Cloud Computing: Enabling New Opportunities for Libraries

Marshall BreedingIndependent Consultant, Author, Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guideshttp://www.librarytechnology.org/http://twitter.com/mbreeding

May 16,2014 COSUGI 2014

Summary Marshall Breeding will present a

summary of the latest trends in library technologies.  Many of these new products, especially those based on cloud computing technologies, have a profound impact on the models of resource sharing available to libraries.  

Library Technology Guides

www.librarytechnolog

y.org

Library Technology Industry Reports

2014: Strategic Competition and Cooperation

2013: Rush to Innovate 2012: Agents of Change 2011: New Frontier 2010: New Models, Core

Systems 2009: Investing in the Future 2008: Opportunity out of turmoil 2007: An industry redefined 2006: Reshuffling the deck 2005: Gradual evolution 2004: Migration down,

innovation up 2003: The competition heats up 2002: Capturing the migrating

customer

American Libraries Library Journal

Library Systems Report 2014

Library Systems Report 2014 Arabic

Integrated Library Systems Integrated library systems continue

to incrementally evolve and remain viable for public libraries and others where the central concern continues to focus on print and electronic books. Integrated library systems, though not as radically reengineered as library services platforms, must still make ambitious improvements in functionality, especially in their patron interfaces, to meet library expectations.

Library Services PlatformsRecent years have seen the emergence of library services platforms, a new genre of automation systems designed to manage electronic and print collections. These platforms follow the services-oriented architecture, are deployed through multitenant SaaS, and have other distinctive characteristics that set them apart from the integrated library systems.

ILS vs LSP: Shades of grey The term “library services platform” was established to differentiate these products from the model of automation inherent in integrated library systems. These two categories also have significant areas of overlap in functionality, and some products embrace characteristics of both.

Library Services Platform Library-specific software. Designed to help libraries

automate their internal operations, manage collections, fulfillment requests, and deliver services

Services Service oriented architecture Exposes Web services and other API’s Facilitates the services libraries offer to their users

Platform General infrastructure for library automation Consistent with the concept of Platform as a Service Library programmers address the APIs of the platform to

extend functionality, create connections with other systems, dynamically interact with data

Library Services Platform Characteristics

Highly Shared data models Knowledgebase architecture Some may take hybrid approach to accommodate local

data stores Delivered through software as a service

Multi-tenant Unified workflows across formats and media Flexible metadata management

MARC – Dublin Core – VRA – MODS – ONIX Bibframe New structures not yet invented

Open APIs for extensibility and interoperability

SirsiDynix BLUEcloud Suite Evolutionary development toward the

creation of a Library Services Platform New BLUEcloud modules consistent with

Library Services Platform Symphony and Horizon belong to the ILS

category Overall deployment = Interim Hybrid

model BLUEcloud components expand Dependence on ILS component shrinks

LSP / ILS Hybrid Model

Library Services Platform

Integrated Library System(s)

Library Systems Report Tables

http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org

SirsiDynix in Library Systems ReportSirsiDynix signed 128 contracts for its Symphony ILS, with the majority made to libraries outside the US, dominated by public libraries (63), with significant numbers of special (31), academic (30), and school (4).

SirsiDynix in Library Systems Report

The company has developed the BLUEcloud Suite, a set of web-based products that operate in conjunction with its Symphony or Horizon ILS through a layer of web services.

SirsiDynix in Library Systems Report Products previously delivered through this

architecture include MobileCirc, to allow staff to perform selected circulation functions on tablets or other mobile devices; Analytics; eResource Central, for management and access to ebooks and other electronic resources; the Enterprise discovery interface Portfolio, which extends Enterprise for access to digital collections; BookMyne, a mobile online catalog app; and Social Library, a native Facebook online catalog. Resources currently available through eResource Central include ebooks from OverDrive, 3M Cloud Library, Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360, EBSCO, and Recorded Books.

SirsiDynix in Library Systems ReportDevelopment of BLUEcloud Cataloging is underway, with release planned in 2014 as the first of the staff modules offered through a web interface.

Software as a Service: Major industry trend

The transition to cloud computing provides a significant increment of industrywide growth.

SaaS: New financial modelA software-as-a-service (SaaS) economy model trades higher upfront costs, incurred by libraries for equipment and software licenses, for a comprehensive annual subscription fee.

SaaS: Efficient model of computing

Leveraging economies of scale, SaaS providers have the potential to enable savings for libraries over  time compared with direct and indirect costs of maintaining local servers and related infrastructure.

Saas: Library AdoptionNewer products … come only via SaaS. Even for server-based integrated library systems, libraries increasingly opt for hosted options as they acquire new products, instead of replacing outdated equipment underlying existing installations.

