TRENDS IN LIBRARY TECHNOLOGIES: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Marshall BreedingDirector for Innovative Technology and ResearchVanderbilt University LibraryFounder and Publisher, Library Technology Guideshttp://www.librarytechnology.org/http://twitter.com/mbreeding30 Mar2012 Col·legi Oficial de Bibliotecaris y

Documentalistas COmunitat Valenciana

Abstract

This session will describe the recent trends in library automation, including the emergence of a new generation of library services platforms with different scope and architectures than the integrated library systems that have dominated library automation until now. Breeding will present the broader context that led to the emergence of these new products and how he expects them to impact libraries in different international sectors. He will also talk about the increasingly globalized business environment and its positive and negative implications for libraries.

Library Technology Guides

www.librarytechnolog

y.org

ILS Turnover Report

ILS Turnover Report -- Reverse

Mergers and Acquisitionshttp://www.librarytechnology.org/automationhistory.pl

Key Context: Libraries in Transition Academic Shift from Print > Electronic

E-journal transition largely complete Circulation of print collections slowing E-books now in play (consultation > reading)

Public: Emphasis on Patron Engagement Increased pressure on physical facilities Increased circulation of print collections Dramatic increase in interest in e-books

All libraries: Need better tools for access to complex multi-format

collections Strong emphasis on digitizing local collections Demands for enterprise integration and

interoperability

Key Context: Technologies in transition

Client / Server > Web-based computing Beyond Web 2.0

Integration of social computing into core infrastructure

Local computing shifting to cloud platforms Application Service Provider offerings standard New expectations for multi-tenant software-as-a-

service Full spectrum of devices

full-scale / net book / tablet / mobile Mobile the current focus, but is only one example of

device and interface cycles

Key Text: Changed expectations in metadata management Moving away from individual record-by-record creation Life cycle of metadata

Metadata follows the supply chain, improved and enhanced along the way as needed

Manage metadata in bulk when possible E-book collections

Highly shared metadata E-journal knowledge bases, e.g.

Great interest in moving toward semantic web and open linked data Very little progress in linked data for operational systems AACR2 > RDA MARC > RDF (recent announcement of Library of

Congress)

Each Library Type Distinctive Academic – Public – School – Special Academic: Emphasis on subscribed

electronic resources Public: Engaged in the management of print

collections Dramatic increase in interest in E-books

School: Age-appropriate resources (print and Web), textbook and media management

Special: Enterprise knowledge management (Corporate, Law, Medical, etc)

Specialized automation

In general, products have emerged to serve each library sector

Companies in general cluster around these specializations

Some overlap: Public / Academic Multi-type consortia: compromise and

adapt systems to serve many types of libraries

Cooperation and Resource sharing Efforts on many fronts to cooperate and

consolidate Many regional consortia merging

(Example: suburban Chicago systems) State-wide or national implementations Software-as-a-service or “cloud” based

implementations Many libraries share computing

infrastructure and data resources

Status Quo Sustainable?

ILS for management of (mostly) print Duplicative financial systems between library and

campus Electronic Resource Management (non-integrated

with ILS) OpenURL Link Resolver w/ knowledge base for access

to full-text electronic articles Digital Collections Management platforms

(CONTENTdm, DigiTool, etc.) Institutional Repositories (DSpace, Fedora, etc.) Discovery-layer services for broader access to library

collections No effective integration services / interoperability

among disconnected systems, non-aligned metadata schemes

Phase of realignment

Strong need to realign library automation with current library realities

Legacy library systems reinforce workflows no longer in step with library priorities.

