FEATURE
Library Management Systems
Colin Carter, sales account manager, UK & Northern Europe, Innovative Interfaces
Library users are facing the increasing challenge of accessing the information that they need through a wide variety of formats and interfaces. For
many years, the reasons that users have been accessing libraries have been diversifying. The ways that users are accessing libraries are also changing, with all types of libraries seeing a significant increase in the number of virtual users: people who make use of resources that are managed by the library but never physically enter a library building. Users who do come to libraries may be borrowing material in the traditional, physical formats, but they may also be looking for a place where they can access online content (either freely available or licensed), a place where they can study and research, or they can work with colleagues and peers. These differing uses of libraries are an opportunity to expand the scope and efficiency of library services with events, classes, collaboration spaces, and so on. Library technology can be a way to meet the range of possibilities, including managing the collections to make
28 Research Information DEC 2012/JAN 2013
an ideal fit with the library premises and users. To do this, library staff members have to understand and participate in an increasingly electronic, collaborative, and virtual world. Keeping track of the latest technologies, and how these impact on the library and information world, is a real challenge. However, these new technologies also present opportunities to streamline and simplify many of the day-to-day processes that are required to run an efficient and effective library service in the library building and beyond. One of the biggest needs for library staff
at all levels is for detailed, high-quality, management information and decision- support data. For example, data that will allow
support systems and technical solutions that are in place.
Users have an expectation that they should be able to receive the same level of service and access regardless of their choice of device and interface. Library staff have to be aware of the range of technologies that are available and how services can be delivered to these devices against a back-drop of stagnant or reduced budgets. Technology must be responsive to these two challenges to ensure the effectiveness of libraries.
Library management systems must deliver services to the users’ choice of device and interface. Innovative Interfaces developed AirPAC, a catalogue (OPAC) interface
‘Users who do come to libraries may be borrowing material in the traditional, physical formats, but they may also be looking for a place where they can access online content’
a member of library staff to see where stock can be withdrawn (or moved to a remote store) to free up space for additional services; or data that will show how much to spend on a given area of the collection to meet demand. Data should be available without the need for complex database analysis skills or tools. This data needs to be provided in a format that is accessible for all levels of library staff and is capable of interacting with the underlying
for mobile phones, early in the life of this technology. Since then, we have released Encore Mobile: a version of the Innovative discovery application that operates on any smartphone or tablet. This product responded to the key user needs of a modern web interface, access through preferred devices, access to library-only subscriptions, and the ability to search on-the-go. A second key role is in providing the
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