Technology from SAGE, a division of SAGE Publishing, has signed University College Birmingham as a new development partner. Technology from SAGE now provides all three of its key digital library services to University College Birmingham to support its library strategy of providing accessible, inclusive and high-quality digital resources as well as contributing to part of the University’s strategy to ‘lead the way with technology enhanced learning’ (University).

As part of the partnership, University College Birmingham will work closely with the Technology from SAGE team to test, provide feedback, and input into the Technology from SAGE product strategy as we develop and enhance the product portfolio as well as make key integrations between products.

As an expanding campus with over than 7,500 students and outstanding facilities and services, University College Birmingham will implement these solutions to enhance their digital library services, streamline access for students and support their strategic vision to bring services to students at the point of need, amplifying the library’s role in teaching and learning.

The three key digital library services chosen by University College Birmingham include Lean Library Futures, a workflow tool that provides librarian support and resource access solutions at the point of need, Talis Elevate, a collaborative annotation service, and Talis Aspire, a resource list management solution. Technology from SAGE also recently acquired Sciwheel, an award-winning tool providing library patrons with an easy way to discover, read, annotate, write, and share research. This aligns with University College Birmingham’s intention to provide reference manager services to students, and they will begin by rolling the service out to library staff.

Lean Library is currently being implemented and has already been beneficial in providing alternative access to paywalled eBooks, saving the library money, and helping the library with content ordering and troubleshooting.

Matt Hayes, Managing Director of Technology from SAGE, said:

“At Technology from SAGE we believe the library is crucial to learning and research on campus. We organise our product strategy around that central proposition and how we can help the library amplify their impact. Getting feedback from partner institutions like University College Birmingham is essential to this and we are delighted to have them partner with us in this way.”

Jessica Wainwright, Library Resources Manager at University College Birmingham, says:

“The prospect of using the portfolio of Technology from SAGE services to enhance our students’ learning experience and truly bring our library into the digital space is extremely exciting for us. A key factor in choosing Technology from SAGE was the ability to support students with better access to high quality academic materials by simplifying the research process and reducing digital barriers, as well as the involvement being a development partner will give us to influence the product direction and ensure it aligns with our library strategy.”

If your institution is interested in becoming a Technology from SAGE partner, get in touch.

About Technology from SAGE

Technology from SAGE, a division of the SAGE Publishing Group, provides workflow services and resource access solutions from Lean Library; resource list management services and collaborative annotation services from Talis; and archival discovery solutions from Quartex. These technologies help libraries support faculty, researchers and undergraduates, and deepen relationships with their users, and are used by over 300 institutions in 40 countries around the world. Find out more at www.technologyfromsage.com.

About University College Birmingham

University College Birmingham has over 7,500 students and is based in the heart of Birmingham city centre. Their mission is to promote and provide the opportunity for participation in the learning process by those with the ambition and commitment to succeed and to maintain a learning community that meets the diverse needs of students, the economy and society at large. They won University of the Year and the Student Support award in the 2022 Whatuni Student Choice Awards. They are committed to providing the best facilities for their students and have invested £140 million to enhance the student experience.