E-Reserves: Home Grown vs. Turnkey

Abstract

Obvious reasons for implementing e-reserves abound, the most compelling of which is better access to reserve readings for students on campus and off. The question then is not whether your library is going to begin making e-reserves available, but how are you going to do it? One decision which must be made before any work can begin is will your library use a home grown system to deliver and maintain e-reserves, or will your library use a turnkey system such as Eres, Contec, or Nousoft? This paper will focus on the decisions and pilot projects at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and the University of Minnesota concerning this question and e-reserves implementation.