Library Management Systems FEATURE
loading records, indexing and doing authority controls etc. But now, having switched to WMS, we don’t have to deal with those same sort of issues.’
‘Another impact has been the amount of staff that we used to have to devote to doing system upgrades.’ WMS comes with automated upgrades. Referring to the WorldCat Discovery service, which comes with WMS, Silvis added: ‘With the new system, we’ve also seen an increase in the uptake of inter-library loans. While it’s placed more demands on the inter-library loan staff, on a positive note, users are findings resources that they hadn’t been able to easily discover before.’ New LMS have also created the opportunity to free up staff to develop other services, as Colin Carter, director of EMEA library engagement for Innovative Interfaces, explained: ‘The move into the mobile space, enabling staff and patrons to interact with library systems through a range of mobile devices, reflects the way that working practice is changing in libraries as staff are encouraged to move from behind information desks and onto the library floor.’ This freeing-up of staff has also allowed librarians to develop services. Showers, from Jisc, observed: ‘The Library Analytics and Metrics Project (LAMP) is currently working with eight academic institutions to develop a “data dashboard” that will enable libraries to make sense of their disparate and diverse datasets. As a result librarians will be able to spend their time actually acting on the data, and use these insights to improve and develop new services.’
‘Today’s research library
collections
and how users want to access them has
fundamentally changed’ Jane Burke, ProQuest
Another challenge for librarians has been the impact of change management, as Burke from ProQuest observed: ‘I see the key challenge as taking full advantage of these new systems. To do so requires the research library to re-engineer its processes, some of which have been in place a long time. Change management is never easy because it is about people. But if there isn’t change in how the work is done, the new solution will not deliver the promised benefits.’
Impact of new LMS on researchers
The effects of such changes are not limited to libraries and their staff; they are intended to improve things for the patrons, researchers. As Borensztajn at EBSCO observed: ‘Discovery serves as the library’s “front door” for the research community. In essence this means that the LMS must support or interface with the discovery layer to enable knowledgebase integration,
authentication, comprehensive analytics, and
patron functionality. ‘When done right, researchers will enjoy a streamlined experience to discover both print and digital content readily, and interact with the library for a range of functions. If integration is not seamless and the LMS remains “closed”, functionality is reduced, and the workflows may be bogged-down by multiple interfaces and steps. It goes without saying that an open LMS, one that makes APIs and web services readily available, will benefit both librarians and researchers alike.’ Carter of Innovative Interfaces said that there are still challenges for researchers in dealing with different silos. ‘Although a lot of work has been done to try and implement web-scale discovery, none of the applications that operate in this space offer 100 per cent coverage, which means that researchers will always need to know that there may be other resources available that are not included in the webscale systems. There have been huge improvements in this area, which is a real benefit to researchers, but this is also an area of challenge.’
Future trends for LMS
There are a number of emerging themes for future LMS.
‘As we look to the future, openness will be an increasingly defining element of the LMS, in particular as it pertains to its interoperability with the library’s discovery service.’ said Borensztajn at EBSCO. ‘Importantly, the trend toward openness means that libraries will have more choice to
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DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 Research Information 19
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