We will introduce and demonstrate Occam's Reader the only independently developed method to lend E-Books via interlibrary loan. Presentation by Ryan Litsey and Kenny Ketner

1. Northwest ILL 2013

2. A collaboration between
Our vision stems from the idea that, “Other things being equal,
a simpler explanation is better than a more complex one.”

3.  Spring 2011
◦ GWLA EBook Lending Task Force
 Fall 2011
◦ First Occam’s Reader planning meeting
 Fall 2012
◦ First working model of Occam’s Reader
 Spring 2013
◦ Occam’s Reader alpha testing
 Fall 2013
◦ Additional features, major publisher interest

4. Patron makes an
ILL request in the
normal manner
ILL staff at the lending
library receives the
request in ILLiad
ILL staff activates the
Occam's Reader
ILLiad add-on and
launches the Occam's
Reader software
Occam's Reader
processes the request
and uploads the eBook
Lending library sends
an Occam's Reader
generated email
Borrowing library
completes the
request
Borrowing library
receives the email
with log in credentials
and forwards it to the
patron

7.  Training
◦ Workflow and steps are well within typical daily operations
for ILL staff members
 Implementation
◦ Installation requires no change to existing ILLiad web
servers, only minor installations on local staff
workstations
 Security
◦ Users are verified through their home institution via
existing ILLiad authentication

8.  Support for PDF and Plaintext eBooks
 Customizable Image Settings
◦ Quality, DPI, and grayscale options
 New Production Webserver
◦ Hosted at Texas Tech
 New Viewer Interface
◦ Faster image loading and increased stability
◦ Rotate, zoom, previous/next, jump to page
 Enhanced Website at OccamsReader.org
◦ Viewer demonstration

9.  More alpha testers from GWLA universities
 Improve documentation and installation guides for
Occam’s Reader alpha test group
 Prioritized programming goals:
◦ 1) Add options to enforce institutional lending policies:
 Track the number of local users
 Set a maximum number of ILL users
 Limit number of checkouts per item
◦ 2) Add watermark capability
◦ 3) Support for ePub format

10.  The modular design of Occam’s Reader provides security, the
support for a variety eBook formats, and standalone access.
 All libraries can now access previously unavailable resources,
which decreases shipping cost, and reduces the number of lost
and overdue materials.
 Basic interface discourages abuse: plain images, no metadata,
and no search. Images can be watermarked if necessary.
 Publishers must now consider an eBook lending possibility.
 The contracts and licensing are still to be determined.
 We may encounter institutional or vendor resistance.

11.  Deliver items faster to patrons without shipping cost
 Meet the needs of a growing patron demand for books
that are available only as eBooks
 Provide an open and adaptable solution to the problem
of lending eBooks between libraries
 Increase access to the growing collection of eBooks
that otherwise would be inaccessible to other libraries

12. ◦ Occam’s Reader Development Team
 Libraries.occams.reader@ttu.edu
◦ Ryan Litsey ryan.litsey@ttu.edu
 Assistant Librarian Document Delivery
Texas Tech University Libraries
806.742.2239
◦ Kenny Ketner kenny.ketner@ttu.edu
 Software Development Manager
Texas Tech University Libraries
806.742.2265