Flvc library services
A cornerstone of FLVC is its Library Services division. The division is responsible for supporting:
- Integrated Library System (ILS)
- User interface / discovery tool
- e-Resources
- Digital library services
- Open educational resources (OER)
- Statewide Help Desk
- Library staff training
Utilizing a shared-service model, FLVC’s centralized library system saves the state of Florida more than $16 million compared to implementing the system at 40 individual colleges and universities. In addition, consolidating ILS software licensing saves the state of Florida more than $1.8 million annually.
Licensing of e-resources by FLVC for Florida's colleges and universities saves the state nearly $19 million annually.
FLVC's centralized, fully-automated ILS provides access to more than 16 million books, 35 million e-resources, and 1.5 million digital archive items.
FLVC’s Library Services division operates the integrated library system (ILS) used by all public college and university libraries in Florida—40 institutions and more than 150 campus libraries statewide. This centralized, fully automated ILS provides all public postsecondary students, faculty, and staff with access to more than 16 million books, 35 million e-resources, and 1.5 million digital archive items.
The ILS includes a comprehensive suite of back-office tools that enable each institution’s librarians and staff to manage its collections and support library-related business needs efficiently and effectively across their campuses. The ILS’s administrative tools include acquisitions, fulfillment, resource management, analytics, data loading, resource sharing, and others.
College and university students typically use their respective library’s website as an interface to search for books, e-resources, and other information contained in the centralized ILS. The interface utilizes powerful software (aka “discovery tool”) which interacts with the ILS to make it faster and easier for students to search and discover the resources and information they need. FLVC’s Library Services division is responsible for ensuring seamless interaction between that discovery tool software and the ILS.
College and university students searched FLVC's ILS nearly 21 million times in 2022-23.
Students’ academic success depends on having access to high-quality, scholarly e-resources across all academic disciplines. FLVC negotiates, acquires, and manages a portfolio of electronic articles, journals, e-books, and other e-resources for use by Florida’s college and university students. This collection is invaluable in supporting student success at all institutions and is a cornerstone of affordable education.
Centralized licensing of the statewide e-resources collection saves the state of Florida $19 million per year compared to decentralized licensing.
FLVC negotiates e-resources licenses on behalf of institutions desiring to augment the statewide collection, leveraging its consortial relationship to negotiate substantial cost savings for those interested libraries. For FY 2022-23, FLVC negotiated group licenses for 589 subscriptions - representing 35 different content providers - saving participating institutions more than $19.6 million compared to the licensing costs for individual institutions.
FLVC provides a suite of centralized, statewide digital library services, including:
- Florida Open Academic Library – A searchable database of digital archives and collections held by public postsecondary institutions, more than 1.5 million items in all.
- Florida Islandora – A platform used by college and university libraries to create digital collections and make them accessible to the public free of charge.
- Florida OJ – A scholarly journal publishing platform that provides online public access to more than 50 journals published by institutions across the state, in a variety of academic disciplines.
FLVC is a leading advocate of open educational resources (OER) as means to make higher education more affordable for today’s students.
FLVC’s annual OER Summit brings together local, state, and national educators, administrators, and policymakers to focus on ways to expand student access to no-cost textbooks and other learning materials. The Summit features prominent experts in OER and higher education, and highlights tools and resources to help attendees implement and expand upon OER programs at their home institutions.
FLVC’s statewide Help Desk provides phone, email, and chat support for all its services. A significant portion of that activity is in support of library-related services managed by FLVC. In 2022-23, the Help Desk handled more than 7,500 requests for assistance from colleges and universities across the state.