Your Library & Information Partner Future Trends in Technical Services Roman Panchyshyn OHIONET...

Your Library & Information Partner

Future Trends in Technical Services

Roman Panchyshyn

OHIONET

April 2, 2008

OLC Technical Services Retreat


Innovation: From 1998

Today's library environment involves a high level of uncertainty, has few precedents on which to base decisions, often lacks reliable facts to guide decisions, requires quicker decisions with less time for reflection, and often offers several plausible options to consider. Individuals who are able to use their intuition rather than requiring hard facts on which to base every decision will be the most successful technical services managers of the future.

Using automation in technical services to foster innovation. By: Diedrichs, Carol Pitts, Journal of Academic Librarianship, Mar1998, Vol. 24, Issue 2


Future Ideas from 1999: What will TS do?

Metadata cataloging

Efforts to describe and provide access to information contained in digitization efforts and digital projects

Access and description of electronic and Internet resources in all its myriad forms

Consultants for database design and development for faculty and staff involved in grant projects (at the academic library level)

Become grant writers/initiators

Collaboration between and among other information organizations (museums, libraries, archives, government, public and private corporations, etc.)

Consultants and experts in continuing education and training initiatives for library professionals and staff, both on-the-job and in librarianship itself

Brad Eden, “Technical Services: a vision for the future” Library Computing, v.18, no.4, 1999, p. 289-94.


1998 to Today

What has changed?

Innovation is still key

Technical Services must still manage change and place itself in the forefront


Brad Eden’s Thoughts in 2007

The way libraries do business today does not work

Libraries no longer information monopolies

“One catalog” idea no longer works

Position of libraries within larger organizational structure is now precarious

Libraries spend most funding on personnel, salaries & benefits

Operating budget, 70% spent on catalogs used by 10% of users


Eden … 2007

2006 ALA Big Heads. Downsizing technical services is now strategic objective

Revenue saved can be used to stay solvent and move forward with new initiatives

Cataloging not “sexy”, digitization is.

Eden, Brad. “Information Organization Future for Libraries.” Library Technology Reports. V. 43, no. 6, Nov/Dec 2007.


Questions

1. Do you feel that staffing in your library will increase or decrease over the next 5 years?

2. Are the job descriptions in your library being continuously maintained and updated?

3. Are you considering a new ILS?

4. Is your library/institution considering the creation and maintenance of an institutional repository?

5. Does your library have a social (Web 2.0) presence?

6. Are you planning to provide access to Non-English patrons?


Future Trends

We are going to examine several trends that may have an impact on technical services in the next 5-10 years

Many of these issues were recently discussed at ALA Midwinter

LC Working Group on Future of Bibliographic Control:

http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/news/lcwg-ontherecord-jan08-final.pdf


Issue: Shift of Cataloging Upstream

Make use of bibliographic data available earlier in the supply chain

Eliminate redundancies

Where will the data come from and what is the cost?


Impact on TS

Publisher’s data useful

Crosswalks between MARC-ONIX

Concept of machine as user

OCLC Next Generation Cataloging Pilot

xISBN service (FRBR grouping)


Routine Cataloging

There will be a shift to get as much routine cataloging done by machine as early as possible

WorldCat Selection is an example

Shelf-ready options

Direct vendor records

Records purchased through partner programs such as OCLC WorldCat Cataloging Partners


Issue: Cataloging Training & Standards

RDA being developed to take the place of AACR2

Joint Steering Committee

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/jsc/index.html

Planned release in 2009

Subscription-based service


Why RDA?

New standard for resource description and access designed for the digital world

Assist in developing FRBR-FRAD based-catalogs (works, expressions, manifestations, items)

Find, identify, select, and obtain resources

More flexibility for machine-based cataloging, be usable primarily within the library community, but be capable of adaptation to meet the specific needs of other communities.


