The Conversation - An Introduction to Social Media

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Open Source Integrated Library Systems affect library functions and librarian roles

Librarians' involvement includes developing content management policies, deciding on what metadata to store and present, crafting author permission and copyright agreements, creating document submission instructions, training staff and authors in using the software to submit content, and marketing the repository concept to prospective depositors. Librarians have the technical skills to assist authors to deposit research material in the repository. They have expertise in dealing with a wide variety of formats. In addition to digital textual resources, librarians are also handling formats such as statistical, mapping, graphical, sound, and moving images. In addition, it is the skills and expertise of librarians in the areas of communication, preservation, metadata handling, advocacy and promotion that make them ideal managers of institutional repositories. This article discusses the need for these latter skills further.

As digital resources are now commonplace in academic institutions, their management and accessibility form major responsibilities for librarians. Acquiring, creating, and making available electronic resources are an extension of a library role already well established for print materials. Libraries have traditionally managed the key academic information resources of institutions. In the short term, librarians should be active in installing e-print servers locally and smoothing the path for academics to contribute to them. A newer and growing role is management of an institution's intellectual capital, including involvement with other institutional stakeholders in content management systems, virtual learning environments and knowledge management systems.

Librarians involved in institutional repository projects have reported that the effort and organizational costs required to address repository policy, content management, and promotion to academic staff dwarf the technical implementation effort. The challenge for librarians will not be the technical implementation of an e-prints service but effecting the cultural change necessary for it to become an integral part of the activities of the institution. Although the future shape of scholarly communication remains unclear, what is clear is that library and information professionals have key roles to play.

Eight Things you should Know about Open Source Integrated Library Systems.

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Open Source Integrated Library Systems

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What do you look for when you do the evaluation for ILS...?

Evaluation Criteria of Integrated Library System.

A lot of things should be considered in choosing a new library automation system because each system may do its job well, but there are significant features that might make one system better for your institutions. The following questions have been mentioned in the article in the selection and evaluation of a library system:

1. Does the system use standardized formats for importing and exporting data?
2. Is it SIF-Compliant?
3. What Type of Database is used?
4. How does data conversion work?
5. Can other applications besides library software run on the workstations?
6. Can the Online Public Access Catalog be accessed from other computers in the school?
7. What reports does the software generate?
8. Can you metasearch both the OPAC and the Web with a single search?
9. What Types of support agreements are available?
10. What Type of training is offered?
11. What are the technical and infrastructure Set-ups?
12. Can the system be accessed from outside of the firewall?
13. Is there a power-out feature included?
14. What’s the total price of the system?

Evaluation Criteria of Institutional Repositories

• Functionality – Degree of satisfaction by design analysis of the requirements enumerated in the Functional Requirements Specification .
• Scalability – Ability for the repository to scale to manage large collections of digital objects.
• Extensibility – Ability to integrate external tools with the repository to extend the functionality of the repository, via provided software interfaces (APIs), or by modifying the code-base (open source software).
• Interoperability – Ability for the repository to interoperate with other repositories (both within NLM and outside NLM) and with the NLM integrated library system.
• Ease of deployment – Simplicity of installation and ease of integration with other needed software.
• System security – Ability of the system to meet organizational security requirements.
• System performance – Overall performance and response time (accomplished via load testing). System availability (24x7 both internally and externally).
• Physical environment – Ability to deploy multiple instances for offsite and disaster recovery; ability to function with the off-site backup facility; ability for components to reside at different physical locations; ability for development, testing and production environments.
• Platform support – Operating system and database requirements. Staff expertise to deal with required infrastructure.
• Demonstrated successful deployments – Relative number of satisfied users or organizations.
• System support – Quality of documentation and responsiveness of support staff or developer/user community (open source) to assist with problems.
• Strength of development community – Reliability and support track record of the company providing the software; or size, productivity, and cohesion of the open source developer community.
• Stability of development organization – Viability of the company providing the software; or stability of the funding sources and organizations developing open source software.
• Strength of technology roadmap for the future – Technology roadmap that defines a system evolution path incorporating innovations and "next practices" that are likely to deliver value.

Usefulness of Integrated Library System

What is Integrated Library Systems?

An integrated library system (ILS), also known as a library management system (LMS),is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed.

An ILS usually comprises a relational database, software to interact with that database, and two graphical user interfaces (one for patrons, one for staff). Most ILSes separate software functions into discrete programs called modules, each of them integrated with a unified interface. Examples of modules might include:

• Acquisitions (ordering, receiving, and invoicing materials)
• Cataloging (classifying and indexing materials)
• Circulation (lending materials to patrons and receiving them back)
• Serials (tracking magazine and newspaper holdings)
• The OPAC (public interface for users)

Each patron and item has a unique ID in the database that allows the ILS to track its activity.

