Library Journal articles
From Independent Study: Library Automation
A few noteworthy articles:
1. "ILS Vendors and Librarians Grapple with Their Relationship; Library 2 Gang holds lively debate over Tennant's 'Library Software Manifesto'"
LIBJ000020080201e4210000e
InfoTech
By Michael Rogers
794 Words
01 February 2008
Library Journal
23
Volume 133, Issue 2
This article refers to John Blyberg's “Library Software Manifesto” ( http://techessence.info/manifesto ), which is evidently about the ways libraries and vendors are at odds with each other. I've heard about this before (in 488) and maybe should look at it again...?
2. "Who's Selecting Now? As Phoenix Public Library boldly passes on selection responsibilities to its vendors, some libraries follow—and others dig in" LIBJ000020070904e3910000c Features By Barbara Hoffert 3392 Words 01 September 2007 Library Journal 40 Volume 132, Issue 14
Some libraries, such as the Phoenix, AZ Public Library are turning to vendors to take care of selection. Phoenix uses Baker & Taylor and BWI now for their selection, and they continue to fine-tune the relationship. The cost for this service has not been exorbitant. Each library sets up a profile and then the vendor orders accordingly.
3. "Ask for What You Want" LIBJ000020070814e38f00019 InfoTech - The Transparent Library By Michael Casey & Michael Stephens 835 Words 15 August 2007 Library Journal 29 Volume 132, Issue 13
Casey and Stephens make an interesting point when they write: "When Amazon rolled out customer-written book reviews, and Google became our customers' search engine of choice, where were the library directors who should have been standing up and demanding similar features from our ILS vendors? When audiobook vendors gave us downloadable material that was incompatible with iPods, why did we roll over and buy it (at exorbitant prices) instead of declining the service and explaining to our taxpaying customers that we could not ethically spend that much money on a technology that only a very small fraction of our customer base even owned." They suggest that libraries could have much more leverage with vendors if they worked together in consortia. Open source products such as Evergreen also might lessen the power of library automation companies.
4. "Demise of the Local Catalog" LIBJ000020070716e37f0000z InfoTech - Digital Libraries By Roy Tennant 706 Words 15 July 2007 Library Journal 26 Volume 132, Issue 12
Tennant explains that the ILS is waning as the central feature of a library's online presence; it's being replaced by a "centralized finding tool." The University of Washington's WorldCat Local, for example, lists relevant holdings at other libraries to help patrons understand what other resources might be helpful from other libraries.
5. "Investing in Digital; As electronic spending rises, ERAMS, ERM, and URM systems step in to help with acquisitions and reporting" LIBJ000020070515e35f0000e Features - InfoTech Features By Jill E. Grogg 2772 Words 15 May 2007 Library Journal 30 Volume 132, Issue 9
Another article that mentions that the ILS as we know it today is disintegrating; i.e. its components are being dismantled and reorganized to better suit the current environment.
6. "For SirsiDynix, All Systems Lead to Rome; Unicorn-based platform debuting fourth quarter" LIBJ000020070416e34f0000c InfoTech By Michael Rogers 608 Words 15 April 2007 Library Journal 26 Volume 132, Issue 7
When Sirsi and Dynix merged, all wondered which company's system would win over the other. In March 2007 SirsiDynix announced that its new system would be called Rome, but that it's based on Sirsi's Unicorn. The company provides migration into Rome for libraries using either of the old systems. Rome is built to bring together traditional ILS services as well as "user experience soltutions," and content management etc.
7. "Vista Equity Partners Buys SirsiDynix; Tech-focused private equity firm the latest to enter library market" LIBJ000020070201e3210000c InfoTech By Michael Rogers 454 Words 01 February 2007 Library Journal 25 Volume 132, Issue 2
Vista Equity Partners acquired SirsiDynix on December 27, 2006. This is the third time in the last ten years that Dynix has changed hands. [I wonder how such turmoil impacts their products-- and thus their clients, libraries...]
8. "Evergreen: Your Homegrown ILS; An in-house team successfully competes with commercial vendors in the library automation sphere" LIBJ000020061206e2cf0000e Features - InfoTech Feature By Jonathan Weber 3055 Words 15 December 2006 Library Journal 38 Volume 131, Issue 20
Evergreen is an open source ILS that has been adopted by the Georgia Public libraries and others. Evergreen uses Firefox and is easily adaptable to the individual library. One of its main features is a user friendly OPAC that models interfaces similar to Google and Amazon. Faceted browsing, spell-checking, and user-added content make the experience customized to the patron.
Evergreen costs much less to implement and maintain that commercial ILS options, though it does require the expertise to customize it to the individual library system.
