200 likes | 314 Views
Build It Yourself or Buy It?. John Culshaw Professor and Associate Director for Administrative Services University of Colorado at Boulder. University Profile. 30,000 students Mid-sized ARL library (3.8m volumes, $9.63m resources budget) Innovative Interfaces ILS since 1994
E N D
Build It Yourself or Buy It? John Culshaw Professor and Associate Director for Administrative Services University of Colorado at Boulder
University Profile • 30,000 students • Mid-sized ARL library (3.8m volumes, $9.63m resources budget) • Innovative Interfaces ILS since 1994 • 54 librarians, 109 support staff
ILS Platforms • Founding member of Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries • CARL’s Public Access Catalog (PAC) deployed in library since inception in 1984 • Migrated to INNOPAC in 1994 • Committed to Millennium platform in 1999 • Adopted Encore discovery layer in 2009.
Other Critical Services • Digital Library: Luna Insight • Repository: Alliance Digital Repository (ADR)
Why Buy It? • Functionality • Partnerships • Campus Environment • Finances and Staffing
Functionality • Need for stable, consistent systems • Millennium continues to meet needs • Open source ILS platforms not fully fleshed out
Partnership • Partnership works • Development partnerships • Strong user community
Partnership: Encore Selection • Seamless integration with Millennium platform • Real-time circulation information • Single-sign on • Electronic resource data • Integration with Prospector
Campus Environment • Campus also advocates buy-it approach • New SIS – PeopleSoft • Tested Sakai – kept WebCT • Need infrastructure improvements
John Culshaw ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES # 001596651 FTE Rani Machoi Interim Libraries IT Dept. Director #159767 & 150002 1 FTE Rani Machoi IT Professional IV #107573 1 FTE Holley Long Digital InitiativesAsst. Professor #0065963 1 FTE Richard Losoff IT Professional I #00677399 1 FTE Michael Riberdy Media Specialist IV #00103357 1 FTE Mark Sondergard IT Professional I#104889 1 FTE John Dziadecki IT Technician II #100256 1 FTE Justin Van Voorst IT Professional I#106236 1 FTE Hans Schmidt IT Professional I #107258 1 FTE Tim Leal IT Technician II#107791 1 FTE
Staffing • Picture even more challenging when compared to AAU peers • Ratio of librarians to students • Ratio of library IT staff to students • Ratio of library IT staff to total staff
“The support for community-driven software development in higher education is at a relatively young, fragile stage and needs to be embraced by a wider variety of institutions.” -- Robert McDonald
Challenge? Dilemma? • Maintain existing service levels • Consider current budgeting and staffing models
Our Strategy • Continue to buy • Maintain strong partner relationships with vendors • Monitor open source trends • Continually lobby for increased resources.
Sources ARL Statistics 2006-2007. Washington DC: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2008. Fisher, Steve P. “Research Library Collaboration in Colorado – The Birth and Early Evolution of CARL, the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries.” Collaborative Librarianship 1:3 (2009), 91-98. McDonald, Robert H. “Sustainable Communities for Software: Variations on a Theme.” EDUCAUSE Review 44:5 (September/October 2009), 6-7.