circulating monograph collection: 250,222
  • FY22/23 ILL data:
    • PASCAL Delivers (consortial resource sharing): 181 borrowing, 395 lending
    • ILL outside of PASCAL: 188 borrowing, 487 lending
 PASCAL
University at Albany
  • FTE: 21,300
  • Circulating Monograph Collection: 1,322,666 items
  • FY 2023 Alma RS Volumes: 2,080 borrowing, 3,963 lending
  • Description: The University at Albany is an ARL research library with particularly strong collections in business, public administration, public health, criminal justice, biomedical sciences, and nanotechnology.  UAlbany is currently participating in Alma resource sharing relationships with more than 30 non-SUNY institutions.  
 SUNY
Binghamton University
  • FTE: 24,600
  • Circulating Monograph Collection: 1,459,225 items
  • FY 2023 Alma RS Volumes: 4,539 borrowing, 3,908 lending
  • Description: Binghamton University's library supports a board range of academic deciplines with collection strengths in biology, psychology, economics, and environmental studies.  Binghamton is currently participating in Alma resource sharing relationships with more than 30 non-SUNY institutions.  
 SUNY
University at Buffalo
  • FTE: 38,000
  • Circulating Monograph Collection: 1,494,336 items
  • FY 2023 Alma RS Volumes: 7,187 borrowing, 3,464 lending
  • Description: The University at Albany is an ARL research library with particularly strong collections in business, engineering, biomedical sciences, information technology, and the law.  UAlbany is currently participating in Alma resource sharing relationships with more than 30 non-SUNY institutions.  
 SUNY
SUNY Oswego
  • FTE: 8,500
  • Circulating Monograph Collection: 267,261 items
  • FY 2023 Alma RS Volumes: 486 borrowing, 1,292 lending
  • Description: SUNY Oswego's library has strong collections in business, computer science, and engineering.  They are currently participating in Alma resource sharing relationships with 20 non-SUNY libraries.  
 SUNY
SUNY Purchase
  • FTE: 4,100
  • Circulating Monograph Collection: 184,889 items
  • FY 2023 Alma RS Volumes: 1,007 borrowing, 1,121 lending
  • Description: SUNY Purchase's library has strong collections in the performing arts.  They are currently participating in Alma resource sharing relationships with nearly 30 non-SUNY libraries.  
 SUNY
Stony Brook University
  • FTE: 36,900
  • Circulating Monograph Collection: 1,514,220 items
  • FY 2023 Alma RS Volumes: 3,642 borrowing, 2,029 lending
  • Description: Stony Brook University is an ARL research library with particularly strong collections in chemistry, heatlh sciences, mathematics, physics, astronomy, music, and engineering.  They are currently participating in Alma resource sharing relationships with 20 non-SUNY institutions.  
 SUNY