This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More
The Royal Canadian Military Institute manages 15,000 volumes of Canadian military history. Soutron gave their solo librarian the tools to catalog, organize, and share that collection with members online.
The RCMI needed a library system that could handle books, photographs, and archival materials while giving members secure online access to a catalog rooted in Canadian military heritage. Soutron delivered catalog automation, guest and member-level access, and a platform built to grow with the collection.
The Royal Canadian Military Institute (RCMI), located in Toronto, has Canada’s largest privately-held military library. The 15,000 volume RCMI Research Library holdings include significant books detailing Canada’s military history.
The library’s wide range of subject matter encompasses: Army, Navy, Air Force, training and equipment, tactics and strategy, uniforms, medals, war art and poetry. The RCMI permits a detailed study of subjects not readily found elsewhere.
Founded in 1890, the RCMI included “the promotion of Military Art, Science and Literature” in its mission. A core element of the Institute’s activities is the field of “Defense Studies,” particularly on issues related to Canadian Military Heritage and Contemporary Canadian Security.
“I’ve been really happy with Soutron, their service, everything they’ve done. Soutron Global asked what I wanted and then did it. Customer service is fantastic. Soutron was easy to implement and use.”
Penny Lipman, B.A., MLS
RCMI Librarian
RCMI Librarian Penny Lipman, B.A., MLS, needed an efficient solution which could accommodate not only the books in the RCMI collection, but also one that could seamlessly evolve to incorporate photographs and archival material.
Additionally, she required a system that securely provides a web-based searchable catalog with basic “Guest” gateway access and a “Login” for exclusive member-only feature access.
Delivering results for Military / Special Libraries and Institutes like the Royal Canadian Military Institute. Talk to our team
Since transforming the library catalog with the use of book covers, catalog record input, along with reviews and ratings capabilities, Penny is particularly impressed by Soutron Global’s “Library of Congress auto-cataloging feature [which] is an invaluable help with the backlog, to lighten the load on a solo librarian.”
Penny says “I’ve been really happy with Soutron, their service, everything they’ve done. Soutron Global asked what I wanted and then did it.
Customer service is fantastic. Soutron was easy to implement and use.” She would recommend it to anyone.
Soutron Global upholds the RCMI’s mission by providing an informal social knowledge-based network for discussions related to matters of “security and defense.” Specifically, its social knowledge based network enables members of the RCMI library the ability to comment on and rate materials, thus keeping the spirit and traditions of RCMI moving forward.
Soutron Global provides RCMI a secure, modern library and knowledge management solution that delivers access to not only their historic collections, but also provides RCMI members with an enhanced social knowledge network.
RCMI plans to incorporate eBooks, photos and archival materials as well as video and sound files into the library collection.
In the future, RCMI will have a new website featuring the library and museum. The new website will have a library component connecting to the Soutron Global system.
Visit the Royal Canadian Military Institute website today: www.rcmi.org
To find out how you can migrate to a fast, flexible, cloud-based library management system to support your special library, book a 20 minute discovery call with us today, see below.
View another case study from this industry sector.
Simply complete the form on the right to start a conversation with one of our specialists today.
We look forward to hearing from you.
The first step is to learn more. Here's how we can answer your questions:
Yes. Soutron is designed to handle multi-format collections. The RCMI started with 15,000 volumes and built a platform that supports books, photographs, archival materials, eBooks, video and audio files within a single system.
Yes. The Library of Congress auto-cataloging feature is particularly valuable for solo librarians managing large backlogs. At RCMI, it significantly reduced the cataloging workload for one librarian managing a 15,000-volume collection.
Yes. Soutron supports tiered access levels. RCMI uses a guest gateway for basic catalog searches and a member login for exclusive features, giving the institute full control over who can access what.
Yes. Soutron includes a social knowledge network that allows library members to comment on and rate materials. For RCMI, this supported the institute's mission to foster discussion around Canadian military heritage and defense studies.
