Lean Library Partners with Springshare to Bring LibGuides Into the Patron Workflow
Lean Library, a browser extension from SAGE Publishing that delivers library services directly into the patron’s workflow, is pleased to announce its partnership with Springshare, the maker of LibGuides. Together, Lean Library and Springshare will provide libraries the ability to deliver library support and instruction to patrons at their point of need, on any academic resource or website online.
The partnership will begin by integrating LibGuides with the Lean Library browser extension, offering libraries the ability to deploy relevant instructional material from the library on any academic resource or website. Libraries will be able to trigger and configure these ‘workflow deployments’ at-scale, via an easy-to-use Lean Library dashboard.
A recent pilot with Utah State University, presented today at the 2021 Electronic Resources and Libraries conference, saw a 450% increase in usage of the LibGuide for Google Scholar, after it was deployed via the Lean Library browser extension (see Figures 1 and 2).
Jason Folkman, Electronic Resources Librarian at Utah State University, commented, “USU Libraries feels that meeting the needs of learners at the point of need is essential to ensuring information is delivered effectively, and that is something that the LibGuides integration with Lean Library allows us to do very effectively.”
Matt Hayes, Managing Director of Lean Library, said: "We are delighted to be announcing this close partnership with Springshare, a company whose librarian-centric approach we really admire. The LibGuides integration is a wonderful example of how Lean Library can ‘put the librarian on the patron’s shoulder’. The integration is made possible by new capabilities we’ve achieved with Lean Library Futures, an advanced patron workflow service for libraries that brings library services, resources and support into patron workflows. We are excited to share more of these capabilities in the year ahead.’
Slaven Zivkovic, Founder & CEO of Springshare, added: ‘Librarians build a lot of LibGuides - over 800,000 LibGuides from 200,000 librarians at over 5,000 institutions around the world. These LibGuides take time and effort to create, and we are excited to see the increased usage and access this Lean Library integration will offer our customers. It’s just the beginning of our partnership with Lean Library and we’ll be adding more integrations soon. Next up is LibChat integration right into the browser extension so that patrons can get live help from a librarian no matter what webpage they visit.”
The LibGuides/Lean Library integration will be available as an upgrade to existing LibGuides or Lean Library customers or as part of the new service Lean Library Futures.
To find out more visit leanlibrary.com/casestudies/utah or contact your Lean Library or Springshare representative.
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Figure 1: Google Scholar LibGuide, Utah State University
Figure 2: Google Scholar LibGuide Usage Increase, Utah State University
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Lean Library, a SAGE Publishing company, provides software solutions to the library community, bringing the power of the library into the patron’s workflow, wherever they may be, using their browser extension. Their products include an access solution, Lean Library Access, and an advanced patron workflow service, Lean Library Futures.
Springshare is a SaaS platform for libraries and educational institutions. Their software helps libraries engage with their communities and deepen relationships with users and is used by over 7,500 libraries in 91 countries around the world.
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