Happy Birthday, Barcode
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
What do libraries want to achieve
with their library systems?
Thomas Wall, University Librarian
Boston College
Library Resource Management Systems Forum,
Boston, Oct. 8, 2009
Confession:
I am not a systems guy
But I am a Public Services Guy
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Find it
Get it
Use it
Create it
“Talk” about it
What do libraries and their users
want to achieve with their library
systems?
Bob Gerrity, AUL for Info. Tech.
Boston College
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston, Oct. 8, 2009
Toward Service-Oriented
Librarianship at Boston College
Bob Gerrity and Kevin Kidd
Boston College
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston, Oct. 8, 2009
About Boston College
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Private, Jesuit university
14,000 students
900 faculty
200 library staff
2.6 million volumes
$8M acquisitions budget
– 60% on e-resources
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
About Boston College
• Library Technology: The Usual Suspects
– ILS (ALEPH)
– Federated Search (MetaLib)
– Link Resolver (SFX)
– Next-Gen. Search (Primo)
– ERM (home-grown)
– IR (bepress, DigiTool)
– ILL (Illiad)
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
More on the Usual Suspects
– Provide good functionality:
• Help manage and link users to expanding e-resource
collections
• Leverage cooperative/consortial relationships
• Expose our digital collections
• Inventory control for print collections
– But:
• They require a lot of overhead and support
• Don’t always play well together, or with other systems
we need to interact with (VLE, campus financials, etc.)
• Lack holistic design
• Still require users to come to us
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
What we’re looking for in future library
systems
• Fewer silos
• Framework that supports unified
management of mixed collections (print,
electronic, digital)
• Reduced TCO
• Service-Oriented Architecture
• Reduced complexity
– Only possible if we are willing to simplify and
Resource
Management
Systems
streamline theLibrary
way
we
do
business
Forum, Boston
What users are looking for in future
library systems
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One stop shopping (discovery to delivery)
Flexible delivery options
Services delivered to mobile devices
Contextualized services
– Take advantage of what we know about the user
based on his/her role or what we can deduce
based on their behavior
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
How do we add value to current
systems?
• Overlay services/add-ons/widgets
• Recommenders (bX, bibtip)
• Enrichment services
– Book covers, ToCs
• LibX
• X-isbn
• Local development
– Locate (Stack Map)
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
Huh?
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
How do we build a framework to build and
sustain a suite of value-added services?
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
“How does the library best make services and resources available
to users at the point in their research that makes the most sense?”
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston