Beginning in late 2021, Ottenheimer Library entered into a partnership with IT Services and a select group of faculty members to replace the underutilized course reading list solution Curriculum Builder. This work involved ongoing efforts from multiple IT Services groups over a period of several months.
Building on the success of the Alma library project, Ex Libris Leganto (i.e. Leganto) was selected as the solution best able to meet the evolving needs of our students, faculty, and librarians.
Leganto is a course reading list solution that empowers instructors to easily create dynamic resource lists for all material types. Integrated closely with Blackboard and the library’s new Alma ILS (Integrated Library System), Leganto is a flexible system that bridges the gap between instructors, students, and librarians. It enables the University to directly leverage the library’s extensive online databases and resources and streamlines fulfillment for a large variety of print and other materials.
As a fully mobile solution, Leganto supports active learning methods by being highly interactive and socially adept. Students can discuss and annotate materials, submit questions and feedback, and participate in engaging social reading experiences. Instructors can easily add new materials directly from their browsers using the CiteIt! feature, which reduces content creation time and standardization problems. Librarians will be able to provide closer support to faculty and students by gaining new insights using power analytics to determine the sample size needed for a particular study.