Submitted by Kevin Baliozian, MLA Executive Director, and Janice Swiatek, Director, Lyman Maynard Stowe Library, University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center–Farmington
On July 18, 2019, MLA communicated to DOCLINE users that “MLA, in collaboration with UConn and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), is developing upgraded technical specifications and a business model to be operated by MLA for a successor to the current Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTS).”
UConn has confirmed that EFTS operations at UConn will continue, uninterrupted, past the original end date of December 31, 2019, to give time for MLA to finalize the new EFTS platform. MLA has been conducting user experience interviews to ensure that the specifications for the new EFTS improve the library experience and address all usage cases.
The tentative timing is for MLA to reach out to EFTS users by early November with details of the new EFTS offering. At that time, users will be asked to sign up for the new EFTS by December 15. Should a sufficient number of libraries commit, MLA will proceed with programming the platform, which MLA expects would launch by March 31, 2020. UConn is providing MLA with a sufficient buffer should more time be needed.
If you have questions, please contact:
- MLA: Kevin Baliozian, baliozian@mail.mlahq.org
- UConn: Janice Swiatek, swiatek@uchc.edu
- DOCLINE: Lisa Theisen, theisenl@mail.nlm.nih.gov