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.