Library Management Systems
FEATURE
Library systems need to be web-based, reliable, simple to use and easy to train on. Many users still demand that new systems have most of the minute functionality of their legacy systems.
Many of these legacy systems are arcane and difficult to use, but support advanced use of the system by experts who have used them for a long time. Almost all of the systems that are in use pre-date the web. Many pre-date the internet. They are based on deployable client-server architectures that are run library-by-library. Shared data and shared workflows hardly exist, making the operation of these systems inefficient. There are no network effects in stand-
‘Library systems need to be web-based, reliable, simple to use and easy to train on’
Andrew K. Pace, OCLC executive director of networked library services
Libraries have less ‘gravitational pull’ or influence than they used to. Patrons used to have to begin their searches in libraries because libraries housed most materials, but needs have evolved with the web and accelerated as more and more material is available in online formats.
Users need to find information where their searches begin, whether it is through
www.researchinformation.info
Google, other bibliographic resources, social networks, scholarly sites, or elsewhere. Searching needs to be simplified and not siloed, requiring many searches in many places. Delivery of materials needs to be easier. Library staff need management systems that allow them to manage ‘the collective collection’, not separate systems based on format or department. Systems need to be more efficient.
Library management systems can streamline workflows, especially for commodity materials, so that library staff can spend more time on acquiring and describing unique materials, or in providing other services to their customers.
alone systems. These legacy systems have not kept pace with the changing nature of library collections and the rapidly shifting expectations of library users. Those two facts alone have been the major disruptors. Cloud-based, multi-tenant systems take away the hassle of hardware and software. No more downloads, no more upgrades, no more client-server headaches. Building new systems from the ground up has given us the opportunity to use 21st century technologies to create more efficient workflows. The strength of OCLC specifically is around the vast amounts of bibliographic, library and e-resource data that it maintains. This allows libraries to have systems that facilitate more efficient technical services workflows while at the same time making worldwide materials instantly discoverable by patrons and expediting delivery of those materials from local collections, consortia borrowing or interlibrary lending. We are in production with over 50 libraries using OCLC WorldShare Management Services and have nearly 100 more in the pipeline (in seven countries). We will continue to expand our functional coverage and our expansion into other market segments – groups, public libraries, large research libraries, special libraries. We are also addressing interest in patron self- service, as well as analytical report-writing, and better management of electronic resources.
DEC 2012/JAN 2013 Research Information 25
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