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N this Q&A, Thomas Shaw, Assistant Director for Digital Innovation and Research Services, explains and explores the potential and pitfalls of HE library technology.


What is your role at the university? I oversee two key areas at Lancaster University Library: our use of digital technology, and our services that facilitate academic research. Having a portfolio that incorporates digital as a leading component allows us to be innovative and creative in the way we use technology, to be at the forefront of digital innovation across the sector and to maximise impact and value for our users. We have played a­significant­role­in­the­leadership­and­ delivery of the university’s Lancaster Digital 2.0 strategy (https://www.lancaster. ac.uk/iss/info/docs/digital-lancaster/Digital-Lancas- ter-2.0.pdf), and are a key partner in future strategic planning around digital, includ- ing in areas outside of the ‘traditional’ library sphere.


Key to our success is the ‘special relationship’ we have with Information Systems Services (ISS), the University’s IT department. We place top priority on managing and cultivating this relation- ship, working in a way which is as open and collaborative as possible. We­also­benefit­significantly­from­ having a small Digital Innovation team embedded within the Library. This micro development team provide advanced technical skills at the heart of our library service. They have a deep understand- ing of the needs of our users, and work seamlessly­with­library­staff­from­other­


Having a portfolio that incorporates digital as a leading component allows us to be innovative and creative in the way we use technology.


“Seismic and revolutionary impact”: technology in HE explored


Lancaster University Library’s immersion in technology has enabled it to work on cutting-edge, cross-campus IT projects.


teams to deliver technical services that maximise the value of our investment in library systems. The team are not merely an ‘IT department in the Library’ or a library systems team, but are a unique and­customised­resource,­reflecting­the­ seismic and revolutionary impact that technology has had on libraries over the past two decades.


Our approach to digital ensures that we are strategically engaged across the institution. This has provided oppor- tunities for us to embrace the ‘service provider, partner, leader’ model, outlined in SCONUL’s 2017 report Mapping the future of academic libraries. Our digital services remain core and deliver sig- nificant­value­to­our­users,­but­we­also­ increasingly work as partners with others across the institution, and in certain areas we lead the strategic direction and activity.


What LMS and other digital products do you already have?


The heart of our digital ecosystem is Ex Libris’s Alma, which delivers our core library functions. We use Ex Libris’s Primo discovery layer and Legan- to resource list system to power our OneSearch and Resource Lists services. Additionally, as an institution we use Ex Libris’s Campus M to power our uni- versity app, iLancaster. We are heavily reliant on Ex Libris, which some may perceive as being ‘in too deep’ with a sin- gle vendor, or having ‘all our eggs in one basket’. Although we are conscious of the risk of vendor lock-in, we see advantages here too: being a major customer makes us a greater stakeholder. We judge each


Rob Mackinlay (@cilip_reporter2, rob.mackinlay@ cilip.org.uk) is Senior Reporter, Information Professional.


requirement for a system on its merits, and the most appropriate product for us may not always be from Ex Libris. But­we­see­value­in­being­a­significant­ customer,­with­the­greater­heft­and­influ- ence that brings.


In addition to Ex Libris we are major users of SpringShare products, and rely increasingly on LibCal, LibAnswers, LibChat and LibGuides. These prod- ucts were invaluable for responding to the pandemic. We rapidly introduced LibChat to allow users to live chat with library­staff,­which­complemented­ our existing email enquiry services via LibAnswers, and allowed us to swiftly respond to the closure of the physical library space and the need to deliver services digitally.


Our Ex Libris and SpringShare prod- 11


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