#LibrariesAreEssential Case Study – Click & Collect at the University of Edinburgh Library

Category: #LibrariesAreEssential, Blog, Case Studies

In this #LibrariesAreEssential series, we’ll be sharing case studies and contributions from key figures that demonstrate the vital value of Scotland’s libraries, now more than ever, as we look to a brighter future post-pandemic. For details of how to submit your own case study, please click here.

Case study kindly submitted by Xiaowei Jie, Project Cataloguer for East Asian Studies, the University of Edinburgh Main Library

‘I was excited to learn that the University of Edinburgh Library would start providing a ‘Click & Collect Service’ in early summer 2020. Such services typically seemed to be associated with grocery stores, clothes shopping, and delivery companies! The purpose of this service was initially to enable staff and postgraduate students to borrow from the Main Library’s standard and short loan books, and this was expanded in early 2021 to also include undergraduate students. In March 2021, all service users are now able to access print collections and place requests for items held in the Main Library’s General Collections or the University Collections Facility.

According to the Head of Collections Services, the Click & Collect service has been ‘incredibly popular’. From 8th to 26th February 2021 alone, it fulfilled 3,012 requests: about 158 requests a day. By 1st March, this had increased further to 3,523 requests fulfilled, with demand also growing to 170 requests each day from 27th February to 1st March. Based on such unprecedented demand, the University is looking at whether it can expand Click & Collect to provide access to collections at other site libraries under the current restrictions.

The University of Edinburgh Library already provides digital access to millions of primary source materials covering a wide variety of subject disciplines, available through DiscoverEd. This includes 1.4 million e-books, 185,000 e-journals, 700 licensed databases, 84,000 streaming videos, 160,000 Open Access resources available through the Library’s online discovery system and 44,000 digitised books, images and resources from Library and University collections. Click & Collect has been an additional innovation that the University  has added in response to the current Covid-19 situation, and it continues to help users access the resources they need for teaching, learning and research. The popularity of the Click & Collect Service at the University of Edinburgh shows that libraries are essential for sustaining academic activities.’

Thank you to Xiaowei for not only submitting this case study but also creating this graphic in support of our campaign!