Implementing a Next Generation Library System
Access Status
Authors
Date
2014Type
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Source Title
Source Conference
Additional URLs
School
Collection
Abstract
Only a few years ago most library management systems were considered stable and mature and the focus of effort by library vendors and academic libraries was on developing and implementing client facing, web scale, discovery layers. These are now ubiquitous. However the rise and rise of electronic content and the growing complexity of managing that electronic content with systems developed last century has led to the current focus on developing and implementing next generation library management systems. These new library systems are being built from the ground up, encompassing all forms of content and subsuming more recently developed products, such as link resolvers. Implementing a new library management system is a major undertaking and not taken lightly. Curtin University Library made the decision in 2012 to implement a next generation library system - Alma from Ex Libris – and went live in February 2014. In this paper the author reflects on the strategic thinking that informed this decision and explores why vendors have invested so much in the development of new systems and why libraries are taking them up, teases out the benefits and risks of moving to a cloud based, multi-tenanted, software as a service product that has traditionally been hosted locally, weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of being early or late to the game, considers the impact of a rapid development methodology, and finally reflects on the expected gain after the pain.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Maesaroh, Imas (2012)Indonesia has a rapidly developing higher education system, but previous evidence suggests that it is inadequately served by academic libraries and librarians. This research sets out to examine this phenomenon in light ...
-
Lim, Pei Yi (2011)At present, there are still a large number of people living in isolated areas, particularly in developing countries, who have no immediate access to the main electricity grid. Most of the energy demands of these remote ...
-
Maurer, H.; Krottmaier, H.; Dreher, Heinz (2006)Digital Libraries have been the subject of more than a decade of attention by researchers and developers, and yet in all this time implementations have not matched the promises. Even today, when there is new wave of ...