Cloud Computing for Libraries

Volume 11 in The Tech Set

Published by Neal-Schuman / ALA TechSource

ISBN: 781555707859

http://www.neal-schuman.com/ccl

Book Image Publication Info:

Local Computing Traditional model Locally owned and managed Shifting from departmental to enterprise Departmental servers co-located in

central IT data centers Increasingly virtualized

Fundamental technology shift Mainframe computing Client/Server Web-based and Cloud Computing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrick/61952845/http://soacloudcomputing.blogspot.com/2008/10/cloud-computing.html

http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-10-2001/jw-1019-jxta.html

Cloud Computing Major trend in Information Technology Term “in the cloud” has devolved into

marketing hype, but cloud computing in the form of multi-tenant software as a service offers libraries opportunities to break out of individual silos of automation and engage in widely shared cooperative systems

Opportunities for libraries to leverage their combined efforts into large-scale systems with more end-user impact and organizational efficiencies

Gartner Hype Cycle 2009

Gartner Hype Cycle 2010

Gartner Hype Cycle 2011

Gartner Hype Cycle 2012

Cloud computing – characteristics

Web-based Interfaces Externally hosted Pricing: subscription or utility Highly abstracted computing model Provisioned on demand Scaled according to variable needs Elastic – consumption of resources can

contract and expand according to demand

ASP / Server Hosting / Co-location Vendor hosting of server associated with

single-instance system Each instance separately installed and

configured Often deployed on virtualized servers Client/server systems may require

installation of client software on staff workstations

Multi-tenant SaaS One Instance serves all users of the

service (institutional or Individual) Supports institutional or individual

partitioning of functionality Supports shared data access as needed Fixes and features deployed once for all

users Web-based interfaces, no workstation

clients

Benefits of Cloud Computing

Elimination of capital expenses for equipment

Lower annual costs

Redeployment of technical staff to more meaningful activities

Higher revenues relative to software-only arrangements

Provision of infrastructure at scale with lower unit costs

Longer-term relationships with customers

Libraries Providers / Vendors

Cost implications Total cost of ownership Do all cost components result in increased or

decreased expense Personnel costs – need less technical administration Hardware – server hardware eliminated Software costs: subscription, license,

maintenance/support Indirect costs: energy costs associated with power and

cooling of servers in data center IaaS: balance elimination of hardware investments

for ongoing usage fees Especially attractive for development and prototyping

Budget Allocations

Server Purchase Server

Maintenance Application

software license Data Center

overhead Energy costs Facility costs

Annual Subscription Measured

Service? Fixed fees

Factors Hosting Software Licenses Optional modules

Local Computing Cloud Computing

Risks and concerns Privacy of data

Policies, regulations, jurisdictions Ownership of data

Avoid vendor lock-in Integrity of Data

Backups and disaster recovery

Caveats and concerns with SaaS Libraries must have adequate bandwidth

to support access to remote applications without latency

Quality of service agreements that guarantee performance and reliability factors

Configurability and customizability limitations

Access to API’s Ability to interoperate with 3rd party

applications Eg: Connect SaaS ILS with discovery

product from another vendor

Security issues Most providers implement stronger

safeguards beyond the capacity of local institutions

Virtual instances equally susceptible to poor security practices as local computing

Data as a service SaaS provides opportunity for highly shared

data models Bibliographic knowledgebase: one globally

shared copy that serves all libraries Discovery indexes: article and object-level index

for resource discovery E-resource knowledge bases: shared

authoritative repository of e-journal holdings General opportunity to move away from library-

by-library metadata management to globally shared workflows

More than a technical transition Transforming infrastructure

Transform resources Working toward shared infrastructure Identify areas where libraries can collaborate to share

resources Infrastructure transformation

Bandwidth Shared services Refocus development from stand-alone applications to

platforms Platform development APIs that allow individual libraries or campuses to consume

content or services according to local needs

Open Systems Achieving openness has risen as the key

driver behind library technology strategies Libraries need to do more with their data Ability to improve customer experience and

operational efficiencies Demand for Interoperability Open source – full access to internal

program of the application Open API’s – expose programmatic

interfaces to data and functionality

Strategic Cooperation and Resource sharing

Efforts on many fronts to cooperate and consolidate

Many regional consortia merging State-wide or national implementations

BibliographicDatabase

Shared Consortia System

Library 2

Library 3

Library 4

Library 5

Library 7

Library 8

Library 9

Library 10

Holdings

Library 1 Library 6

Shared Consortial ILS

Search:

Model:Multipleindependentlibraries in aConsortiumShare an ILS

ILS configuredTo supportDirect consortialBorrowing throughCirculation Module

South AustraliaSA Public Library Network

140 Public Libraries

Northern Ireland Recently consolidated from 4 regional

networks into one 96 branch libraries 18 mobile libraries Collections managed through single

Axiell OpenGalaxy LMS

http://www.ni-libraries.net/

Leveraging the Cloud Moving legacy systems to hosted

services provides some savings to individual institutions but does not result in dramatic transformation

Globally shared data and metadata models have the potential to achieve new levels of operational efficiencies and more powerful discovery and automation scenarios that improve the position of libraries overall.

Move up the technology stack Infrastructure General support Library-specific support Utility programming Application programming Strategic technology planning Creative innovation

Questions and discussion