Australia, 2 June 2022 – OCLC and CAVAL are writing to inform you that OCLC will be assuming support for the Relais ILL application effective July 1, 2022.  Customer support services for the Relais ILL application will now be provided directly by OCLC.  OCLC has been managing support for Relais ILL in other areas of the world, and we are excited to connect you with that experienced and dedicated team.  

CAVAL has had a long history with Inter-library loans and resource sharing and over the last 12 years, CAVAL has provided and maintained the Australian Relais Hosted service.  This included the provision of a helpdesk created to provide localised help, management, and assistance for the Relais ILL product.   

While this marks the end of a long-standing cooperative partnership between OCLC and CAVAL, this is not the end of our commitment to collaboration between CAVAL and OCLC as we both hope that our partnership will continue into the future in other ways. 

For Relais ILL customers that contracted directly with CAVAL for Managed Services (custom reports, managing supplier details in the Trove directory, workflow reviews, as well as hosting, and processing of ReceiveFTP documents), CAVAL will continue to provide these services under your existing CAVAL agreements. OCLC will send you a one-page form that, when signed, will ensure that CAVAL continues to have access to your Relais ILL system specifically to provide Managed Services after July 1, 2022.  

“CAVAL has had a long-standing relationship with OCLC including hosting the first FDI/OCLC offices at CAVAL before their move to the Footscray offices. We have always valued our partnership with OCLC, and we are looking for future opportunities to continue this relationship.” Jaime McCowan, Chief Executive Officer, CAVAL. “CAVAL has supported the Relais ILL product for many years and we would especially like to thank Sae Ra Germaine, Annalisa Kristof, and David Eddy from the CAVAL Digital Platforms team for managing the helpdesk and to OCLC for trusting us with the helpdesk for such a long time.” 

“At OCLC we are happy to take this next step in the development of the resource sharing landscape in Australia and expand our already strong customer support services in the region.  Our partnership with CAVAL is an important regional partnership, and while we look forward to future opportunities to work together in the future, we would like to express our gratitude and appreciation for the support they have given to our Relais ILL customers through the years.” Drew Bordas, Vice President, Management and Customer Operations, OCLC.   

For all Relais ILL customers, the contact point for Relais ILL application support will change. If you have questions about the Relais ILL application, the OCLC support team in Melbourne will be happy to help.  OCLC’s support system, Zendesk, will replace the existing SupportCenterPlus system as of June 12, 2022. In the coming days, you will receive information about getting started with Zendesk and creating user accounts within the system.   

OCLC and CAVAL are committed to a smooth transition to OCLC Relais ILL application customer support for your library. Both organizations will be working together during this period to ensure that your library continues to receive the same high-quality support as always.