Latest Trends in Library Automation:

1. Latest Trends in Library Automation: Building Creative and Inspiring Discovery Platforms Marshall Breeding Director for Innovative Technology and Research Vanderbilt University Library Nashville, TN USA

2. Learning Outcomes: • 1) Participants will assess the latest library automation innovations and discovery platforms.2) Participants will better understand how libraries can meet patron expectations.

3. Summary • Marshall Breeding will address next-generation library interfaces and what the future holds for merging currently disparate resources, or silos of information. Some next-generation discovery platforms include AquaBrowser, Encore, Endeca, Primo, WorldCat Local and NELLCO’s Universal Search Solution.  Breeding is a VIP to AALL 2009, sponsored by ALL-SIS, the Library Journal author of “Automation System Marketplace,” and a Computers In Libraries columnist. In addition, Breeding will update the audience on current innovations in library automation technology.

4. Moderators and speaker • Georgia Briscoe, Coordinator and Co-moderator, University of Colorado Law Library, William A. Wise Law Library • FilippaMarulloAnzalone, Co-moderator, Boston College Law Library • Marshall Breeding, Vanderbilt University, Jean and Alexander Heard Library

5. Research and Publishing activities • Library Technology Guides / lib-web-cats • Annual Perceptions Survey • Library Journal Automation Marketplace • Regular contact with principals of library automation companies and projects • Regular publishing commitments: • Library Technology Reports • Smart Libraries Newsletter • Computers in Libraries

6. International perspective • Track automation trends beyond North America • UK, Australia: comprehensive automation data on public and academic libraries • China, Taiwan: Most academics, working on publics • South America: building database on library automation • Interest in automation in the developing world

7. Library Technology Guides • http://www.librarytechnology.org • Repository for library automation data • Expanding to include more international scope • Announcements and developments made by companies and organizations involved in library automation technologies

8. Lib-web-cats • Started building database in 1995 • Most comprehensive resource for tracking ILS and other library automation products • Serves as a directory for general public • Specialized tool for tracking ILS and other automation products • 40,825 Total libraries listed • 377 Law Libraries listed

9. ILS Products in US Law Libraries

10. ILS implementation trends for Law Libraries • Academic law libraries share the ILS of the broader institution • Few operate their own systems • Stand-alone law libraries gravitate toward fairly narrow slate of products • Data difficult to gather for libraries in law firms: typically behind corporate firewall • Seeking a comprehensive listing of US law libraries

11. Law Library Automation • Sophisticated clientele – emphasis on experienced researchers • Need for comprehensive and precise information tools • Cost of errors or omissions high • Complex collections of electronic and print • Press the limits of cataloging, serials, and acquisitions functionality in ILS • Serials more prominent than monographs • Electronic content concentrated in a small number of delivery products • HeinOnline, Westlaw, Lexis-Nexis • Many boutique products with niche area content • General Web content less of a threat to law libraries than to public and academic libraries

12. LJ Automation System Marketplace Annual Industry report published in Library Journal: • 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

13. ILS Product Satisfaction

14. Upheavals in the library automation arena • Industry Consolidation • Abrupt transitions for major library automation products • Increased industry control by external financial investors • Uncomfortable level of product narrowing • Open Source products and service companies enter the competition • A small contingent of founder-owned companies continue to thrive • New wave of companies based on open source service and support Breeding, Marshall: Perceptions 2008 an international survey of library automation. http://www.librarytechnology.org/perceptions2008.plJanuary 2009.

