The Library is making some changes to the way it supplies material that isn’t held in our collections. From Monday 22 October 2018 access to the Bonus+ service will be phased out, and clients will be able to use the Document Delivery service for all future requests.
As part of this change the Document Delivery Services is being extended to undergraduate students for a trial period. From Monday 22 October 2018 undergraduates will have access to requesting 10 items per academic year from hundreds of member libraries across Australia within the Libraries Australia Document Delivery (LADD) service. Researchers and post graduate students will continue to use the service as normal.
Find out more about document delivery services on our Library website.
I am disappointed that such a useful service is being removed. I have used it to access a lot of materials in recent times.
Hi Alyson,
Thank you for your feedback.
We realise this is a popular system with some of our clients and are working hard to manage the transition period. In line with the upgrading of our library management system all of our document delivery/resource sharing services have and continue to be reviewed. While Bonus+ and ArticleReach services are being phased out, you will still be able to borrow items from other libraries using Document Delivery.
Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help with this transition.
Kind regards,
Crystal
I would like to second Alyson’s comment. I am an undergraduate student and I found the Bonus+ system was very useful in my studies. It was an efficient way to share resources between universities. I don’t understand why the transition to a new system couldn’t have occurred in a more seamless way without disrupting the Bonus+ system.
Dear Louise
Thank you for your feedback. While Bonus+ and Article Reach is being phased out, you will be able to borrow items form other libraries using Document Delivery. You can find details of how to set this up here. The Library is trying to make the transition as seamless as possible, but we do realise that it does present some challenges. The Bonus+ and Article Reach system is a two-pronged process, where we borrow items from other university libraries on your behalf, as well as make our resources available to other universities for their clients. Both work in tandem, so we have switched off Bonus+ and Article Reach at this time, to give other universities time to get all of the resources that they have borrowed from us, back by the end of the year. If you need any assistance with Document Delivery, please talk to a member of staff on our Information Desks or through Chat Now.
Warm regards
Crystal
Agreed, this is really such a shame. BONUS was such a seamless system, integrated well into normal catalogue searches.
Hi Alex
Thank you for your comment. We are trying to make this transition as seamless as possible. While Bonus+ is being phased out, you can request for resources that we don’t hold, by using our Document Delivery serviced. You can find out information on how to set this up here. If you need any assistance with Document Delivery, please talk to a member of staff on our Information Desks or through Chat Now.
Warm regards
Crystal
I see at least 6 problems with the abolition of the Bonus+ system, and I would like to hear your comments on them. I am a heavy user of Bonus+ which I think is simply brilliant.
1. Bonus+ allowed you to search for a title that you weren’t necessarily sure of, and if it existed in Bonus+ you could easily find it. With Document Delivery you need to specify the exact title, and make an application for it, which takes time to be processed..
2. Previous to this change, with one click I could add all the metadata from items I had out on Bonus+ to Zotero, my preferred citation software. Now, because there is no digital entry available for Document Delivery items (at least in my experience in the past), as I understand it, this data will now have to be entered manually. A retrograde step!
3. There is no permanent listing of Document Delivery items in my reading history or items checked out, so if I forget to enter the data at the time, it may be lost to me forever.
4. In my experience, interlibrary loan requests are fulfilled much slower than Bonus+ was.
5. In my experience, the loan time on Document Delivery loans is much shorter than Bonus+ which enabled you effectively have the item for 6 weeks.
6. I am concerned that the limit on the number of no-charge Document Delivery requests for HDR students (70) will easily be exceeded by someone like me who is aways requesting Bonus books, since my research is historical.
Hello Michele
Thank you for your comments. Please see below for our comments:
1. Our experience has been that it also helps to have the correct title to search most effectively in Bonus+, however often a quick Google search will find the correct title if you’re not sure of the exact wording. The same is also true for Document Delivery- just do a quick Google search to help find the correct title, but if you still can’t find it, you only need to enter as much detail as you have and Library staff will fill in any gaps, including identifying the correct title. Also, from the 8th of January when the new library services platform is scheduled to go live, you will have the ability to populate the request straight from a search.
2. While you will be unable to export for a short time until we go live with our new library services platform, in the new system you will be able to export citation details from your search even if it is an item we do not hold and need to obtain through one of our resource sharing platforms.
3. Again you won’t have this functionality for a short time but it will only be until we go live with the new system which, unlike our current system will keep data on all your resource sharing history.
4. We will be sourcing our loans from exactly the same libraries that use the Bonus+ software so we don’t anticipate any great increase in lead times for obtaining items. The items that tend to take longer are those sourced internationally, which are not available in Australia, regardless of whether it’s a Bonus+ request or one requested via Document Delivery.
5. The standard loan period for an interlibrary loan via Document Delivery is 4-6 weeks with many allowing longer loan periods than this. There is also the option to request an extension on most items effectively making the loan period longer than that of Bonus+.
6. Whilst we have this limit in place, we are always happy to discuss with clients options around their requesting if it is approaching this amount and if you have urgent requests that need to be processed. Also you can be assured we will continue to review this limit and whether or not it needs adjustment now that the Bonus+ platform has been phased out.
Please don’t hesitate to contact library staff with any further questions or assistance you may require concerning resource sharing.
Warm regards
Crystal
Another example of a very good seamless service being replaced by a more cumbersome second rate substitute
Thank you for your comment.
Hi Crystal, I completely agree with the other comments made. Can you explain why such a useful tool has been eliminated by the university? If, as you say, all the problems associated with the present version of Document Delivery will be corrected by the new platform, why did the university not wait until the new platform was operational before removing our access to Bonus+?
Thank you for your comment Hugo. Unfortunately this is not possible, because as part of the Library’s membership with Bonus+, there is a notice period for exiting the service by the end of the year, which we are enacting now.
Hi, I am a frequent user of Bonus and have found it an excellent system so it’s very disappointing it’s ending. I am concerned about the 10 items per calendar year limit as I would definitely exceed that in a semester. In some units there are simply insufficient copies for the number of students, and the books are often not online. Could the 10 item limit be reconsidered? The Bonus system is so seamless, just a few clicks to order a book. I hope that can be replicated in the new system. Thank you
Thank you for your feedback Amanda. We will monitor the level of 10 to see if this needs to be increased, but if you do reach 10, we are happy for you to contact Library staff to discuss having this increased. We are also looking at increasing the purchase of high use texts.
Regards
Crystal