Trends in Library Automation Marshall Breeding Director for Innovative Technologies and Research Vanderbilt University http://staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/breeding Alaska Library Association Annual Conference February 24, 2006

The business is becoming more brutal… Industry Trends The business is becoming more brutal…

Fragmentation vs Consolidation Library industry fragmented Industry entering phase of consolidation Library industry still fragmented Many companies competing for a limited market with overlapping products with marginal differentiation Sirsi + Dynix + DocuTek + DRA + NOTIS + MultiLIS + INLEX = SirsiDynix + ? Library clients captured through acquisition Greater disparity between the smallest and the largest companies

Who owns the Industry? Some of the most important decisions that affect the options available to libraries are made in the corporate board room. Increased control by financial interests of venture capital SirsiDynix -> Seaport Capital + Hicks Muse Ex Libris -> Walden Israel + Tamar Technology Geac -> Golden Gate Polaris -> Croydon Company Privately owned by Founders Innovative Interfaces The Library Corporation Keystone Systems Division of Larger corporation Endeavor Open Text

Growth Strategies Assembly & Acquisition: SirsiDynix BiblioMondo Some companies continue to prosper and grow organically through steady sales of products to new libraries Innovative The Library Corporation Keystone

Libraries demand choice. Room for niche players Domination by a large monopoly unlikely to be accepted by library community

A New Role for OCLC? Library-owned cooperative on a buying binge of automation companies: Openly Informatics Fretwell-Downing Informatics Sisis Informationssysteme PICA Acquired a broad range of technology components Open WorldCat will grow into a much broader set of services

Key Issue It’s essential for libraries to partner with a company that will be one of the survivors of the industry. Very disruptive to a library’s automation strategy if its vendor is acquired. Given the relative parity of library automation systems, choosing the right automation partner is more important than splitting hairs over functionality. Understanding of library issues Vision and forward-looking development

The Future? A fewer number of larger companies ILS Sales will decline Some weaker companies may allow themselves to become acquired Consolidated companies will consolidate product offerings ILS Sales will decline Fewer opportunities for sales in US and Canada Focus on Non-ILS offerings Define a new ILS More International marketing More cross-industry ownership Courseware + ILS? ERP/CRM + ILS?

Technology Trends

The ILS is not dead Rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated A well-functioning automation system is essential to the operation of the library Libraries have never needed automation more than today The ILS does need to be redefined Give primacy to electronic content Maintain solid support for print materials Designed to integrate with external systems Evolve into Service Oriented Business Application Compartmentalize and contain resources invested in traditional ILS functionality to catch up with deficits in supporting electronic content

Comprehensive Automation The goal of the Integrated Library Systems involves the automation of all aspects of the library’s internal operations and to provide key services to library users. As the scope of libraries evolve, so must the scope and capabilities of the ILS

Resource Sharing Limited budgets demand sharing collections Opportunities to make ILL more like circulation Fast delivery of physical items from non-local collections: remote storage, consortium partners, ILL

Large-scale automation Trend toward automation through consortia The days of single-library ILS implementations are waning An increasing portion of ILS sales involve independent libraries joining a consortium to gain access to a shared automation environment Small and mid-sized consortia are merging into larger ones ASP / Vendor-hosted automation Take advantage of industrial strength hosting facilities Realization that small libraries do not have the resources to deal with security, disaster planning, and other technical aspects of maintaining and ILS.

The ILS Crisis The ILS, which had been steadily evolving for over 2 decades reached a crisis in about 2000. While libraries had evolved into new roles involving increasing electronic content, the ILS remained fixated on print and traditional materials.

Response to the Crisis A bevy of add-ons: Replacement OPAC interfaces OpenURL Link Resolvers Metasearch environments Electronic Resource Management modules New front ends and portals Replacement OPAC interfaces AquaBrowser Library Endeca Guided Search

Blindsided despite Obvious Trends Libraries have been acquiring and creating electronic content since the emergence of the Web One of the most fundamental changes in the nature of libraries, yet the automation systems fell behind in features needed to manage and deliver electronic content.

A fundamental failure The emergence of these non-integrated add-on applications stand as an indictment that the ILS failed to evolve in step with changes in the library environment. Libraries failed to demand adequate tools in time of need. Satisfied with ad-hoc solutions. Vendors failed to incrementally evolve their core products to accommodate electronic content. The ILS would be much different today if it gained these functions as native capabilities.

Threats and challenges -- general Library users expect more than they currently receive. Google and other modern Web destinations set high user expectations. Library offerings seem clumsy, complex, and ineffectual.

Threats and challenges – academic Libraries struggle to find their place in the academic enterprise Organizationally: Role in academic support and student life Virtually: Challenge to be both conspicuous and transparent in the academic web presence Challenges: be a great destination among the Web services the university offers its faculty and students To deliver library services through non-library interfaces: campus portal, courseware, etc.

Threats and challenges – public Increased pressure to: Reduce costs Share resources Increase service quality Integrate with municipal or county IT infrastructure and support structures Integrate with e-government systems Deliver access to more electronic content

Threats and challenges – schools Automate at the district level rather than individual school libraries Decrease IT support burden Support assessment and reporting requirements Integrate library automation with other school administration systems School Interoperability Framework

Path to Recovery? More systematic approach toward hybrid print/electronic collections Adoption of technologies that support e-content OpenURL-based linking widely deployed Metasearch stands as the current kludge for unifying the OPAC and ever-growing collections of electronic content Develop new search and information discovery models Redefine the library catalog Not just the physical holdings Library portal options still limited and immature New library interfaces with more comprehensive scope Library Web services that integrate into strategic higher-level interfaces and portals

Questions and Discussion