15. Product and Technology Trends • Demise of the traditional OPAC • New genre of discovery interfaces • Conventional ILS less tenable • Conceived around print inventory, difficult transition to mostly e-content • Increasing pressure for new innovations in automation solutions • Proliferation of products related to e-content management

16. Web 2.0 / Collaborative Computing • Currently implemented ad hoc • Many libraries putting up blogs, wikis, and fostering engagement in social networking sites • Proliferation of silos with no integration or interoperability with larger library Web presence • Next Gen: Build social and collaborative features into core automation components

17. The Mandate for Openness

18. Opportunities for Openness • Open Source Software • Alternative to traditionally licensed software • Open Systems • Software that doesn’t hold data hostage • Increasing need for enterprise integration

19. Open Source Alternatives • Explosive interest in Open Source driven by disillusionment with current vendors and increasing support of this software licensing model • Beginning to emerge as a practical option both in the ILS and discovery layer arenas • TOC (Total Cost of Ownership) varies relativeto proprietary commercial model • Many libraries document substantial savings • Both open source and commercial software involve risk • Law libraries less involved in open source ILS than other segments

20. Open Source ILS enters the mainstream • Earlier era of pioneering efforts to ILS shifting into one where open source alternatives fall in the mainstream • Off-the-shelf, commercially supported product available • Sectors: Public, Academic, Schools • Still a minority player, but gaining some ground

21. Open Source Library products • Integrated Library Systems • Koha, Evergreen, OPALS, NewGenLib • Repositories • Dspace, Fedora, DuraCloud • Discovery Interfaces • Vufind • Blacklight • SOPAC (Social OPAC) • eXtensible Catalog • ILL • Relais (?)

22. Impact of Open Source ILS • Some libraries moving from traditionally licensed products to open source products with commercial support plans • Disruption of library automation industry • new pressures on incumbent vendors to deliver more innovation and to satisfy concerns for openness • Low-cost options may help moderate pricing of commercial products • New competition / More options

23. More Open Systems • Pressure for traditionally licensed products to become more open • APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) let libraries access and manipulate their data outside of delivered software • A comprehensive set of APIs potentially give libraries more flexibility and control in accessing data and services and in extending functionality than having access to the source code. • Customer access to APIs does not involve as much risk to breaking core system functions, avoids issues of version management and code forking associated with open source models.

24. A New Generation of Discovery Interfaces for Library Collections

25. Crowded Landscape of Information Providers on the Web • Lots of non-library Web destinations deliver content to library patrons • Google Scholar • Amazon.com • Wikipedia • Ask.com • Do Library Web sites and catalogs meet the information needs of our users? • Do they attract their interest?

26. The Competition

28. Traditional ILS

29. Better?

30. Demand for compelling library interfaces • Urgent need for libraries to offer interfaces their users will like to use • Powerful search capabilities in tune with how the Web works today • Meet user expectations set by other Web destination • Maintain quality of searching in precision, predictability, and scope

31. Inadequacy of ILS OPACs • Online Catalog modules provided with an ILS subject to broad criticism as failing to meet expectations of growing segments of library patrons. • Not great at delivering electronic content • Complex text-based interfaces • Relatively weak keyword search engines • Lack of good relevancy sorting • Narrow scope of content

32. Disjointed approach to information and service delivery • Silos Prevail • Books: Library OPAC (ILS module) • Articles: Aggregated content products, e-journal collections • OpenURL linking services • E-journal finding aids (Often managed by link resolver) • Local digital collections • ETDs, photos, rich media collections • Metasearch engines • All searched separately

33. Change underway • Widespread dissatisfaction with legacy OPACs. Many efforts toward next-generation discovery layer products. • Movement among libraries to break out of the current mold of library catalogs and offer new interfaces better suited to the expectations of library users. • Decoupling of the front-end interface from the back-end library automation system. • Eventual redesign of the ILS to be better suited for current library collections of digital and print content

34. Online Catalog vs Discovery Layer • Discovery Layer • Modern interface elements • Scope: aims to address broad range of components that constitute library collections • Online Catalog • Interface conventions from an earlier Web era • Scope: Tied to the ILS and its content domain

35. OPACs – a dying breed • Most vendors are deemphasizing their traditional catalogs • Separate discovery interface • New-gen online catalog with features borrowed from the discovery interface genre

36. More than the “library catalog” • More comprehensive information discovery environments • Primary search tool that extends beyond print resources • Digital resources cannot be an afterthought • Systems designed for e-content only are also problematic • Forcing users to use different interfaces depending on type of content becoming less tenable • Libraries working toward consolidated user environments that give equal footing to digital and print resources

37. Comprehensive Discovery Service • Current distributed query model of federated search model not adequate • Expanded scope of search through harvested content • Consolidated search services based on metadata and data gathered in advance (like OAI-PMH) • Problems of scale diminished • Problems of cooperation persist • Federated search currently operates as a plug-in component of next-gen interfaces.

