1 / 40

Strategic Technology

This presentation explores the role of technology in the success of libraries and the challenges they face in resource management and discovery. It provides an overview of available technology options, adoption trends, and major industry developments.

paulad
Download Presentation

Strategic Technology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Marshall Breeding Independent Consultant, Author, and Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guides http://librarytechnology.org/ http://twitter.com/mbreeding Strategic Technology 82nd IFLA General Conference and Assembly strengthens the Capacity of Libraries to serve their Communities 16 August 2015

  2. Abstract • In this era where libraries face enormous pressures in terms of inadequate funding and increasing demands for their services, technology plays a large factor in their success. The stakes for libraries to deploy the most appropriate technology platforms for resource management and discovery have never been higher. Academic, research, and national libraries experience more complexity than ever in managing collections of large scale and diverse formats. Public libraries need systems optimized as much for lending e-books or other digital materials in addition to their longstanding print offerings.

  3. Abstract (cont) • Marshall Breeding, an expert in library resource management and discovery services will provide an overview of the technology products now available and how they have been received by libraries globally and explore some the major trends currently underway. The presentation will cover the major proprietary and open source options and will address their adoption across geographic and economic sectors.

  4. Library Technology Guides www.librarytechnology.org

  5. Library Technology Industry Reports American Libraries Library Journal • 2014: Strategic Competition and Cooperation • 2015: Operationalizing Innovation • 2016: Power Plays • 2013: Rush to Innovate • 2012: Agents of Change • 2011: New Frontier • 2010: New Models, Core Systems • 2009: Investing in the Future • 2008: Opportunity out of turmoil • 2007: An industry redefined • 2006: Reshuffling the deck • 2005: Gradual evolution • 2004: Migration down, innovation up • 2003: The competition heats up • 2002: Capturing the migrating customer

  6. Library Systems Report 2016 “Power Plays” https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/05/02/library-systems-report-2016/

  7. Power Plays The transitions seen in 2015 were not lateral changes of ownership among investors but strategic acquisitions that concentrated power among a smaller number of much larger companies and reassembled product portfolios. Libraries may resist consolidation, but this could enable the development of technology products and services that are less fragmented and better able to support libraries as they provide access to increasingly complex collections.

  8. International Perceptions Report • http://librarytechnology.org/perceptions/2015/ • Based on a series of annual surveys addressed to libraries • Probes levels of satisfaction with their automation systems • 3,453 responses to 2015 survey • 1,050 narrative comments • Conducted since 2007: view trends over time • Data collected Nov-Dec, published early the following year • Linked to entries in libraries.org

  9. Perspective • Increasing divergence among library types regarding requirements for supporting technical infrastructure: Academic, Public, National, School, Special • Approaches to library service vary according to international region • Broad range of economic capacity or support across countries and regions and even within some countries. (especially United States)

  10. Academic Library Trends

  11. Operational trends in large Academic Libraries • Spending on Electronic Resources dominates budgets • Generally flat budgets + 4% annual inflation = budget stress • Decreasing spending on print monographs • Transition from print to electronic journals complete, shift to e-books underway. • Demand-driven acquisitions

  12. Library Services Platforms • New genre of resource management • Workflows unified across electronic, print, and digital formats • Flexible metadata management: MARC, Dublin Core, BIBFRAME, etc • Deployed via web-native multi-tenant platform • Built-in analytics and decision support

  13. Shift from:Integrated library systems • More oriented to print resources • Server-based technology (hosted or local) • Workstation clients for staff functions • Traditional organization of functional modules: Cataloging, Acquisitions, Serials management, Circulation.

  14. Adoption trends • Still relatively early in transition cycle • Association of Research Libraries : 33 out of 120 Academic members have purchased a library services platform

  15. Patterns by International Regions • Trends vary by region • International companies active in most regions (Ex Libris, SirsiDynix, Innovative) • Asia: ongoing requirements for print: ILS continues to dominate • Many country specific products: Japan: Fujitsu, China and Taiwan: TOTALS, Capita Alto in United Kingdom,

  16. Patterns in Developing Nations • Longstanding use of CDS/ISIS based automation tools • ABCD released as open source • Other CDS/ISIS tools are freeware, but not open source • Koha seeing widespread adoption • Increasingly dominant for new automation projects

  17. Shared Technology Infrastructure • Increasing interest in shared technology infrastructure among members of library systems and consortia • Shift from stand-alone implementations to shared infrastructure • Remove obstacles to strategic collaboration • Collaborative Collection Development • Shared access to collections • Re-distribution of technical services • Ability to share language experts and subject specialists

