j’s scratchpad

Rich here

I read j’s posting about Jon’s problem finding a book at the Brookline Public Library:

http://civilities.net/Who_moved_my_book

Some of the library processes are automated such as “Checkout”, “Checkin”, “In Transit” while others such as “Bindery”, “AV Repair”, “Missing”, “Tech Services”, “Unshelved” are done manually by a staff member. While “Unshelved” is unhelpful to a library patron,the book could be anywhere, on a table, on a book truck, at the Circulation Desk or a staff member could have failed to put in the wrong status category. “Missing” is usually used when the book couldn’t be found after a staff search. As Jon’s post stated that the library did find his book.

Libraries and library consortium, however, are “prisoners” of what the various library systems have to offer. This has lead to a next generation/open source library system revolution:

Thinking About Your Next OPAC:

“One of the hottest topics in the library automation arena is creating a vision of the next round of catalogs. I hear a drumbeat of complaint about the current offerings. While I think the criticism is often overstated, it’s clear that the catalogs have lagged behind the interfaces found elsewhere on the Web. They’ve gained a reputation for being less than intuitive and lacking the features seen in other popular Web sites.

One of the most biting indictments of all is that I hear stories about users who find library OPACs so unfriendly that they often go to places like Amazon.com to look for books of interest, and then flip over to the catalog to see if those titles are owned by their libraries.

It’s clear that today’s typical library users are Web-sawy and have very high expectations. If we want to draw these folks in, we need to offer interfaces on our Web sites that match or exceed those found on the commercial Web. Paired with high-quality content that’s selected and created by librarians, a state-of-the-art Web interface is a compelling destination for users.
Advancing the Interface

We’re seeing a tremendous amount of effort being put toward creating new library interfaces, both by the commercial automation vendors and in the open source arena. Each of these endeavors focuses on a different set of assumptions, features, and functions related to the ideal library Web environment, but each of them advances the state of the catalog far beyond what we’ve seen in the previous round of offerings.

The following are some of the interfaces and products that I’ve seen over the last few months. They don’t necessarily comprise a comprehensive list, but they’re some prominent examples of library interfaces that are fairly radical departures from those of the earlier generation:

* Encore (Innovative Interfaces, Inc.)
* Primo (Ex Libris)
* AquaBrowser Library (Medialab Solutions, distributed by The Library Corp.)
* Endeca ProFind (Endeca)
* eXtensible Catalog (an open source project by the University of Rochester’s River Campus Libraries)
* SirsiDynix Rooms, SchoolRooms (SirsiDynix)
* Koha and Evergreen (the latest Web OPACs created from open source ILS projects)
* SirsiDynix Enterprise Portal Solution and the latest version of Polaris from Polaris Library Systems (some of the latest Web OPACs from commercial ILS vendors)

I think it’s urgent that libraries move quickly to implement more up-to-date interfaces. We just can’t afford to offer stale, unattractive, and ineffective catalogs and search tools on our Web sites. I’m afraid that users will drift away to other alternatives unless they find interesting interfaces and compelling content at their libraries’ Web sites.

As I look at the latest generation of interfaces, I see a lot of excellent ideas that address these issues. Each has its strengths, but I’m not going to assess each as a whole. Rather, let’s think about some of the key concepts, features, and techniques that stand out as essential elements of a successful library search interface for the current era of Websavvy users.”

http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=12575

Here’s another report on the new systems:

Automation System Marketplace 2008: Opportunity Out of Turmoil
As the industry consolidates, competition heats up to provide next-generation catalogs, and open source enters the mainstream:

“A new generation of interfaces

Ever-growing dissatisfaction with older model catalogs has mandated new library interfaces incorporating Web 2.0 features such as RSS feeds, user tagging, and reviews. Behind-the-scenes ILS operation matters less than the patron’s experience. This new genre of products enables libraries to make drastic improvements to their online presence in less time and at a lower cost than a complete ILS replacement. These products sync with any major ILS but require a certain amount of effort to integrate fully into the library’s technology infrastructure.

These new interfaces attempt to provide a single point of access to all library content, including subscribed e-content products, through an integrated federated search component or through harvesting of metadata into local indexes. These products enable libraries to break away from outdated interfaces and deliver library content and services on a par with other destinations on the web, like relevancy-ranked search results, faceted navigation, visual appeal through book jacket images, and good graphic design.”

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6542440.html

Here are few examples of libraries using next generation systems:

Phoenix Public Library (Endeca) http://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/

Plymouth State University(NH) Library(Scriblio)  http://mblc.state.ma.us/books/catalogs/vc/index.php

For more info on next generation/open source library as well as what’s new in library technology:

Library Technology Guides http://www.librarytechnology.org/

Cheers

This entry was posted on Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Librarianship, Professional Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.