and adapt systems, is critically important:


l Ability­to­configure­systems­differ- ently according to business needs. The business needs should power the design and­configuration­of­the­system,­not­the­ reverse. For instance, we have recently repurposed functionality in Alma to create pick lists for a book delivery service for students who are self-isolating. This type of­flexibility­will­be­increasingly­impor- tant in meeting future needs for rapid service design.


l Access to APIs for bespoke develop- ment. The ability to build upon existing systems through data transfer to other systems and bespoke developments is increasingly important. For instance, our students are able to see information from Alma, such as loan information, in the student portal. This mirrors the approach taken by Gov.uk web services, where users don’t need to understand the organisational structure in order to access a service.


What are the next big challenges for the sector?


As the academic library landscape contin- ues to change rapidly, it is essential that systems keep pace and can underpin these changes. In recent years, services within scholarly communications, particularly open access and research data management, have moved centre stage for libraries. And the development of transformative agreements driven by Plan S is creating closer synergy between open­access­workflows­and­content/sub- scription­workflows.­It­is­essential­that­ vendors work with these changes, as Ex Libris has sought to do with the develop- ment of their Esploro platform. But the added presence of current research information (CRIS) systems (e.g. Pure,


Symplectic, Converis, Worktribe) intro- duces a future with­potentially­greater­flux­ and competition, with both CRIS vendors and library system vendors increasingly operating within the same space. Library systems will also need to encompass the library’s growing role as content creator and publisher. This is already well established from the perspective of institutional open access repositories, and has been accelerated by the open access requirements for REF 2021. But repositories are still relatively siloed from other library systems, and there is an opportunity for greater integration. Additionally, library systems will need to develop into areas such as research data, and support the growing needs­of­researchers­to­find,­work­with­ and cite datasets as well as publications. And academic libraries will increas-


ingly need infrastructure to support institutional publishing and hosting of monographs, particularly given the likely requirements of UKRI’s forthcoming revised open access policy.


Conclusion: How do you see vendors helping? Vendors need to appreciate that this is a varied landscape and not all libraries are identical. In many respects we are in a privileged position at Lancaster in having a great depth of technical expertise in house. Working in other institutions I’ve also experienced the challenge of having­no­technical­staff­resource­within­ the library, and having to compete with a myriad of other priorities in the IT depart- ment. Vendors need to accommodate the ability for bespoke development by customers­themselves,­but­also­offer­off­ the­shelf,­flexible,­customisable­solutions,­ configurable­without­in­depth­technical­ knowledge, for those who can’t undertake their own technical development. The pandemic has demonstrated the extent to which user and business needs can change instantaneously, and libraries (and the systems that underpin their services) need to be able to respond rapidly. In addition, it is undoubtedly an under- statement­to­say­that­current­financial­cir- cumstances are challenging. Almost every library­will­be­under­significant­pressure­to­ save money. It would be a rare library that is able to abandon its LMS to save costs, so it remains a major overhead in terms of budgets. It is more important than ever for vendors to deliver fair and transparent pric- ing, including clarity about the rationale for any annual price increases. And vendors must ensure that their systems can facilitate the rapid and agile development of services demanded by the pandemic. It is crucial that­every­financial­commitment­pays­its­ way and delivers impact and value. BG


13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44