Need systems that allow libraries to allocate personnel in proper proportion to collection

Separate automation platforms for print and electronic have not proven successful

Academic Library Issues

Greater concern with electronic resources

Management: Need for consolidated approach that balances print, digital, and electronic workflows

Access: discovery interfaces that maximize the value of investments in electronic content

Public Library Issues

Enhance the experience of library patrons Management and access to physical

resources Self-service through the Web portal:

View current loans, perform holds, renewals, pay fines and fees

Self-service in the physical library RFID-based self-issue and returns Helps the library deploy service personnel for

highest impact

National Library Issues

Larger-scale collections Cultural Heritage responsibilities National services: bibliographic, resource

sharing, automation, etc. National infrastructure: technology

platforms shared at the widest level

A Cloudy Forecast for LibrariesSystems Librarian Column, Sept 2011

“Service-oriented architectures and browser-based interfaces deployed through cloud-based infrastructure stand today as the key technologies preferred for new software development efforts”

http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/sep11/Breeding.shtml

Cloud Computing

Major trend in Information Technology Few organizations have core competence in

large-scale computer infrastructure management

Essentially outsourcing of server housing and management

Usually based on a consumption-based business model

Most new automation products delivered through some flavor of cloud computing

Many flavors to suit business needs: public, private, hybrid

Library Automation in the Cloud Almost all library automation vendors

offer some form of cloud-based services Server management moves from library

to Vendor Subscription-based business model Comprehensive annual subscription

payment Offsets local server purchase and

maintenance Offsets some local technology support

Software as a Service

Multi Tennant SaaS is the modern approach One copy of the code base serves multiple

sites Software functionality delivered entirely

through Web interfaces No workstation clients

Upgrades and fixes deployed universally Usually in small increments

Data as a service

SaaS provides opportunity for highly shared data models

WorldCat: one globally shared copy that serves all libraries

Primo Central: central index of articles maintained by Ex Libris shared by all libraries implementing Primo / Primo Central

KnowledgeWorks database of of e-journal holdings shared among all customers of Serials Solutions products

General opportunity to move away from library-by-library metadata management to globally shared workflows

Traditional Proprietary Commercial ILS Aleph, Voyager, Millennium, Symphony, Polaris, BOOK-IT, DDELibra, Libra.se LIBERO, Amlib, Spydus, TOTALS II, Absys.net

Traditional Open Source ILS Evergreen, Koha

New generation Library Services Platforms Ex Libris Alma, Kuali OLE, OCLC WorldShare

Management Services, Serials Solutions Intota Cloud-based systems

Ex Libris Alma OCLC WorldShare Management Service Serials Solutions: Intota

Competing Models of Library Automation

Beyond the Integrated Library System Find a new term for the successor to the

ILS Integrated Library System now viewed

as print-centric Need to designate a name for the new

genre of automation products

Library Services Platforms

Comprehensive Management: Print, Electronic, Digital

Shared data models / Knowledge base driven

Cloud Technology: multi-tenant software-as-a-service

Service Platform: Open APIs for extensibility and interoperability

Comprehensive Resource Management

No longer sensible to use different software platforms for managing different types of library materials

ILS + ERM + OpenURL Resolver + Digital Asset management, etc. very inefficient model

Flexible platform capable of managing multiple type of library materials, multiple metadata formats, with appropriate workflows

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

Con

solid

ate

d in

dex

Unified Presentation LayerUnified Presentation LayerSearch:

Digital Coll

Digital Coll

ProQuest

ProQuest

EBSCOEBSCO…

JSTORJSTOR

Other Resour

ces

Other Resour

ces

New Library Management Model

``API LayerAPI Layer

Library Services Platform

LearningManageme

nt

LearningManageme

nt

Enterprise ResourcePlanning

Enterprise ResourcePlanning

StockManageme

nt

StockManageme

nt

Self-Check /

Automated Return

Self-Check /

Automated Return

Authentication

Service

Authentication

Service

Smart Cad /

Payment systems

Smart Cad /

Payment systems

Discovery

Service

From local discovery to Web-scale discovery

New models of Library Collection Discovery

Next-Gen Library CatalogsMarshall BreedingNeal-Schuman PublishersMarch 2010

Volume 1 of The Tech Set

Challenge: Disjointed approach to information and service delivery Library Web sites offer a menu of unconnected silos:

