Dear Colleagues,
As announced previously, Phase 4 of the UC Libraries’ Systemwide ILS (SILS) Project concludes on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021. Beginning in January 2022, a new UC Libraries Advisory Structure (UCLAS)-integrated governance structure and operational teams will replace the existing SILS project in perpetuity.
Dating back to its 2017 conceptual phase, SILS has been a remarkable example of innovation and collaboration across the 10 UC campuses, two regional library facilities, the California Digital Library and the UC Office of the President. It has significantly improved a large number of library services and operations, fundamentally changing the discovery process for our systemwide scholarly community. Among the most impactful changes brought by the July introduction of UC Library Search:
- Collections searchability across all UC campuses without the need to navigate to multiple catalogs
- Ease of interlibrary loan requests and borrowing, with the ability to pick up materials from any UC campus
- Continued ability to search and borrow items from outside the UC system through the Worldcat link embedded within UC Library Search
With nearly 80% of the ongoing operations teams composed of previous SILS cohort members, there is strong continuity as our colleagues work to enhance functionality and respond to user feedback.
We would like to thank you for your support of the project, particularly during the implementation process. Please continue to follow SILS News and the Confluence wiki in 2022 and beyond for updates on our transformative move to a shared future for the UC Libraries.
Regards,
Chris Shaffer and Günter Waibel
SILS Project Co-Chairs