Team Information

Cathalina Fontenelle, cathalina.fontenelle@ucdenver.edu, Web Services Programmer
Sommer Browning, sommer.browning@ucdenver.edu

What

Cathalina has been integral in designing, creating, and enhancing the Linking Form, a workflow tool that saves the Library money, gives students access to research materials faster, and makes Library work more efficient. The Linking Form is a workflow management software tool specifically designed and customized for the Auraria Library to use when purchasing new scholarly, research materials, such as eBooks, online journals, and streaming videos. As these materials are purchased or renewed every year, Library staff enter them into the Linking Form. The Linking Form then tracks the purchase, alerting Library staff when they need to review the contract, catalog the material, or create off-campus access to the database. This tool streamlines the work behind the acquisition of these materials, removes any access obstacles so students can start using the research materials as soon as possible, and organizes the Library’s purchases so that no invoices or contracts fall through the cracks. Cathalina oversees the development of this tool and routinely makes improvements and customizations that Library staff need. its launch.

Why

Before the Library had this tool, we relied on emails and paper invoices to move purchases through the Acquisitions department of the Library. More often than we would like to admit, invoices went missing or emails got buried in an inbox which meant that access to these new eBooks or journals was interrupted. As the Library started collecting more and more electronic and online materials, the system of purchasing and subscribing got even more complicated. The Linking Form was necessary to streamline our work, prevent invoices from falling through the cracks, and get resources to students as quickly as possible.

When

The Linking Form was implemented in a very rudimentary form in 2015 or so. But Cathalina has made dozens of improvements and enhancements since then so that it is now one of the most used and efficient internal processes in the Library.