January 2021 SWIFT Migration Project Update

With 2020 in the rearview mirror, we wanted to provide an update on the SWIFT migration to the Prospector Interlibrary Loan Service, celebrate some milestones, and share information on what’s coming up migration-wise in 2021. In fall of 2020, the Colorado State Library, along with the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries (the Alliance) and Innovative Interfaces (Innovative) began the process of moving 150 SWIFT libraries onto Prospector for state-wide Interlibrary Loan Services. As of this writing:

• 79 staff members from 69 libraries in Colorado have participated in Resource Sharing Broker (RSB) training
• Over 75 Welcome Packages have been distributed via the courier
• Seven libraries that use an Innovative product as their ILS have gone live on Prospector for borrowing and lending, and
• 14 libraries using other ILS’s have gone live on the RSB to facilitate Staff-initiated borrowing on Prospector.

The next group of SWIFT libraries that will go live on the RSB have been identified, and will be able to begin borrowing on behalf of their patrons in the next two weeks!

Our goal is to complete Phase 1 of the migration (to get all non-Innovative SWIFT libraries live on the RSB for staff-initiated borrowing) over the next few months, but in order for us to do that, each library will need to complete a few steps to initiate the process. If you have not yet completed the steps outlined here: SWIFT Migration – Start your Engines! you will need to do so before we can put you on the schedule to begin staff-initiated borrowing. If you have questions, or encounter issues, please reach out to SWIFT-Support at SWIFT-Support@coloradovirtuallibrary.org.

What’s Next?

While Phase 1 is ongoing, we are also beginning the work for Phase 2 of the migration project, which will allow automated libraries to offer patron initiated borrowing, and lend materials in their collections to other Prospector libraries. As we move through back end set-up and establish processes for supporting this additional functionality for SWIFT libraries, we want to share, at a high level, how this will work with Prospector, and things for you to keep in mind as we move forward.

Patron Initiated Requests: Libraries that are able/choose to offer patron initiated requests – meaning that eligible patrons will be able to place requests themselves via the online Prospector union catalog, will have the opportunity to enable this functionality. In order to offer this service, libraries will need to:

1. Provide a regular extract of patron data that meets Innovative’s standard data specifications.
2. Promote the service and provide instruction to patron end users.
3. Place links to Prospector union catalog on library website and OPAC

Lending: Libraries that are able/choose to lend material via Prospector will have the opportunity to contribute holdings to the union catalog, and receive training for managing lending requests and returns via the RSB client. In order to lend material to other Prospector libraries, libraries will need to:

1. Provide a regular extract of bibliographic and item data that meets Innovative’s standard data specifications.
2. Complete RSB client training for Lending requests and returns

As we progress with Phase 2, we will provide more details on timelines, data requirements, and project steps. Stay tuned for more info, training opportunities, and updates, and if you have any questions feel free to reach out to SWIFT-Support at SWIFT-Support@coloradovirtuallibrary.org.