InfoTech
Aug 15, 2010OCLC's Cloud-Based ILS Enters Next Phase
Little more than a year ago, OCLC unveiled its ambitious cloud-computing-based integrated library system (ILS) project, Web-scale Management Services (WMS). That project has now moved into an early implementation stage at a handful of libraries, including the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's (UTC) Lupton Library, with a planned U.S. rollout next year.
The brainchild of Andrew Pace, executive director of OCLC Networked Library Services, WMS emerged from what Pace describes as "an epiphany" that an ILS could live on the network, in the cloud, with the power of the cooperative behind it. Such a model could make for greater efficiency and could potentially allow for easier scaling as a library grows and changes over time.
WMS aims to use several existing OCLC services—such as WorldCat Local, which is the discovery layer of WMS—as well as newly developed applications, to combine the many different functions of a locally installed ILS into one cooperative online network. When WMS was first announced last year, it generated mixed reactions from vendors and librarians, some of whom were wary of OCLC further expanding its influence in the library market by moving into the ILS sphere.
From pilot to early adoption
Three main WMS modules have been developed: license and subscription management, circulation development, and acquisition and workflow. The circulation prototype debuted in July 2009, and several libraries—including Pepperdine University Libraries in Malibu, CA, the Idaho Commission for Libraries, and CPC Regional Libraries group in North Carolina—tested it as part of a pilot program to make sure it provided the functionality required. OCLC user experience experts also visited the libraries to analyze workflows.
In this latest, early adoption stage, the ambitious time line at UTC is a key element. "The goal is that at the end of the adoption period, we would have our piece of this [implementation process] down to 30 days," Pace told LJ. On July 15, UTC heads of library technology Jason Griffey and access services Colleen Harris wrote on their respective blogs about their plan to go live with WMS by August 30.
Interoperability and cost
WMS comprises three different modules focusing on different ILS aspects. But if a library just wants to use the circulation module of WMS, could it integrate that into its existing ILS? Pace told LJ that while it's technically possible, "it's not the plan for OCLC to support that." He added, "Using one system to acquire something, to get something in the door, and using another system to get it out of the door—this is not a cost savings for libraries."
That said, Pace pointed out that WMS aims to work in tandem with third-party business processes that libraries may be locked into, when needed. "Let's interact with other business processes as much as we can," he said. "But let's not build a Frankenstein's monster of inventory control."
WMS also intends to make it easier for staff developers to create new applications. Griffey, for example, blogged about a plug-in he'd seen that uses live New York Times best sellers list information in conjunction with the acquisition module, in order to allow the possibility of single-click ordering.
So far, no hard numbers on costs, but the traditional model for an ILS is that the library pays a large up-front licensing fee for software and then a maintenance fee every year. WMS would instead use a subscription model, akin to other OCLC services. There would also be an implementation fee, Pace said, which would be a percentage of the annual subscription.
Cengage Learning Fuses Gale, Other Units
Gale parent company Cengage Learning is consolidating. Two former business units—Gale and the Academic and Professional Group (APG)—will now operate as a single group along with the company's international operations.
Though Gale will cease to exist as a separate company, its name and brand will continue. As part of the consolidation, two former unit presidents will exit: Gale president Pat Sommers is retiring this month, and Ron Mobed, APG president, is leaving the firm.
Asked about any savings associated with the streamlining, Ronald Dunn, president and CEO of Cengage Learning, said, "Cost-savings will be incidental." (Publishers Weekly reported that APG "is by far the larger of the two units," with some six times the sales of Gale.)
The move seems designed to leverage further Gale's library-oriented content into the classroom and academic markets. Dunn said that the move "allows us to create products that span the gap between the library and the classroom."
As an example, Dunn cited Global Economic Watch, a resource center targeted to student and business customers, which pulls content from Gale's Global Issues in Context and positions it with business books from other Cengage Learning brands, which include South-Western, Delmar, Wadsworth, and Brooks/Cole.
Dunn and Frank Menchaca, EVP of publishing, also stressed that the company's commitment to the library market remains unchanged.