  18. Shared infrastructure Projects • Orbis Cascade Alliance • WHELF (Academic libraries in Wales) • South Australia • Ireland Public Libraries • JULAC (Public Universities in Hong Kong) • California State University • University System of Georgia • Complete Florida Plus Program • University of Wisconsin system

  19. Index-based Discovery • One tier of a multi-level approach to providing access to collection resources • Based on central index populated with article-level metadata and full-text spanning most of the universe of scholarly and professional literature • Billions of items indexed • Instant relevancy-based search results • Interface components with increasing sophistication for exploring library collections

  20. Major Discovery Products • ProQuest: Primo + Primo Central; Summon • EBSCO Discovery Service • WorldCat Discovery Service

  21. ProQuest Acquires Ex Libris • Major event in the business environment for academic libraries • Part of a reshaping of the industry • Top-level diversified library services organizations offering content and technology products and services • Synergistic, but not tightly bound

  22. EBSCO Business Strategy • Major vendor of databases and content products • EBSCO Discovery Service leads index-based discovery • Opts not to enter ILS sector • Favors a technology environment where discovery is not bound to resource management • Disrupt current ILS environment, introduce a new choice and reinforce the need for choice

  23. FOLIO open source Project • Future of the Library is Open • Sponsored by EBSCO • Major source of funding • Technology leadership • Initial development by Index Data • Anticipation of community-based development • Lightweight microservices oriented platform • Modular functional design with pluggable apps

  24. Public Library Perspective

  25. Public Library Trends • Operational strategies distinct from academics • Vigorous lending services of physical materials • Emphasis on customer engagement • Lending of downloadable e-books and audiobooks; streaming of digital content • Requirements for organically integrated environments which promote the brand and services of the library

  26. Reliance on Integrated Library Systems • Evolution of traditional ILS viable for public libraries • Library services platforms not currently optimized for public library business needs • Public libraries seek more modern technology • Many moving to vendor-hosted implementations • Interest in fully web-based interfaces • Concern for support of high volume transactions

  27. Evolutionary Development • Observation that public libraries continue to rely on evolved ILS products • Lack of systems built anew for public libraries

  28. Emphasis on Digital Lending Services • Most public libraries offer some type of e-book lending service • Ongoing reliance on content provided by OverDrive, Recorded Books, Bibliotheca, Odilo and others • Interest in library centered e-book lending solutions • NYPL: SimplyE App (created as part of the Library Simplified initative)

  29. Key Technology Providers • Innovative Interfaces: Sierra, Polaris, VTLS (international) • SirsiDynix: Symphony or Horizon + BLUEcloud (international) • The Library Corporation (US, Singapore) • Civica (international, esp Australia, Asia, UK) • Axiell (Scandanavia, UK) • Baratz (Spain, Latin America) • Infor (International, esp Europe, Canada)

  30. Public Library Discovery Strategies • Emphasis on engagement and user experience • Key providers • BiblioCommons: BiblioCore, BiblioCMS • Axiell: Arena • Infor: Iguana • Innovative: Encore • SirsiDynix: Enterprise

  31. Open Source Library Technology

  32. Trends in Open Source • Open source now a routine segment of strategic library automation • Implementation models: • Commercial support • Independent with community support • Support through governmental organizations • Development models • Mostly centralized within a commercial community • Distributed community

  33. Koha • Open source ILS available since 1999 • Continuous development • Widespread deployment in all regions and library types • Small to mid-sized libraries; some large implementations

  34. Evergreen • Open source ILS originally developed for PINES consortium in Georgia • Optimized for large consortia comprised of small to mid-sized public libraries • Mostly implemented within United States and Canada

  35. FOLIO (Future of the library is Open) • New open source library services platform sponsored by EBSCO • Early in development phase; developer’s framework expected to be available in October 2016 • Taps into community created via Kuali OLE

  36. Kuali OLE • No longer an active project • Maintenance development of current releases (mostly print) • 3 implementations: University of Chicago, Lehigh University, SOAS • Multiple rounds of funding from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation • Open Library Environment community now involved with FOLIO

  37. VuFind • Open source discovery interface • Based on Apache SOLR with PHP programming framework • Relevancy-based retrieval, faceted navigation • Widespread implementations globally • Several variants and customizations

  38. Blacklight • Open source discovery interface • Based on Apache SOLR and Ruby on Rails programming framework • Relevancy based retrieval, faceted navigation • Allied with Project Hydra • More tightly-knit development community

  39. Observations and Conclusions • Narrowing Budgets drive need for Strategic Tech • Industry consolidation has narrowed Product Options • Remaining options increasingly powerful • Targeted Innovation: Libraries must focus on technology services with the most customer impact

  40. Questions and discussion

More Related