- Students & Faculty
- 38,000
- Same-Day Fulfillment
- 95%
- Free via Open Access
- 4%
Background
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) is the flagship research institution within the University of Colorado System, serving nearly 38,000 students and faculty across diverse academic disciplines. CU Boulder has long grappled with the fundamental challenge facing research libraries nationwide: providing comprehensive access to scholarly content while managing increasingly constrained budgets.
Over a decade ago, CU Boulder Libraries adopted an innovative organizational structure that combined collection development, acquisitions, and interlibrary loan operations into a single, integrated department. While this structure encouraged the library to approach content access strategically through a "buy it or borrow it" framework, it also underscored the need for more advanced tools to replace the manual, time-consuming processes underpinning that evidence-based philosophy.
Challenge
CU Boulder found itself navigating the familiar challenges facing today's academic libraries: evolving budget priorities, increasing content costs, and researchers who expect immediate access to a vast and growing body of scholarly literature.
Workflow Complexity
The existing system for accessing content outside the library's primary collections was cumbersome, requiring users to navigate multiple steps across different platforms. Individual article requests also carried significant administrative overhead when processed through traditional channels.
User Experience
Faculty and students who had long enjoyed seamless access to journal collections suddenly encountered barriers that could affect research productivity and satisfaction.
Resource Allocation
Unfulfilled requests were routed entirely through interlibrary loan, creating an unsustainable workload for ILL staff and separating collection development decisions from acquisitions.
Limited Data Visibility
The library lacked insight into usage patterns and costs, making it difficult to make data-driven decisions about which titles warrant continued investment or on-demand access.
Solution
Through collaboration with consortia partners, including the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries and the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA), CU Boulder adopted Article Galaxy Scholar (AGS) as document delivery solution to bridge the gaps between subscription access, interlibrary loan, and open access.
By activating titles that were no longer available via subscription, they were able to continue to support broad, reliable access to essential scholarly content. However, they discovered it offered far more strategic value than a simple replacement for traditional individual article acquisition processes.
“Article Galaxy Scholar (AGS) aligned perfectly with our existing collection development approach. We've always been strategic about choosing the most cost-effective pathway to content. What AGS gave us was the infrastructure to execute that philosophy efficiently at scale.”
Phase 1. Strategic Implementation
Instead of rushing into full deployment, CU Boulder began with a carefully controlled rollout focused on configuring the journal package in transition. The library started with a "freemium" model, providing unmediated access to gauge actual user demand without imposing barriers that might skew usage data.
- Workflow Integration: AGS was embedded directly into the library's link resolver, creating a seamless user experience where access requests could be automatically routed to open access sources, purchase options, interlibrary loan, or based on pre-configured rules.
- Threshold Configuration: The library established purchase thresholds and notification systems, enabling real-time monitoring of costs and usage patterns through the AGS dashboard.
- User Communication Strategy: The library prioritized messaging around access assurance, promising users they would receive requested content, typically within the same day of submission.
- Transparency Balance: The library carefully calibrated how much cost information to share with users, ultimately deciding to emphasize access speed and reliability over price transparency to encourage adoption.
Phase 2. Expansion & Optimization
Building on initial success, CU Boulder upgraded their account to the premium AGS service to take advantage of additional options to configure journal holdings and other administrative settings. After analyzing usage patterns and user needs, the library made strategic adjustments.
- Expanded AGS content coverage by activating journals from additional publishers.
- Added active AGS titles to our database A-Z list to transparently display journal coverage and fulfillment options.
- Customized holdings in AGS and our knowledge base to match the perpetual coverage dates and backfile access to prevent unnecessary purchases.
- Activated the LibKey Nomad browser to improve access to subscription content and seamlessly connect to AGS's unmediated document delivery services.
Results
Real-Time Intelligence
The dashboard system provided unprecedented visibility into usage patterns and costs, enabling proactive collection development decisions rather than reactive responses to user complaints.
Evidence-Based Decision Making
The library now monitors which titles reach purchase thresholds, using this data to calculate ROI for future collection investments. This intelligence has proven invaluable for mid-year resource evaluations and assessing the value of high-impact journals across disciplines.
Workflow Automation
AGS eliminated the manual decision-making bottleneck in interlibrary loan operations, automatically routing requests to the most cost-effective fulfillment method based on pre-configured rules.
Access Speed
Most document requests (95%) are fulfilled same day, matching, or even surpassing the library's fastest interlibrary loan processes.
Intuitive Integration
Users experience AGS as a natural extension of their existing research workflow rather than an additional barrier to content access.
Cost Optimization
Comparative analysis with peer institutions highlighted how workflow configuration can significantly influence overall spend. By prioritizing automated routing, clear thresholds, and alignment with internal collection policies, CU Boulder ensured that requests were fulfilled through the most appropriate pathway based on availability and institutional goals.
Predictable Budgeting
The AGS dashboard and threshold alerts provide clear visibility into spending, supporting more accurate financial planning and eliminating surprise costs. CU Boulder is piloting a new pricing model that locks in annual costs based on prior-year usage patterns.
About University of Colorado Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is the flagship research institution within the University of Colorado System, serving nearly 38,000 students and faculty across diverse academic disciplines.
CU Boulder now applies AGS data as a cornerstone of its evidence-based collection development strategy. The platform extends data-driven acquisition models from eBooks and databases to journal articles, allowing the library to balance broad access with smart investment decisions. By aligning collection priorities with actual user needs, CU Boulder continues to evolve its approach to sustainable, demand-driven access.
