What do you do with an antiquated monograph ordering process and a book ordering platform that works for no one? The first step for us was adopting the Rialto platform in Fall 2021 at SUNY (State University of New York) Oneonta. We used this new book ordering platform to re-envision our acquisitions workflows and transform our monograph ordering process, enabling more robust end-of-year reporting.
Every year, our faculty struggled to compile their book lists and share them with library staff. In turn, librarians and staff struggled to wrangle the flood of emails containing book order requests that arrived on or after ordering deadlines. Rialto allowed us to create book lists and ordering templates, and to include notes in the requested title records, using a platform that was easily navigable and accessible to library staff. Since Rialto is integrated with Alma, it offered a more streamlined ordering process; and the time saved enabled us to manage monograph orders while our acquisitions assistant position was open.
After hiring a new acquisitions and collections management assistant, we delved more deeply into the tools Rialto offers, optimizing our monograph ordering, tracking, and reporting abilities. Rialto provided a more accurate snapshot of where our monographs budget stood at any given time and allowed for more effective end-of-year reporting regarding the status of monograph orders. In addition, Rialto offered the ability to see existing holdings for our institution and the SUNY consortium within the ordering platform because of its integration with Alma. This has transformed our collection development practice for monographs by providing a more holistic picture of what resources are available to our campus.
Attendees of this presentation will gain an understanding of how Rialto may be used to optimize acquisition workflows, monograph ordering processes, and reporting capabilities.