38. Web 2.0 Flavorings • Strategic infrastructure + Web 2.0 • A more social and collaborative approach • Web Tools and technology that foster collaboration • Integrated blogs, wiki, tagging, social bookmarking, user rating, user reviews • Avoid Web 2.0 information silos

39. Interface Features / User Experience • Single point of entry • Optional advanced search • Relevancy ranked results • Facets for narrowing and navigation • Query enhancement – spell check, etc • Suggested related results / recommendation service • Enriched visual and textual content • Single Sign-on

40. Relevancy Ranking • Based on advanced search engines specifically designed for relevancy • Endeca, Lucene, FAST, BrainWare,etc • Web users expect relevancy ordered results • Items with strongest probability of interestshould appear first • Users tend not to delve deep into a result list • Good relevancy requires a sophisticated approach, including objective matching criteria supplemented by social and relatedness factors. • Continued need for objective, comprehensive search techniques • Ability to select other search methods and sorting options– browse, linked data, etc.

41. New Paradigm for search and navigation • Let users drill down through the result set incrementally narrowing the field • Faceted Browsing • Drill-down vs up-front Boolean or “Advanced Search” • gives the users clues about the number of hits in each sub topic • Ability to explore collections without a prioriknowledge

42. Query / Result Enhancement • “Did you mean?” and other features to avoid “No results found” • Validated spell check / query suggestions • Automatic inclusion of authorized and related terms • More like this – recommendation service • Make the query and the response to it better than the query provided

43. The Ideal Scope Discovery Layer products • Attempt to collapse silos or draw appropriately from each silo • Unified user experience • A single point of entry into all the content and services offered by the library • Print + Electronic • Local + Remote • Locally created Content • User contributed content

44. Social discovery • Tags, user-supplied ratings and reviews • Leverage social networking interactions to assist readers in identifying interesting materials: BiblioCommons • Leverage use data for a recommendation service of scholarly content based on link resolver data: Ex Libris bX service

45. Pre-populated discovery services • New-generation interface • Harvested local content • Vendor-supplied indexes of library content • E-journals, databases, e-books • Book collections beyond local library collections

46. Web scale discovery • Indexing the full corpus of information available globally • Or at least major portions • Google aims to address all the world’s information • Not quite comprehensive – partial harvesting of any given resource • Discovery Layer Products for libraries aim to address all content collected by libraries: • Print • Remotely access electronic content: e-journals, e-books, databases, licensed and open access. • Local special collections: digital and print. • Addresses the comprehensive body of content held within library collections • Comprehensive, unified

47. Web-scalevs local discovery • Local discovery provides flexibility for libraries to create customized access to collections • Web-scale discovery emphasizes unified access and broad scope

48. Deep search • Entering post-metadata search era • Increasing opportunities to search the full contents • Google Library Print, Google Publisher, Open Content Alliance, government publications, etc. • High-quality metadata will improve search precision • Commercial search providers already offer “search inside the book” and searching across the full text of large book collections • Not currently available through library search environments • Deep search highly improved by high-quality metadata See: Systems Librarian, May 2008 “Beyond the current generation of next-generation interfaces: deeper search”

49. Beyond Discovery to Fulfillment / Delivery • Fulfillment oriented • Search -> select -> view • Delivery/Fulfillment much harder than discovery • Back-end complexity should be as seamless as possible to the user • Offer services for digital and print content

50. New Generation Library Interfaces Current Commercial and Open Source Products