Books: Library OPAC (ILS online catalog module) Articles: Aggregated content products, e-journal

collections OpenURL linking services E-journal finding aids (Often managed by link resolver) Subject guides (e.g. Springshare LibGuides) Local digital collections

ETDs, photos, rich media collections Metasearch engines Discovery Services – often just another choice among

many All searched separately

Online Catalog

Search:

Search Results

ILS DataILS Data

Next-gen Catalogs or Discovery Interface Single search box Query tools

Did you mean Type-ahead

Relevance ranked results Faceted navigation Enhanced visual displays

Cover art Summaries, reviews,

Recommendation services

Discovery Interface search model

Search: Digital Collections

Digital Collections

ProQuestProQuest

EBSCOhost

EBSCOhost

…MLA

Bibliography

MLA Bibliograph

y

ABC-CLIOABC-CLIO

Search Results

Real-time query and responses

ILS DataILS Data

Local Index

Meta

Searc

h E

ng

ine

Discovery Products

http://www.librarytechnology.org/

discovery.pl

Differentiation in Discovery

Products increasingly specialized between public and academic libraries

Public libraries: emphasis on engagement with physical collection

Academic libraries: concern for discovery of heterogeneous material types, especially books + articles + digital objects

Device Agnostic

Discovery from Local to Web-scale Initial products focused on technology

AquaBrowser, Endeca, Primo, Encore, VuFind, LIBERO Uno, Civica Sorcer, Axiell Arena Mostly locally-installed software

Current phase is focused on pre-populated indexes that aim to deliver Web-scale discovery Primo Central (Ex Libris) Summon (Serials Solutions) WorldCat Local (OCLC) EBSCO Discovery Service (EBSCO) Encore with Article Integration (no index,

though)

Web-scale Index-based Discovery

Search: Digital Collections

Digital Collections

ProQuestProQuest

EBSCOhost

EBSCOhost

…MLA

Bibliography

MLA Bibliograph

y

ABC-CLIOABC-CLIO

Search Results

Pre-built harvesting and indexing

Con

solid

ate

d In

dex

ILS DataILS Data

Web-scale Search + Federated Search

Search: Digital Collections

Digital Collections

ProQuestProQuest

…MLA

Bibliography

MLA Bibliograph

y

ABC-CLIOABC-CLIO

Search Results

Pre-built harvesting and indexing

Con

solid

ate

d

Index

ILS DataILS Data

FedSearch Non-

harvestable

Resources

Non-harvestabl

eResources

Interim model to deal with resources not possible to harvest into consolidated index

Encore Synergy

Search: Digital

Collections

ProQuestProQuest

…Lo

cal

Index

ILS Data

Web

S

erv

ices

Local Index Results

Local Index Results

Remote Search Results

Remote Search Results

EBSCOhost

EBSCOhost

…MLA

Bibliography

MLA Bibliograph

y

ABC-CLIOABC-CLIO

Con

solid

ate

d in

dex

Search Engine

Unified Presentation LayerUnified Presentation LayerSearch:

Digital Coll

Digital Coll

ProQuest

ProQuest

EBSCOEBSCO…

JSTORJSTOR

Other Resour

ces

Other Resour

ces

New Library Management Model

``API LayerAPI Layer

Library Services Platform

LearningManageme

nt

LearningManageme

nt

Enterprise ResourcePlanning

Enterprise ResourcePlanning

StockManageme

nt

StockManageme

nt

Self-Check /

Automated Return

Self-Check /

Automated Return

Authentication

Service

Authentication

Service

Smart Cad /

Payment systems

Smart Cad /

Payment systems

Discovery

Service

The Discovery Services Market

Adoption of Discovery Services Next-gen catalogs or discovery services

have been around since 2002 Many mature products Continuing to evolve and expand Online catalog components of ILS

products have taken on many of the characteristics of discovery layers Examples: LS2 PAC, Polaris PowerPAC

