SLSP Swiss Library Service Platform

Aim of the project

The aim of the SLSP project is to provide a central service platform for academic libraries.

The foundations for the platform and a possible, useful organisational structure are to be developed within the scope of the pre-project. This includes the definition of a service portfolio, the concept for appropriate governance, the development of the necessary information architecture, the creation of business plans and the detailed planning of the follow-up phases.

Description of the project

The SLSP service platform is primarily supposed to help academic libraries throughout Switzerland to gear themselves more specifically towards individual customer needs thanks to a more efficient use of their resources.

Besides technical products (solutions), the planned range of services will also include standards, norms and general library network services. The services are differentiated further by subdividing them into basic (core) and different additional (added) services, which can be accessed modularly. Moreover, the development of further (future) services is also envisaged.

The central solution is to be more cost effective overall than today’s decentralised individual solutions and, furthermore, should ensure a seamless and cross-institutional provision of information for all stakeholders. 

The following foundations are created in the pre-project for a subsequent realisation phase in the form of a main project:

• Definition of the services striven for in cross-institution work groups in the form of a service portfolio
• Conduction of studies on technical feasibility
• Development of a useful information architecture for a future IT solution
• Clarification of the legal and formal framework conditions for a new organisation
• Conception of the service platform, including governance
• Definition of a useful financing model for operations
• Creation of a business plan

Synergies and context

Reduction of the overall expenditures at national level; integration and thus improvement of access to relevant services and information services for the sciences

Cooperation partner

Partner institutions:

• Haute Ecole de Gestion Genève – HES-SO (external link)
• Informationsverbund Deutschschweiz (external link)
• Réseau des bibliothèques de Suisse occidentale (external link)
• University of Basel (external link)
• University of Bern (external link)
• University of Zurich (external link)
• Université de Fribourg (external link)
• Université de Genève (external link)
• Zentralbibliothek Zürich (external link)