CHALLENGING TRADITIONAL TO RESOURCE SHARING AND CONTENT ACCESS

ASCLA Pre-ConferenceAssociation of Specialized and Cooperative Library AgenciesJune 25, 2010

Marshall BreedingDirector for Innovative Technology and ResearchVanderbilt University LibraryFounder and Publisher, Library Technology Guideshttp://www.librarytechnology.org/http://twitter.com/mbreeding

Program Summary

Giving People What They will feature a thought-provoking examination of technology and how its pervasive development is challenging traditional approaches to resource-sharing and content access. Presenters will examine users’ different information-seeking behaviors and how they differ significantly from how libraries have traditionally provided information. Participants will also discuss technological limitations inherent in sharing resources across disparate systems; innovative approaches that are broadening the definition of resource-sharing; and the impact of digital publishing, library end-user research, and innovative implementations of resource-sharing.

Presentation Topic

Breeding will give a broad overview of issues related to interoperability and systems currently in use in libraries and how this affects our ability to effectively share resources and materials.

Working toward seamless end-user experience for discovery and fulfillment

Part I – setting a vision

The current state of things

Many public libraries lack automation lib-web-cats counts: 17,112 public libraries in United States 2,020 not automated (321 = Unknown 699 =

None) ~12 percent library facilities

Most libraries in standalone ILS 9,804 = 57 percent

Many libraries belong to a consortium 5,995 = 35 percent

Yet…

Budget distress Cuts in library collections expenditure Transition to higher proportions in

electronic content

Urgent need for better resource sharing opportunities

Current technologies provide a poor end-user experience . . .

A cumbersome process

Search Failed discovery Unavailable locally Interlibrary loan request Hold / recall Notification of availability Pickup

A menu of disjointed services and content

Catalog Search

Catalog Results

Discovery Results

Remote storage request

Interlibrary Loan Request

What’s possible

E-commerce world delivers a seamless experience

Simple user interfaces sit in front of many complex inventory and business systems

Ease of discovery Simple selection and fulfillment

processes

Intuitive though Complex Interface

Search results with facets

One-click fulfillment

One aspect of the problem

Discovery disconnected with Resource sharing

Traditional approach

Catalog search Circulation Remote storage retrieval Interlibrary Loan Consortial borrowing The user must figure the appropriate

service

Traditional Models of Resource Sharing

Interlibrary Loan Consortia Union Catalog Shared Catalog

Resource Sharing Products

SirsiDynix URSA OCLC Navigator (based on VDX) INN-Reach Agent Resource Sharing Relais ILL / Resource Sharing

Next-gen Resource Sharing Requirements

Immediacy Beyond books E-books. Need to find library model for

e-book lending Decreasing proportions of physical

materials Buy less / Share more

Recent trends impacting resource sharing

Large-scale shared automation systems Georgia Pines British Colombia SITKA consortium Others in early stages: Pennsylvania, Minnesota,

Indiana Increased adoption of more comprehensive

discovery products Emergence of service-oriented library

applications Kuali OLE Ex Libris URM

Resource Sharing for electronic materials

E-books present example of problems libraries face as resources of all kinds shift toward licensed content

Assumptions that support mission of libraries absent Physical media Doctrine of first sale

Replaced by license terms that may or may not allow lending

Part II – Supporting technologies Interoperability and Resource Sharing

Fulfillment

Use behind-the-scenes technology to engage the appropriate business process or system to deliver the resource

Interoperability in support of Resource Sharing

Applicable Standards

Z39.50 ISO ILL NCIP SIP2

Global Web-scale resource sharing OCLC WorldCat Local OCLC WorldCat / ILL

Increased Participation in large-scale shared Catalogs

Resource sharing layer

Challenge the assumptions of the past

Move from resource sharing as a discrete and separate system to a component of an organic business process of fulfillment

Design and build basic library automation infrastructure based on new assumptions and current realities of library collections and operations

Interoperability through Standards

APIs and Web services

The key technology to enabling the advanced interoperability needed to build a seamless user experience in front of the complex business processes and multiple applications involved in sharing physical and electronic resources

Large-scale discovery

Web-scale discovery

What does it mean to be Open?

Opening up Library Systems through Web Services and SOA: Hype or Reality?

This report aims to assess the current slate of major

library automation systems in regard to their

ability to provide openness through APIs, Web services, and the

adoption of SOA.

Library Technology Reports Nov/Dec Issue 2009 by Marshall Breeding

Opening up Library Systems through Web Services and SOA: Hype or Reality?

“We also note that the two open source systems lag behind proprietary systems in terms of customer-facing APIs that result in tangible activities which extend functionality or enable interoperability.”

Library Technology Reports Nov/Dec Issue 2009 by Marshall Breeding

Opening up Library Systems through Web Services and SOA: Hype or Reality?

“The APIs available to library programmers continue to be

quirky and less than comprehensive, even from

the vendors with the strongest offerings in this

area.”

Library Technology Reports Nov/Dec Issue 2009 by Marshall Breeding

Closed Systems

CirculationAcquisitionsCataloging

Staff Interfaces:

End User Interfaces:

Data Stores:

Functionalmodules:

No programmable Access to the system.

Captive to the userInterfaces supplied by the developer

Programmer access:

Open Source Model

CirculationAcquisitionsCataloging

Staff Interfaces:

End User Interfaces:

Data Stores:

Functionalmodules:

All aspects of the system available to inspection and modification.

Programmer access:

Open API Model

CirculationAcquisitionsCataloging

Staff Interfaces:

End User Interfaces:

Data Stores:

Functionalmodules:

Core application closed.

Third party developers code against the published APIs or RDBMS tables.

Programmer access:

Published APIs

Open Source / Open API Model

CirculationAcquisitionsCataloging

Staff Interfaces:

End User Interfaces:

Data Stores:

Functionalmodules:

Core application closed.

Third party developers code against the published APIs or RDBMS tables.

Programmer access:

Published APIs

Application based onInternal Proprietary programming

Core Functionality / Business Logic

Public Interfac

e

Staff Interfac

e

ReportsModule

Delivered Interfaces

Core Software

Data stores

Application API exposed to External Applications

Core Functionality / Business Logic

Application Programming Interfaces

Public Interfac

e

Staff Interfa

ce

Reports

ModuleDelivered

Interfaces use proprietary programming

Core Software

Data stores

RDMS API

External applicatio

ns

Transition to service-oriented architecture

Legacy ILS + e-content modules

InterlibraryLoan

RequestSystem

Circulation Acquisitions

Cataloging Serials

OpenURLLinking

Electronic Resource

MgmtSystem

Staff Interfaces:

End User Interfaces:

Data Stores:

Functionalmodules:

Service Oriented Architecture

http://www.sun.com/products/soa/benefits.jsp

SOA for library workflow processes

Data Stores:

ReusableBusiness Services

CompositeApplications

Granulartasks:

Path forward for Resource Sharing

Better integration into library resource discovery

Better integration among back-end management systems

Increased need for library automation deployments optimized for increased resource sharing

Questions and Discussion