Soutron Global Empowers Ipas with Advanced Library Technology
Our new case study showcases how Ipas, a global non-profit organization focused on women’s health leveraged Soutron’s Integrated Library System (ILS) and third-party integrations to streamline cataloging workflows and preserve critical research assets. The collaboration resulted in a 400% increase in cataloging efficiency, enabling Ipas to expand global access to reproductive health research and streamline their digital cataloging.
The Challenge – Scaling Digital Knowledge Management
The case study, titled “Building a Resilient Knowledge Ecosystem: How Ipas Enhanced Research Access with Soutron,” demonstrates how collaboration between Ipas and Soutron Client Services transformed a manual, time-consuming process into an efficient, automated workflow, enabling faster cataloging, greater accessibility and long-term preservation of critical reproductive health research and media mentions.
Innovation in Action – Custom Workflow Development
Faced with an overwhelming volume of media mentions and digital research articles, Ipas Lead Librarian Allison Campbell needed a way to efficiently capture and preserve online resources that often became inaccessible due to paywalls or broken links. After reaching out to Soutron Client Services for guidance, the Soutron development team created a custom back-end workflow that automatically converts URLs to PDF documents and attaches them to corresponding Soutron records.
Measurable Impact – Efficiency Gains and Accessibility
“I used to be able to catalog only about 10 items in an hour when it was all manual entry. With the new automated Soutron capabilities, my output has more than doubled. Depending on the record type, I can now touch up to 50 items in an hour,” said Allison. “In this past year alone, I cataloged over 1,300 items with this new Soutron functionality.”
Client-driven Partnership in Action
The partnership between Allison Campbell and the Soutron Client Services team exemplifies the power of collaboration rooted in trust and responsiveness. Faced with the challenge of expanding her library’s digital services, Allison turned to Soutron not just as a vendor, but as a strategic ally. Her confidence in their ability to understand and address her unique needs led to the development of a custom URL-to-PDF converter, an innovation born directly from her request. Soutron’s R&D team didn’t just suggest a workaround, they built one. “Soutron can be easily integrated with online research and reference tools such as Mendeley or Zotero to pull research article URLs into the Soutron database, including citations, references and bibliographic metadata, while also converting the URL to a PDF document,” states Graham Partridge, VP of R&D at Soutron. “These documents can be viewed directly from the Soutron library database using the PDF viewer.”
Collaboration That Drives Transformation
Soutron’s willingness to listen, adapt and build a tailored solution reinforced Ipas’s trust in their platform and team, transforming a technical challenge into a streamlined workflow that now supports global access to critical reproductive health research. “It’s really cool, they built the URL to PDF converter for me,” Allison shared. “I just asked Soutron Client Services if they had something like it, and they said no, but we could build one for you. Their ability to go above and beyond for me was awesome.”
Improved Access to Information
With the new automated import and conversion workflow, Allison can now upload hundreds of digital records at once, streamlining the cataloging process while ensuring lasting access to vital research materials. The efficiency gained through Soutron’s customization allows her to focus on expanding Ipas’s research accessibility for global staff and external collaborators alike.
“This partnership exemplifies Soutron’s core commitment to client success,” said Brad Frasher, Soutron Chief Executive Officer. “We don’t see ourselves as simply a vendor, we’re a strategic partner invested in solving our clients’ real-world challenges. When Allison needed a solution that didn’t exist, our development team made it happen.”
For organizations seeking seamless integration and customized functionality, Soutron Global offers the flexibility and service excellence to meet evolving digital knowledge management needs.
Read the full Ipas case study.
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