PREPARING FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION:

Current Realities and Future Trends

Marshall BreedingDirector for Innovative Technology and ResearchVanderbilt University LibraryFounder and Publisher, Library Technology Guideshttp://www.librarytechnology.org/http://twitter.com/mbreeding10 February 2012 Simmons LIS531R Guest Lecture

Abstract

Fundamental shifts in academic libraries have transpired over the last decades that demand new models of support from their automation systems. Increased emphasis on delivering access to electronic resources and digital collections, with lingering, though diminishing, involvement with print collections requires automation platforms capable of providing a more equitable balance in management of all types of resources. Breeding will describe the emerging products and services for library automation that aim to address these new realities.

Library Technology Guides

www.librarytechnolog

y.org

International Perceptions Surveyhttp://www.librarytechnology.org/perceptions2010.pl

ARL Member Libraries – ILShttp://www.librarytechnology.org/arl.pl

ARL Member Libraries – Discovery

Mergers and Acquisitionshttp://www.librarytechnology.org/automationhistory.pl

Library Journal Automation Marketplace

Published annually in April 1 issue Based on data provided by each vendor Focused primarily on North America

Context of global library automation market

Annual Industry report published in Library Journal: 2011: New Frontier: battle intensifies to win hearts,

minds and tech dollars 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

LJ Automation Marketplace

The New Frontier…

new phase of competition following a period of research and development that aimed to provide alternatives to libraries, both in back-end automation and end user discovery. A variety of new solutions have emerged, often representing quite different conceptual models. In a continued trend, librarians seek solutions that immediately improve the experiences of their users, especially via discovery products.

Key Context: Academic Libraries in Transition

Shift from Print > Electronic E-journal transition largely complete E-books now in play (consultation > reading)

Increasing emphasis on subscribed content, especially articles and databases

Academic libraries seeing long-term declines in print circulation

Need better tools for managing electronic resources Need better tools for access to complex multi-format

collections Strong emphasis on digitizing local collections Demands for enterprise integration and interoperability

Key Context: Technologies in transition

XML / Web services / Service-oriented Architecture

Beyond Web 2.0 Integration of social computing into core infrastructure

Local computing shifting to cloud platforms Application Service Provider offerings standard New expectations for multi-tenant software-as-a-

service Full spectrum of devices

full-scale / net book / tablet / mobile Mobile the current focus, but is only one example of

device and interface cycles

Key Text: Changed expectations in metadata management

Moving away from individual record-by-record creation Life cycle of metadata

Metadata follows the supply chain, improved and enhanced along the way as needed

Manage metadata in bulk when possible E-book collections

Highly shared metadata E-journal knowledge bases, e.g.

Great interest in moving toward semantic web and open linked data Very little progress in linked data for operational systems AACR2 > RDA MARC > RDF?

Academic Library Issues

Greater concern with electronic resources

Management: Need for consolidated approach that balances print, digital, and electronic workflows

Access: discovery interfaces that maximize the value of investments in electronic content

Public Library Issues

Enhance the experience of library patrons

Management and access to physical resources

Self-service through the Web portal: View current loans, perform holds,

renewals, pay fines and fees Self-service in the physical library

RFID-based self-issue and returns Helps the library deploy service personnel

for highest impact

New Generation Library Management Options

LIBRARY SERVICES PLATFORMSManagement systems in tune with the realities of today’s libraries

1970s - 2012: Integrated Library Systems

Designed and developed to support print collections

Self-contained Communicate through library-specific

protocols Not programmed to manage electronic

content at the level of individual articles Not intended to manage collections of

digital objects New models of automation emerging…

Integrated (for print) Library System

Circulation

BIB

Staff Interfaces:

Holding / Items

CircTransact

User Vendor Policies$$$

Funds

Cataloging Acquisitions Serials OnlineCatalog

Public Interfaces:

Interfaces

BusinessLogic

DataStores

Legacy ILS Model / External API

Circulation

BIB

Staff Interfaces:

Holding / Items

CircTransact

User Vendor Policies$$$

Funds

CatalogingAcquisitions Serials OnlineCatalog

Public Interfaces:

Application Programming Interfaces / Web Services

Protocols: SIP2 NCIP Z39.50 OAI-PMH

ExternalSystems

& Services

ExternalSystems

& Services

Flexible Interoperability

Sea change in library collection and missions

Shift from Print > Electronic + Digital Increasing emphasis on subscribed

content, especially articles and databases Strong emphasis on digitizing local

collections Demands for enterprise integration and

interoperability Most libraries currently experience the

dominance of digital

2005 – Present ILS / ERM Fragmentation

Circulation

BIB

Staff Interfaces:

Holding / Items

CircTransact

User Vendor Policies$$$

Funds

CatalogingAcquisitionsSerials OnlineCatalog

Public Interfaces:

Application Programming Interfaces

`

LicenseManagement

LicenseTerms

E-resourceProcurement

VendorsE-Journal

Titles

Protocols: CORE

Fragmented automation > Fragmented workflows

Despite digital dominance, many libraries expend more personnel resources on tasks related to print

ILS demands disproportionate amounts staff time

Inadequate tools for Electronic resource management Unnecessary redundancies with ILS data and

workflow Digital collections management also requires

isolated infrastructure and task workflows

Is the status quo sustainable? ILS for management of (mostly) print Duplicative financial systems between library and campus Electronic Resource Management (non-integrated with

ILS) OpenURL Link Resolver w/ knowledge base for access to

full-text electronic articles Digital Collections Management platforms (CONTENTdm,