In addition, John Barnes, currently Gale's EVP of strategic marketing and business development, will take charge of a unit focusing directly on the consumer market, a recent emphasis for the company. The unit also will identify business opportunities through bookstores, wholesalers, and other intermediaries. AccessMyLibrary will be included under this initiative, as will online learning platforms Education To Go and Computaught.
The reorganization, which began in July, is expected to be completed in September 2010.—Josh Hadro
First GPO Preservation Librarian, from Yale
The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) announced July 14 that it has hired Yale University preservation librarian David Walls as its first preservation librarian, to aid the GPO's ongoing digital initiatives.
Walls will be involved with the GPO's continuing migration of materials from its GPOAccess interface, first launched in 1994, to its current Federal Digital System (FDsys). The GPO wants FDsys not only to provide public access to government information but also to preserve that information as technology changes.
Walls said he's now working on an internal audit of FDsys, making sure that it meets the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) guidelines developed by the Center for Research Libraries. This will be followed by an external audit, as a "gold seal of approval on our own efforts to authenticate and certify," Walls told LJ.
Ric Davis, the GPO's acting superintendent of documents, said that libraries working with the GPO have expressed interest in having FDsys established as a trusted digital repository and in the possibility of having their own local copy of GPO content.
Walls will also work on updating the Federal Depository Library Program collection management plan for the preservation of federal government documents, in order to address digital-age questions, such as those surrounding version control and how personal identification information is handled in digital federal documents.
Internet Archive lends copyrighted ebooks
The Internet Archive (IA), as part of its Open Library initiative, announced in late June that it had made available nearly 200 ebook versions of out-of-print but in-copyright works, as part of a new e-lending program.
Over one million public domain titles are already freely downloadable on IA's website, but the announcement marks a new venture into e-lending. Users may borrow the new ebooks, readable on Adobe Digital Editions software, for a two-week period.
The ebooks made available for the lending program include texts from the Boston Public Library and Marine Biological Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA, genealogical materials from the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN, and Spanish-language texts from Biblioteca Ludwig von Mises in Guatemala.
The inaccessibility of ebook versions of out-of-print works has long been part of the debate surrounding large book-scanning projects, such as Google's controversial initiative involving libraries nationwide.
Roy Tennant: Marginalized Librarians?
On his LJ Digital Libraries blog, Roy Tennant noted a recent Webjunction survey on how often its members—a group made up of mainly library staffers—used online tools, including blogs, as well as social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. He didn't like what he saw:
"While old-school mailing lists fared the best, with nearly half of the respondents using them 'daily,' from there things went to hell in a handbasket. Only 35% of respondents use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis, and online magazines came in at 21% of respondents using them daily. From there only a handful of respondents used anything on a daily basis.
"Viewed through a different lens, just a tad over 60% of the respondents used any of the listed tools on any basis more frequent than quarterly. And that would be, yes, email lists. Social networking sites: 55% used them monthly or more; blogs: 34%. It's even more bleak when you look at only responses from public library staff.
"If you aren't plugged in, how do you know what's coming down the road? How do you foresee changes that you will need to accommodate? How will you spot opportunities? Even more important: How can you serve the needs of a clientele that you no longer understand?
"Someone I know commented that 'it looked to me like a graphical representation of an industry that was intentionally marginalizing itself.' Exactly."
For the full post, and commenters' spirited responses, see here.
Overdrive Programs Aim to Ease Concerns
Digital content provider OverDrive serves as the de facto ebook access point for millions of patrons nationwide. But being on top isn't easy: "success begets stress," as director of marketing David Burleigh diplomatically put it to LJ at the American Library Association annual conference, acknowledging that the company's dominant platform invites significant criticism.
Aside from usability gripes and strong opposition to unwieldy digital rights management (DRM) schemes, many librarians express frustration on behalf of users who are confused about which content will or won't work with which devices. In response, OverDrive has redoubled its efforts to keep its customers' patrons happy, introducing "Front Line" support for ereaders, as well as an ereader certification program.—Josh Hadro
