Considering a New Information Topology
Diane C. MirvisAssociate Vice President Information Technology & CIO
[email protected] Forum: Library Resource Management Systems
October 9, 2009 • Boston, MA
Fundamental rethinking of how work gets done by scholars, students, staff
Impacts entire organizational structure, roles
Workflow and knowledge management become pivotal concepts
Drives technology and Library purchasing For Librarians, spotlights value of
information in all forms
Why is this discussion important?
Traditional computing environments
Silo thinking among constituencies Proprietary technology Niche vendors Mix of content aggregators, publishers with
licensing agreements selling to organizational consumers. Little opportunity to view information resources holistically.
Lack of skilled technical staff for integration
Model driven by
Where in the organization is information?And who owns it?
Everywhere and Everybody
(Including in the Library)
At the University of Bridgeport………
We are stepping back together to reconsider our enterprise information needs, and rethink how we use information as students, faculty, staff and alumni
The University is examining how workflow and content can be more effectively managed
One surprise for Librarians – the many “stealth” database providers
Datatel Student Information System Datatel Enterprise Portal Datatel e-Business Solution (CRM) Visionary Clinical Information System (CIS) Campus Security 3rd Party Vendors Cloud Applications Campus Digital Signage Web site
UB Administrative systems
Blackboard Course Management System (CMS)
E- Portfolio Products Datatel Retention Alert Cloud Communities of Interest Assessment Tools Wimba Synchronous Learning
UB Academic systems
Ex Libris Voyager Integrated Library System Ex Libris Primo Discovery Ex Libris MetaLib Ex Libris SFX Institutional Repository
UB Library systems
We are working to optimize workflow Vendors extending beyond traditional niches
Technology product overlaps, interoperability proffered Purchasing decisions more centralized Content and technology vendors often one in same
Open Source initiatives Role Blurring among Information Seekers
Scholarship, marketing, retention, fiscal tracking, etc. Standards adherence Organizational & cultural issues Cost Staffing Evidence Based Management
Current topology challenged
Launch of Library Primo platform◦ On budget, on time, filled multiple information
needs across organization◦ First portal-like experience, Web 2.0◦ Exposed interoperability, redundancy issues
across traditional Library database providers◦ Raised bar for Blackboard CMS
Escalating technology costs Institutional competitiveness Decision to implement Enterprise Portal and
CRM
KEY Drivers for UB organizational change
Initiated enterprise Data Dictionary Project 10.1.09 Datatel planning methodology just starting
◦ Vision, Governance, Needs Assessment, Design, Content flow, Applications for Portal and CRM
Stakeholder team assembled across organization◦ Staff, Faculty, Librarians, Students, Alumni◦ Project Analysts Assigned◦ New Content Manager hired
Forces decisions on workflow, roles, technology How do we deliver information resources in any
format when and where needed?
Decision to implement both enterprise Portal and CRM within 1 year
New process model starting to emerge
Where Will Library Systems Fit?Portal, CRM, CIS raise new issues beyond
integration with CMS Linking systems, embedding content
delivery, web parts - all options Multiple content management systems Library Discovery system rich, well liked Synching up roles across delivery platforms Layering of repository systems a concern
Faculty Information Cube on Retention
Logical model information resource cluster
External Database Articles
ERP D
ata
Cons
ulta
nt R
epor
tsAssessment Data
CRM Data
Black
board
Conte
nt
Workflow
Workflow
Convergence weighs heavily in investment decisions. New purchasing approval policies established.
Questions swirl around information content – stewardship, repositories, harvesting, ingesting, embedding, purchased and free database content
Do we link in layers of different systems, or deconstruct site architecture based on workflow?◦ Librarians busy visioning what next gen digital platform will
look like in Portal How feasible is it to think convergence can be achieved
given technical, organizational and legal barriers? Will vendors and open source communities see
convergence as opportunity or threat?
Tough to reinvent …
Library, IT and academic departments all were investigating options independently
Multiple vendors and open source communities
Overlapping functionality of products◦ Revenue potential for faculty
University decided to build a no cost pilot using Primo until larger Topology was determined
Our Institutional Repository parable
Institutional Repository Pilot
Check out publications and contact colleagues in:◦ Operations Research◦ Information Technology◦ Knowledge Management◦ Library Science
Others exploring same issues