DigiTool, etc.) Institutional Repositories (DSpace, Fedora, etc.) Discovery-layer services for broader access to library

collections No effective integration services / interoperability among

disconnected systems, non-aligned metadata schemes

Libraries need a new model of library automation

Not an Integrated Library System The ILS was designed to help libraries

manage print collections Generally did not evolve to manage

electronic collections Other library automation products evolved:

Electronic Resource Management Systems – OpenURL Link Resolvers – Digital Library Management Systems -- Institutional Repositories

Library Services Platform

Library-specific software. Designed to help libraries automate their internal operations, manage collections, fulfillment requests, and deliver services

Services Service oriented architecture Exposes Web services and other API’s Facilitates the services libraries offer to their users

Platform General infrastructure for library automation Consistent with the concept of Platform as a Service Library programmers address the APIs of the platform to

extend functionality, create connections with other systems, dynamically interact with data

Library Services Platform Characteristics

Highly Shared data models Knowledgebase architecture

Some may take hybrid approach to accommodate local data stores

Delivered through software as a service Multi-tenant

Unified workflows across formats and media Flexible metadata management

MARC – Dublin Core – VRA – MODS – ONIX New structures not yet invented

Library Services Platform candidates

Ex Libris: Alma Serials Solutions: Intota Open Source: Kuali OLE Innovative Interfaces: Sierra OCLC: WorldShare Management Services

Traditional Proprietary Commercial ILS Aleph, Voyager, Millennium, Symphony, Polaris, BOOK-IT, DDELibra, Libra.se LIBERO, Amlib, Spydus, TOTALS II

Traditional Open Source ILS Evergreen, Koha

New generation unified resource management Ex Libris Alma, Kuali OLE, OCLC Web-scale Management

Services Cloud-based automation systems

Ex Libris Alma OCLC Web-scale: Management Service Serials Solutions: Web-Scale Management Solution

Competing Models of Library Automation

Decoupled Discovery?

Decoupled interfaces emerged from broken online catalogs Poor interfaces, inadequate scope

Inefficient integration between automation and discovery platforms

New wave of more tightly integrated suites: Ex Libris Alma > Primo OCLC Web-scale Management Services > WorldCat Local Serials Solutions Web-Scale Management Solution >

Summon Still possible to decouple, but more effort, worse

results

From local discovery to Web-scale discovery

New models of Library Collection Discovery

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) Subject guides (e.g. Springshare LibGuides) Local digital collections

ETDs, photos, rich media collections Metasearch engines

All searched separately

Next-gen Catalogs or Discovery Interface

Single search box Query tools

Did you mean Type-ahead

Relevance ranked results Faceted navigation Enhanced visual displays

Cover art Summaries, reviews,

Recommendation services

Discovery Interface search model

Search: Digital

Collections

ProQuest

EBSCOhost

…MLA

Bibliography

ABC-CLIO

Search Results

Real-time query and responses

ILS Data

Local Index

Meta

Search

En

gin

e

Discovery Products

http://www.librarytechnology.org/

discovery.pl

Differentiation in Discovery

Products increasingly specialized between public and academic libraries

Public libraries: emphasis on engagement with physical collection

Academic libraries: concern for discovery of heterogeneous material types, especially books + articles + digital objects

Discovery from Local to Web-scale Initial products focused on technology

AquaBrowser, Endeca, Primo, Encore, VuFind, LIBERO Uno, Civica Sorcer, Axiell Arena Mostly locally-installed software

Current phase focused on pre-populated indexes that aim to deliver Web-scale discovery Primo Central (Ex Libris) Summon (Serials Solutions) WorldCat Local (OCLC) EBSCO Discovery Service (EBSCO) Encore with Article Integration

Citations / Metadata > Full Text Citations or structured metadata provide

key data to power search & retrieval and faceted navigation

Indexing Full-text of content amplifies access

Important to understand depth indexing Currency, dates covered, full-text or citation Many other factors

Web-scale Index-based Discovery

Search: Digital

Collections

ProQuest

EBSCOhost

…MLA

Bibliography

ABC-CLIO

Search Results

Pre-built harvesting and indexing

Con

solid

ate

d In

dex

ILS Data

Challenge for Relevancy

Technically feasible to index hundreds of millions or billions of records through Lucene or SOLR

Difficult to order records in ways that make sense

Many fairly equivalent candidates returned for any given query

Must rely on use-based and social factors to improve relevancy rankings

Open Discovery Initiative

Project underway to address issues related to information providers, discovery service providers, and libraries

Protocols for transfer of content Transparency of what is transferred and indexed Rights or restrictions on how discovery services use

content Initial meeting at ALA Annual Proposal under consideration by NISO

“Proposed New Work Item: Standards and Best Practices for Library Discovery Services Based on Indexed Search”

Con

solid

ate

d in

dex

Search Engine

Unified Presentation LayerSearch:

Digital Coll

ProQuest

EBSCO…

JSTOR

Other Resour

ces

New Library Management Model

`

API Layer

Library Services Platform

LearningManageme

nt

LearningManageme

nt

Enterprise ResourcePlanning

Enterprise ResourcePlanning

StockManageme

nt

StockManageme

nt

Self-Check /

Automated Return

Self-Check /

Automated Return

Authentication

Service

Authentication

Service

Smart Cad /

Payment systems

Smart Cad /

Payment systems

Discovery

Service

Device Agnostic

Questions and discussion