In an exciting start to 2022, KeyLinks – the dynamic reading list management system (RLMS) based in the UK – has secured three new international customers as it continues its expansion overseas.
The system, developed by eTextbook platform provider Kortext, enables institutions to put the library at the centre of teaching and learning, giving librarians and academics the tools to create, manage and disseminate reading lists that guide their students to the right resources at the right time.
KeyLinks in Austria, Australia and the US
Currently, KeyLinks is used far and wide with customers in North America, the UK, Europe and Australia. Joining international institutions like Maastricht University, KeyLinks is now onboarding: Frontier Nursing University in Kentucky, an institution with 2,500 students and 82 years’ experience in providing nursing and midwifery education; Endeavour College of Natural Health in Australia, the largest private Higher Education provider of national medicine courses in the Southern Hemisphere; and C3-Bibliothek für Entwicklungspolitik (C3-Library for International Development) in Austria, the country’s largest scientific and educational library on international development, women and gender, and global learning – home to 70,000 print books, 30,000 ebooks, 600 e-journals and other academic media.
Driving efficiencies with a simple reading list solution
Each of these institutions is adopting an RLMS for the first time to drive efficiencies in librarian workflows, create a collaborative environment for librarians and departments to work together, and provide a simple reading list solution that students can access anytime, anywhere over the next academic year and beyond.
With an RLMS in place, these institutions will have the means to manage their reading lists for all programmes in one place, make updates throughout the academic year and measure engagement with essential learning resources, giving librarians and academics insightful data to help inform list content and better support their students.
Whilst available as an out of the box solution, KeyLinks also integrates with existing library management and discovery systems and includes a unique acquisitions engine which links to supplier systems such as Kortext, EBSCO and ProQuest. This enables customers to quickly check prices and place orders directly through the system, providing a complete service.
Billie Anne Gebb, Director of Library Services at Frontier Nursing University, said: “A readings list management system was more applicable for our institution than traditional e-reserves systems, and KeyLinks will provide the flexibility we need to better integrate readings into our course content.”
Committed to continuous improvement
As KeyLinks customer-base grows, so does the system. Customer feedback is the backbone of the KeyLinks development roadmap and the partnership with Frontier Nursing University has already added value that will benefit existing and future customers. Looking for improved integration with their Canvas VLE, the institution wanted the additional ability for teaching staff to switch sections of a reading list on and off quickly. This led to an overhaul of KeyLinks’ entire VLE integration, resulting in two distinct ways for customers to connect to their VLE depending on their preference.
Head of KeyLinks, Scott Gibbens, said: “We’re incredibly excited to welcome these new institutions into our fold and hope to build close, long-lasting relationships that will benefit staff and students going forward. KeyLinks was developed by librarians for librarians, so our customers know they’re in safe hands when they choose us.
“The growing diversity in our customer-base can only be a good thing for KeyLinks. Each institution we work with brings a fresh perspective and new ideas that we’re always keen to explore. Long may this continue as we bring the benefits of KeyLinks to more international institutions.”
KeyLinks in the UK
In 2020, KeyLinks was awarded a place on the APUC framework to offer reading list management services to all UK universities. KeyLinks is one of just two trusted RLMS providers to feature on the framework which is open to all universities and colleges in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, that are members of a UK universities procurement consortia.
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