Larger libraries use an ILS to order and acquire, receive and invoice, catalog, circulate, track and shelve materials. Smaller libraries, such as those in private homes or non-profit organizations (like churches or synagogues, for instance), often forgo the expense and maintenance required to run an ILS, and instead use a library computer system.

Examples of LIS;

Open-source

• Evergreen
• CDS Invenio
• Koha
• NewGenLib
• PhpMyBibli
• Greenstone
• OpenBiblio

Proprietary

• Ex Libris Group, Aleph and Voyager (latter acquired from Endeavor Information Systems in 2006)
• Millennium, former Innopac, from Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
• SirsiDynix, Symphony -- current version and Unicorn -- a legacy system.
• LibraryWorld
• NOSA
• SydneyPLUS International
• Talis (UK and Ireland)
• Horizon from former company Dynix, later absorbed by SirsiDynix
• Virtua, former VTLS, from VTLS Inc.
• Voyager from former company Endeavor Information Systems, later acquired by Ex Libris
• (Polish) MOL, Patron and MOLIK - interface created for children

What is Management Information System???

...is a system that provides information needed to manage organizations effectively. Management information systems involve three primary resources: technology, information, and people. It's important to recognize that while all three resources are key components when studying management information systems ... the most important resource is people. Management information systems are regarded to be a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information systems.

Objectives of Library Management Information System

• Assists librarians in their daily decision-making process
• Maintains better accountability and control on resources
• Monitors and controls resource allocation
• Improves overall library effectiveness
• Generates internal and external reports
• Improves long term planning
• Facilitates performance measures activitiess

Library Automation in Malaysia & Asia

Information Technology (IT) has been embraced as the enabling tool to create an information-rich Malaysian society so crucial to sustain the country's phenomenal economic growth, and to achieve developed nation status by the year 2020. The IT-oriented thrust is evident in the building of sophisticated communications infrastructure and the call for greater IT utilization. Underlying the objective of creating an information-rich society is the need to nurture an information culture for the development of human resources to meet the increasing demand for IT knowledgeable citizens and workers, who can harness the technologies to use information effectively. Efforts towards achieving the objectives should start at the schools. Computer literacy has been promoted, but computer literacy by itself is not sufficient to achieve the desired results in the Information Age, when knowledge of information searching skills is essential. The paper suggests that the teaching information searching skills should start in the schools. The information literacy programs must be complemented with the implementation of a school automated library system. The paper discusses the development of a CDS/ISIS-based system which provides capabilities for creating bibliographic records as well as information retrieval. The information retrieval capability of the system offers user-friendly features and a powerful keyword search capability. The system developed will undergo enhancement and further testing, before it is used in a pilot trial in selected schools. It is hoped that the system can be an effective method of teaching online keyword searching shills that will help school children to harness and use information information effectively. This paper suggests that education IT strategy must embody a long-term plan to automate the school libraries to contribute towards the objectives of building an information-rich Malaysian society.

To achieve success in any major policy shift that will have profound impacts on society and the nation at large, policy planners have invariably always directed their efforts at the education system. This is to ensure that changes start at the schools with children who are more receptive and responsive to change. Also the education system is one sector that can respond faster than any other sector of the society to any major changes. This means a greater participation and a more prominent role for the educational institutions in the country.

The present infrastructure in schools needs to be developed rapidly to meet the wide-spread utilization of IT. Various strategies have been formulated or are being implemented by the Ministry of Education to promote the wider utilization of IT in the schools. Under the Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995), a computer literacy program was launched as a pilot project in selected primary and secondary schools in the country. The objective was to expose students to the basic knowledge in computer literacy. Schools were encouraged to set up computer clubs as part of the co-curricular activities. Under the present Seventh Malaysia Plan (7MP) every school in the country will be equipped with at least one microcomputer by the year 2000. Computer laboratories will be set up for schools with a student enrollment of 750 or more by the same period (Star, 1996). There are already plans to create smart schools that will use a wide array of information tools. Schools have been encouraged to connect to the Internet. At the latest count, more than 50 schools have their own World Wide Web or Web homepages. Indeed, this is an indication of some degree of success of the computer literacy programs.

It needs to be cautioned that all such efforts should not be construed as promoting computer literacy per se. It is all too evident that to create a knowledge-based and information-rich Malaysian society, computer literacy by itself is not sufficient to achieve those objectives. Rather, to face the full onslaught of the Information Age today, more focus should be on the access and effective use of information. Thus, computer literacy programs must be complemented by parallel efforts in promoting information literacy to teach the relevant information-related skills.

Barriers of library automation:
Following could be the few possible barriers of library automation:

i . Fear of adverse impact on employment
ii . Apprehension that the technology could be too expensive
iii . The library staff have to undergo extensive training.
iv. Lack of support from the management, may be owing to budget constraints
v. Fifth reason could be retrospective conversion of data.