Amsterdam, 10 September 2025
As administrator of Digital Services & Library Systems, Ger ensures that you can easily access the University Library's information files. Whether it concerns the library's own holdings, licensed material or Open Access content: thanks to Ger and his colleagues, as a student, lecturer or researcher, you will find exactly what you need.
I've heard that you're very enthusiastic about Lean Library. One of Lean Library's newest services is Additional Library Search. Can you tell us a little more about this service? And how does it benefit researchers, lecturers and students?
"In addition to the search results from Google and Google Scholar, a separate block appears with the results of the same search in LibSearch. These are potentially interesting articles, books, etc. on the same subject that you can access through the library."
This service does not stand alone. For years, you have been working on a tool that improves Open Access for journals and articles and at the same time helps to find the right study material. Can you tell us more about this?
"In the traditional, physical situation, you have to go to the library to look up and borrow books and journals. That is still possible, but with all the digital and online options available, in many cases it is no longer necessary. That is why we started offering the Lean Library browser extension in 2017. Since then, this tool has become a very important instrument in the University Library's efforts to help students, lecturers and researchers access and search for alternatives when they need them."
The Additional Library Search is the latest addition to Lean Library. However, the service consists of three modules. What are they?
"The Library Access module lets you know when you come across an article to which the University Library has a subscription. With the Library Assist module, you receive specific instructions on various platforms on how to use that particular platform. The Library Alternatives module searches for alternative access outside the platform you are currently on. Imagine you want to consult an article for which you would have to pay. Lean Library searches for an Open Access version of the same article or looks for a possible University Library subscription on another platform. The latter applies not only to articles, but also to e-books. In addition, Lean Library automatically provides links to VU LibSearch in Google Scholar and PubMed. It also offers a Highlight & Search function, a Table of Contents (ToC) alerts service and now also the Additional Library Search."
Does the University Library collaborate in the development of these tools? If so, with whom?
"The University Library is in regular contact with the supplier and creators of Lean Library regarding all these modules and services, both during development, testing and implementation, as well as during use.
When Lean Library was still a start-up, the University Library was one of the first institutions to recognise the potential of the extension. As a result, the University Library has actively contributed to the development and refinement of the various modules from the outset and is the co-inventor of the Library Assist module."
Looking ahead, do you see further potential for these services and tools?
“We recently conducted a pilot with a Library Onboarding module, which among other things resulted in the Additional Library Search.
Behind the scenes, we are constantly working on improvements. Some are more visible than others. Think, for example, of improving the integration with our library system, which allows relevant information to be displayed in real time using Lean Library.
Finally, as a library, we continue to strive to reach out to the users of our services. This enables us to be of service when it is needed."
