THE EVOLVING ROLE OF THE LIBRARIAN:

TRENDS AND ISSUES IN TECHNOLOGY AND COLLECTION MANAGEMENT

Marshall Breeding Independent Consult, Author, Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guides http://www.librarytechnology.org/ http://twitter.com/mbreeding Feb 15, 2013 Offline Technology Conference

Library Technology Guides

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)

Academic Library Issues

 Greater concern with electronic scholarly articles  Management: Need for consolidated approach that balances print, digital, and electronic workflows  Access: discovery interfaces that maximize the value of investments in subscriptions to scholarly articles and research materials

Public Library Issues

 Greater concern for e-books and general article databases  Management: Need for consolidated approach that balances print, digital, and electronic workflows  Emphasis on technologies that engage users with library programs and services

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 Context: 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 (KnowledgeWorks / 360 Core) 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)

Changing Role of Librarians

    Libraries must adapt strategically to new realities imposed by changes in society, publishing, and higher education Librarians needed more than ever before Librarians must adapt in the way they carry out their roles   Same strategic goals and values New skills and workflows All roles in the library:    Cataloging / Acquisitions Circulation Reference

Reference services

 Reshaped by easy access to information  More of an emphasis for higher-level research assistance  Opportunity to become involved more closely with researchers

Acquisitions / Technical services

     Dramatic change from print to electronic Dominant role of electronic vs print Need management processes and automation systems able to support electronic, digital, print General shift toward knowledge-base driven management processes  Electronic resource management based on profile of subscriptions, with granular holdings derived from knowledge bases.

New automation systems offering comprehensive resource management:  Library Services Platforms

Cataloging

 Shift from traditional cataloging to metadata management  Leverage core skills of detailed description and organization  Adapt to new metadata schemes  Print materials: MARC21, etc  Digital materials: Dublin Core  Images: VRA

Open Linked Data

      Increasing interest and involvement of libraries in the semantic web Important to adapt from self-contained bibliographic records to a fully linked environment Library resources based on linked data VIAF: linked authority data Fast: Faceted access to subject terminology WorldCat.org (embedded linked data using schema.org)

New cataloging rules

 AACR2 > RDA  Resource Description and Access  Intended to be more suitable for linked data environments  Small step toward the semantic Web

New Bibliographic Environment

    MARC not well suited to modern discovery and management environments Originally designed to transfer bibliographic records between mainframes Can be expressed in XML: MARCXML New initiative to create new carrier for bibliographic records based on RDF  Library of Congress Initiative for Bibliographic Transformation  Bibframe.org

Changes in workflow

 Moving away from item-by-item description  Need to manage collections in bulk  Lifecycle approach to metadata  Basic Vendor records (Onix)  Full / Provisional record with full bibliographic description and inventory management  Enhance with cover images  Enhance with abstracts, Table of Contents, etc  Enhance with Full Text

Navigating changes

 Build on core skills and values  Must adapt to new metadata formats and cataloging conventions  Changes will happen with increasing frequency

Collection Development

 New formats, more complexity, more opportunity  Need data to make intelligent decisions about what items to acquire  Management of e-resources critical

Providing access to collections

 More complexity, more formats  Need tools to provide access to all types of library materials

Cooperation and Resource sharing

 Limited resources and finite collections drive strategic efforts to share resources  Local, regional, Global  Efforts on many fronts to cooperate and consolidate

Automation support for Resource sharing

 Increased emphasis on shared infrastructure  Isolated systems make resource sharing inefficient  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

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

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

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

Mobile Computing

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 Data

Scope of Search

  Books, Journals, and Media at the Title Level Not in scope:      Articles Book Chapters Digital objects Web site content Etc.

Discovery Interface search model

ILS Data Search: Local Index Digital Collections ProQuest Search Results EBSCOhost … MLA Bibliography ABC-CLIO Real-time query and responses

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

Web-scale Index-based Discovery

(2009- present) Search: ILS Data Digital Collections Web Site Content Search Results Institutional Repositories Aggregated Content packages … E-Journals Reference Sources Pre-built harvesting and indexing

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

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?

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

Appropriate Automation Infrastructure

      Current automation products out of step with current realities Majority of library collection funds spent on electronic content Majority of automation efforts support print activities Management of e-content continues with inadequate supporting infrastructure New discovery solutions help with access to e-content Library users expect more engaging socially aware interfaces for Web and mobile

Fundamental technology shift

 Mainframe computing  Client/Server  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

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

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.

Is the 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

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

Libraries need a new model of library automation

    Not an Integrated Library System or Library Management System The ILS/LMS was designed to help libraries manage print collections Generally did not evolve to manage electronic collections Other library automation products evolved:  Electronic Resource Management Systems – OpenURL Link Resolvers – Digital Library Management Systems - Institutional Repositories

Library Services Platform

   Library-specific software. Designed to help libraries automate their internal operations, manage collections, fulfill 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 New structures not yet invented Open APIs for extensibility and interoperability

New Library Management Model

Search: Self-Check / Automated Return

Unified Presentation Layer Library Services Platform

API Layer ` Digital Coll ProQuest EBSCO … JSTOR Other Resources Stock Management Enterprise Resource Planning Learning Management Smart Cad / Payment systems Authentication Service

Questions and discussion