UW-Madison Libraries Offer Expanded Office Delivery Pilot Project

August 27, 2018

Getting that book or journal you need is about to become a little more convenient. In June 2018, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries launched a year-long expanded office delivery pilot project to include service to faculty and staff who have a campus office address or mailbox.

“The Libraries are constantly looking for ways to make access to our materials easier for our users,” said Doug Way, Associate University Librarian for Collections and Research Services. “We believe campus delivery is the next logical step in the evolution of these services.”

The pilot includes all UW items with standard loan policies (most books and AV materials), as well as Interlibrary Loan (ILL) items with loan times greater than two weeks. Items excluded from the new office delivery option include microfilm/fiche, items larger than the inter-departmental envelopes, or materials that require special handling.

Requested items will be sent to the provided campus address via campus mail, and typically arrive within two or three business days of a request. However, some items may take up to a week to arrive, so faculty or staff in need of particular items sooner are asked to visit the library rather than place an office delivery request.

For those interested in receiving materials through office delivery, faculty and staff may submit requests through UW-System Library Catalog, or through ILL, where they’ll be guided through the steps to ensure their submission is sent to their campus office address.

The service, which the Libraries estimate will receive nearly 52,000 requests over the course of the year, will be under an assessment in the summer of 2019 to determine the impact and satisfaction of the faculty and staff using office delivery. An FAQ site has also been developed to help address the most commonly asked questions as this service is launched.

“We are excited about the chance to expand the services available to our campus community,” noted Heather Weltin, Director of Collection Management & Resource Sharing. “The Libraries look forward to seeing how this service improves the library experience for our faculty and staff across campus.”

For more information, please visit go.wisc.edu/OfficeDelivery.