Are Vendors Developing Products Librarians Really Want?

Vendors respond to accusations that the needs of the field are being ignored by leading automation companies

By Staff -- Library Journal, 7/15/2004

Daniel Walters, executive director of the Las Vegas–Clark County Library District, NV, recently took automation vendors to task, saying that they have "fundamentally missed the business we're in" ( InfoTech, LJ 4/15/04 , p. 24). He asserts that vendors market products that librarians simply must make do with rather than provide the exact tools that they need. Serious accusations. LJ polled several top vendors for their response, and while they insist that they receive constant input from the field, not all disagreed with Walters's statement.

"[What we produce] are in fact the products that the majority of libraries tell us they want and are willing to pay for," said VTLS president Carl Grant. "That said, the reality is that vendors frequently do try to provide a 'push' in technology, only to encounter resistance." Grant adds that Walters is right in that "many of the products available today are neither flexible enough nor visionary enough to provide a comprehensive environment for bringing information into a library's portal."

However, Grant says that there are solutions to some of these problems, but "libraries [must be] willing to...spend a great deal more time (or be willing to pay the vendor) for additional design, configuration and support, and continual updating to reflect the ever-changing environment around them."

Like many vendors, VTLS product managers work closely with customers, users' groups, and sales and marketing staff. The company also does beta testing to assess the resulting product. The customer agrees to run the product in a test environment for 'X' amount of time and submit formal reports. Once all have agreed the product is ready for release, it goes into production.

"So, for us," said Grant, "there is a lot of customer involvement in the design and testing process—from beginning to end."

Gene Shimshock, marketing director for Innovative Interfaces, said that Innovative "actively engages customers at every step of product conception, development, and launch. Innovative maintains an active portfolio of focus groups and [electronic lists] that provide a flow of new product ideas. As important, we enjoy what is arguably the most active users' group in the marketplace."

Innovative, he says, takes a "development partner" approach. Partner libraries provide direct, early-stage, real-life input into the development process. "We have recently partnered or are currently partnering with libraries on a wide variety of product initiatives," Shimshock said."

TLC/CARL takes another view. "TLC and CARL have worked with libraries for 30 years to refine the process that defines what user requirements make it into our systems," said TLC/CARL's VP Gary Kirk. "Every single feature and functionality is determined by the marketplace and specifically by our librarian customers."

TLC established a Director's Retreat for CARL libraries where directors participate in up to three days of brainstorming and long-range planning for the future of the system. TLC also sponsors statewide users' group meetings at least once a year to inform customers of development accomplishments and new product offerings, solicit input on needed functionality, and help prioritize TLC's development schedule.

"TLC customer reps are assigned to each account and talk to them by appointment on routine schedules (weekly, biweekly, etc.) to discuss current projects, plan new projects, consider new product options. From this comes a good consensus of user objectives," said Kirk. As head of the Technology Committee of the Public Library Association, Walters chaired a meeting with vendors at the American Library Association conference in Orlando to discuss unmet needs.