Discovery Service Installations

Discovery Product 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Installed

Primo 12 37 53 506 111 914

AquaBrowser 55 339 64 69 74 254

Encore 72 72 109 56 72 326

LS2 PAC   46 77 58 88 236

Summon     50 164 214 407

Enterprise   16  75 100 251

Civica Sorcer     7 12 22 39

Axiell Arena     61 57 33 76

Chamo     10 34 7 51

EBSCO Discovery Service

Global Primo Installations

Summon Global Adoption

Expanding the Depth of Discovery

Citations / Metadata > Full Text Citations or structured metadata provide

key data to power search & retrieval and faceted navigation

Indexing Full-text of content amplifies access

Important to understand depth indexing Currency, dates covered, full-text or

citation Many other factors

Full-text Book indexing

HathiTrust: 11 million volumes, 5.3 million titles, 263,000 serial titles, 3.5 billion pages

HathiTrust in Discovery Indexes Primo Central (Jan 20, 2012) [previously

indexed only metadata] EBSCO Discovery Service (Sept 8 2011) WorldCat Local (Sept 7, 2011) Summon (Mar 28, 2011)

Challenge for Relevancy

Technically feasible to index hundreds of millions or billions of records through Lucene or SOLR

Difficult to order records in ways that make sense

Many fairly equivalent candidates returned for any given query

Must rely on use-based and social factors to improve relevancy rankings

Challenges for Collection Coverage To work effectively, discovery services need to

cover comprehensively the body of content represented in library collections

What about publishers that do not participate? Is content indexed at the citation or full-text

level? What are the restrictions for non-

authenticated users? How can libraries understand the differences

in coverage among competing services?

Evaluating the Coverage of Index-based Discovery Services Intense competition: how well the index covers

the body of scholarly content stands as a key differentiator

Difficult to evaluate based on numbers of items indexed alone.

Important to ascertain now your library’s content packages are represented by the discovery service.

Important to know what items are indexed by citation and which are full text

Important to know whether the discovery service favors the content of any given publisher

Example: Summon Unified Index Growth

Example

Open Discovery Initiative

NISO Work Group to Develop Standards and Recommended Practices for Library Discovery Services Based on Indexed Search

Informal meeting called at ALA Annual 2011

Co-Chaired by Marshall Breeding and Jenny Walker

Term: Dec 2011 – May 2013

Open Discovery Initiative stakeholders Libraries: provide discovery services on

behalf of their patrons Publishers: provide content to be

indexed by discovery services Discovery Service Provides: develop

discovery interfaces and populate indexes

ODI Project Goals:

Identify … needs and requirements of the three stakeholder groups in this area of work.

Create recommendations and tools to streamline the process by which information providers, discovery service providers, and librarians work together to better serve libraries and their users.

Provide effective means for librarians to assess the level of participation by information providers in discovery services, to evaluate the breadth and depth of content indexed and the degree to which this content is made available to the user.

E-book Integration

The rise of e-books

Academic libraries: e-books included in aggregated content packages E-books used primarily for research and

consultation, not long reading Public Libraries: Subscriptions to e-book

services that provide an outsourced collection of loanable e-books

K-12 Schools, Colleges, Universities: interest in electronic textbooks

Integrating e-Books into Library Automation Infrastructure Current approach involves mostly outsourced

arrangements Collections licensed wholesale from single

provider Hand-off to DRM and delivery systems of

providers Loading of MARC records into local catalog with

linking mechanisms No ability to see availability status of e-books

from the library’s online catalog or discovery interface

Technology Issues

Access to materials controlled through Digital Rights Management

Closed ecosystems that control content through identity management and rights policies

Imposes significant overhead on the user experience: Download an install DRM components Establish user credentials in site trusted by DRM Works only with devices that comply with DRM

restrictions

Questions and discussion