Libraries facing budget concerns due to rising costs and demands for services realize significant savings in hold transport and fulfilment costs by using Vega Discover, all while improving the patron experience.
Consortias and independent libraries both move books around between branches to fulfill hold requests. In other discovery catalogs, patrons are often presented with multiple editions of the same title, requiring them to navigate lengthy lists and decide which version to request. These catalogs display 20 different editions either separately or ‘grouped’ into a multi-page display that a patron must cumbersomely navigate and then make a value-based decision on which edition to place a hold on. Not only does this cause needless user frustration from choice overload, but it can also cost your library big when it comes to transporting materials between your branch libraries.
Vega Discover changes this dynamic. By supporting format level holds, Vega Discover removes the burden of decision-making from patrons and optimizes fulfillment behind the scenes. Instead of selecting a specific edition, patrons request the title in the format they prefer, and Vega intelligently determines the edition that has copies best suited to fulfill that request.
In closed consortias that do not readily share materials between branches, Vega Discover allows additional controls to be applied that tighten hold selection to the individual member library collections, while offering expanded hold selection logic in the larger consortia catalog.
What this means for your library
- Lower delivery and transport costs by prioritizing locally available materials
- Faster fulfillment times with smarter hold routing
- Improved patron experience by eliminating choice overload
- More efficient operations without additional staff effort
Vega Discover automatically prioritizes copies that are available at the patron’s selected pickup location, ensuring materials move less and arrive faster, saving both time and money.
“The 66 member libraries of the Mid-Hudson Library System freely share all areas of their physical collections across a vast five county network. Delivery is the most expensive aspect of our service, after staff. With Vega Discover, rollups and the logic applied to selecting the most “available” copy at the title level, we are reducing delivery and turning requests around faster. If there is no edition preference, the request is placed to prioritize efficiency on a local copy or where the fastest fulfillment is expected based on checked in copies or attached copies,” says Laurie Shedrick, Assistant Director, Technology Operations Manager, Mid-Hudson Library System.
In an environment where every operational efficiency matters, Vega Discover helps libraries streamline fulfillment, reduce unnecessary costs, and deliver a more seamless experience for patrons.
Learn how Vega Discover can optimize your hold fulfillment strategy – connect with our team today.