Reach and Impact

• TRAILS institutions serve over 49,500 students, faculty, researchers, and community members.

• They provide access to more than 4,087,000 library items.

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Goals

TRAILS is committed to:

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• Maximizing return on resource investment

• Enhancing teaching and research capabilities

• Improving the user experience for all patrons

• Fostering shared expertise among member institutions statewide

 

By leveraging collective strengths, TRAILS ensures Montana's diverse academic community has unparalleled access to vital information resources, driving innovation and scholarship across the state.

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History

In May 2014, Montana State University (MSU) Library Dean Kenning Arlitsch and University of Montana (UM) IT Head and Library System Administrator John Greer proposed a unified content management system for Montana's academic libraries. The university's board of regents unanimously accepted this proposal. Although initial funding requests to the Montana Legislature were unsuccessful, the consortium officially launched in 2016.

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Achievements

TRAILS aims to increase efficiency and improve access to resources for Montana's students, researchers, and communities. Key accomplishments include:

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• Negotiating with vendors to provide affordable access to journals, databases, and other resources for consortium members.​

• Implementing the Alma cloud-based library-services platform from Ex Libris in 2017, enhancing efficiency and resource-sharing.​

• Initiating a statewide open educational resources (OER) program, supported by the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, to provide free online textbooks and other materials.

 

Recognition

• In 2017, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities praised Montana State University Library's leadership of TRAILS.​

• The MSU Library was named the 2018 Library of the Year by the Montana Library Association.

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Membership and Governance

TRAILS encompasses 25 institutions across Montana, including:

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• All Montana University System (MUS) institutions

• Seven tribal colleges

• Four private colleges

• Montana State Library

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The consortium is governed by a General Council, with one representative from each institution. Leadership includes:

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• A chairperson and secretary serving two-year terms

• Ex officio, non-voting representatives

• Executive Director (Pamela Benjamin since inception)

• Montana State Library representative

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This text contains content adapted from the TRAILS Wikipedia entry, which is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0).