RDA training

Monumental effort, catalogers will need to be trained down to the local level

LC “Train the Trainer” for distributed training programs

RDA initially will need to use legacy data (MARC 21)


Metadata Training

Catalogers will need a functional knowledge of:

Dublin Core

METS

MODS

EAD

Essential for capability to manage digital projects


Issue: Non-English Access

Libraries will be facing the prospect of providing more access to non-English patrons and materials

This will impact TS on both the automation and staffing level

ALCTS Task Force on Non-English Access Report (March 2007)

http://www.ala.org/ala/alcts/newslinks/nonenglish/07marchrpt.pdf


Non-English ILS support

ILS that support language display & scripting

Non-English authority files (coming soon at LC, Spring 2008)

Should the practice of Romanization continue?


Non-English Staffing

Selection/Acquisitions staffing models need to reflect language support

Vendors and their systems need to integrate with non-English staff and systems

Expertise and expense


Issue: Creation and Maintenance of Institutional Repositories (IRs)

The concept of the “hidden collection”

Dual purpose

Access

Preservation

Catalogers freed up from “routine cataloging” may use their skills to develop and maintain IRs


Software

Much IR software is “open source”

Fedora

DSpace

Greenstone

Some is commercial

CONTENTdm

Olive


Issues

Need the buy-in from various departments (especially in academics)

Need to resolve possible copyright issues (publisher access vs. open access)

Need to make decisions on archiving and preserving all types of formats (even obsolete ones)

Open vs. dark archive

Storage costs

Skill sets necessary to plan digital projects


Issue: Electronic Resource Management Systems

Serials/Database management system whose control is increasingly falling under the sphere of technical services

Allows libraries to manage and keep up to date things such as license requirements, copyright, link resolvers, etc….


Interoperability with ILS

Some are homegrown (SCELC ERMS), some are commercial (Serials Solutions)

2008 White Paper points out the interoperability issues

http://www.diglib.org/standards/ERMI_Interop_Report_20080108.pdf

Aim to eliminate duplicity, redundancy


Issue: Staffing

Succession planning (is this still being addressed in libraries)

Changing job descriptions

Obtaining marketable skills and retaining skilled employees

Are TS staff “empowered”?

Is there a Web 2.0 mentality now within library staff?


Issue: Open Source vs. WorldCat Local

Open Source ILS allows libraries to design & develop their own ILS, free from constraints of commercial vendors

Examples

Koha

LibLime

Evergreen


Open Source for TS

Library staff (or Open Source Development companies) must have skill sets to design and maintain these systems

Modules must be designed for circulation, acquisitions, patron data, cataloging


Risk vs. Reward

Advantages

More control

Sharing community

Cheaper?

Disadvantages

Requires skilled trained technical staff

Continuous maintenance & development based on altruistic principles (is this sustainable)


Federated Searching (Portals)

Types

Endeca

AquaBrowser

WebFeat

Enables simultaneous searching of organizational databases (including ILS) through a single interface

Will TS staff manage these?


OCLC WorldCat Local model

Access to WorldCat now free through WorldCat.org

Is WorldCat the only source of bibliographic records?

Better yet, is it necessary for libraries to continue to collect and use bibliographic records with a local ILS?


OCLC WorldCat Local

Can serve as library “catalog”

Be customized for local library “feel”

Can be integrated with local ILS for circulation/acquisitions functionality

Link resolvers & open URL for access to electronic data

Do you really need to continue to support a local ILS cataloging module?


What Does A User Want?

Find

Identify

Access

Which is better, the MARC 21 model or the Amazon/WorldCat.org model?


WorldCat LocalWorldCat Local


WorldCat.orgWorldCat.org


Amazon modelAmazon model


Technical Services Vision

TS staff must be innovative

Change/adapt to new uses & trends

Develop and refine new skills to take advantage of change

Above all, you must be willing to take risks to stay competitive


Communication

Blogs & Wikis can bring the community together and keep TS staff informed

Blogs of Note

Michael Steven’s “Tame the Web”

Stephen Abrams “Stephen’s Lighthouse”

David Bigwood’s “Catalogblog”

There are literally hundreds more


Questions & Discussion


Roman Panchyshyn, MLIS

OHIONET

[email protected]

614-486-2966 ext. 32

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