Point-of-Need Collection Development: The Getting It System Toolkit (GIST) and a New System for Acquisitions and Interlibrary Loan Integrated Workflow and Collection Development

Abstract

The authors developed the Getting It System Toolkit (GIST) software, which integrates with the commercially available ILLiad interlibrary loan (ILL) management software. At the point that a user places an ILL request or a book purchase request, GIST collects information from both the user and from external sources to provide decision-making data, such as whether the title is held locally, whether a free Internet version exists, whether the user has a format or edition preference, and how much the title costs. Working together, GIST and ILLiad simplify the complex ILL and acquisitions processes by allowing loan and purchase requests to pass between the two departments. GIST is an innovative tool designed to reconcile formerly disparate workflows and enable effective collection decision making.