NELINET:
A Retrospective Montage
Annual Meeting 2009
Arnold Hirshon
Executive Director

in the classic tradition of finale montages

Sometimes things seemed like this ….
but what was it really like?

You are now entering the
NELINET Wabac Machine

1999 2000 2001 2002
2003 2004 2005 2006
2007 2008

1999
Who Is This Guy?
Marshall Keys
Arnold Hirshon
Greetings
from
Marshall

1999
“For the first time in my lifetime, I can’t see five
years ahead the way I used to.
It is not just the changes in the book business, it’s
… the changes in the way we live.
With the Internet revolution … any
business created before 1997 is
going to be a fossil by the year
2010.”
-- Leonard Riggio, CEO, Barnes & Noble

1999
\"More than any other time in history,
mankind faces a crossroads.
One path leads to despair and utter
hopelessness.
The other, to total extinction.
Let us pray that we have the wisdom
to choose correctly.”
-- Woody Allen, \"My Speech to the Graduates.\"
Side Effects

2000
Frem ont Rid er’ s La w (1944)
Library collections will double in
size every 16 years
Gordon Moore’s Law (1965)
Computer processing speed will
double every 18 months
* The Scholar and the Future of the Research Library

2001
What Happened This Year?
The “New Internet Traditional enterprises
Economy” died re-emerged

2001
What Else Happened?
Economic slowdown began

2002
Anthem
At NELINET, we love to serve you
And to provide superior support
And give our members great workshops At NELINET, we love to serve you
Today, and always, The Bank of NELINET is going online
Our consulting is the best! And registration, and membership too
Today, and t’morrow,
NELINET will always serve you best
At NELINET, we love to serve you
Today, and t’morrow,
With our expanding digital services
We’ll help our libraries
With Convey, we’re online daily create the future!
Today, we’re bound away
To our new Depos-I-tory!
helping libraries create the future!
x

2003
“How Would YOU Like To Be …
Queen for a Day?”
“Vulgar and sleazy, filled with bathos
and bad taste. The audience was
morbidly delighted to find there were
people worse off than they were.\"
-- producer Howard Blake

2003
New Solutions
Introducing …
NELINET
consulting
solutions

2004
Our Childhood
1978 • 91 members & 140
libraries
• Help libraries use
appropriate
technology,
including computers
• Take a more active
role in “information
retrieval, on-line
catalogs, remote
access to libraries
and library data-
base management.”

2004
Accomplishments:
The Last 5 Years (1998 – 2003)
• NELINET Consulting Solutions moves ahead
• Educational Services
• Expanded content and formats
• Global involvement increased
• ICOLC and eIFL
• Digital Services begins full operations
• New England Regional Depository takes off
• E-resources and Products expanded
• Electronic Resource Licensing Service began

2005
Today, We Must Move
Forward In An Uncertain World
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate
to the stormy present. The occasion is piled
high with difficulty, and we must rise with
the occasion.
As our case is new, so we must
think anew, and act anew.
- Abraham Lincoln

2005
Because Unlike Tara
Before the War…
• Changes affecting libraries
– Budgetary changes
– Policies and workflows to improve productivity
– The Google Factor
• Changes @ OCLC
– Program directions, service provision, and
network relations
• Changes @ NELINET
– Must ensure relevance of our strategic plan
– Must ensure NELINET’s independence and
sustainability
So that …

2005
Change # 3: Reducing
Direct Revenue to Networks
• OCLC: an important revenue source
– A decreasing percentage of our revenue, but still the largest
single outside revenue source
• Since 2003
– OCLC reduced FirstSearch commissions by ~$60,000 /
year
• Changes for FY2006-2008
– OCLC eliminating sales commissions over the next three
years
– Expected total net revenue decrease: ~$200,000 from
FY2004 levels
– Eliminating recurring revenue
• More changes on the way?
– AIA and surcharge programs could become obsolete

2005
Membership Structure: Programs,
Services & Funding Questions
• What will members need and want?
• Which current programs are responsive, and which are not?
• How do we continue to diversify programs effectively?
• How should we structure ourselves in light of the changing
environment?
• What is the cost to maintain the same levels of service?
• What do members want and value?
• What can member afford?
• What are members willing to pay?

2006
A New
for a Changing World
Report of the Program Development,
Membership, and Revenue Task Force
NELINET Annual Meeting
5 May 2006

2006
Now, Since the Membership Took a
Leap of Faith,
I Will Take a Risk to Thank You
For the first time ever in front of a live audience,
and for the first time in over 35 years,
I am going to take it off … take it all off
No, not that!
This!
?
Hirshon: Before Hirshon: After

2007
The New Equation
+ Radical Transparency: users have a heightened awareness of the
internal operations of organizations from which they obtain services
+ Technology infrastructure democratization: the network is the
platform – customers and users no longer need to purchase
hardware and software to accomplish their work
+ User Centered Innovation: Users can employ gaming and
simulation technologies to create customized solutions that meet
personal or mass market needs
= A seismic shift what we do and how we do it

2007
The Value of NELINET
• Local touch
– NELINET has a broad and deep
understanding of our members
• Objective Information
– We provide an objective and broad perspective to help you see
and respond to trends
– We provide solutions, not sell you products
• Innovation
– We work with you to identify effective and innovative solutions
• Collaboration
– We coordinate your collaborative efforts, and thereby share the
load and the risk

2007
Increasing Participation,
Increasing Value
• Member Interest Zones
increase visibility • TrendGauge
ensure access
encourage advocacy • Technology Sandbox
identify solutions
• Deposit account
achieve results interest payments
share ideas
• Digital Repository
foster communications testbed
form connections
unite members
• RFP for free consulting
services
implement technology
create opportunities • Trend Report:
promote best practices Technical Services in
NELINET Member
Libraries

2008
The NELINET 12 Step
Strategic Planning Process

2008
Step 12: Is our Strategic Plan set
for the next 3 years?
What if a new opportunity knocks, or if there
is an unanticipated change in the
environment?

2008
Strategic Plan: Goals
“Strengthen Member Service Through Community”
Member engagement
Conduct regularly scheduled community of interest groups, such as the
Directors Forum, and involve members in cooperative development
groups and collaborative consulting
Organizational leadership and planning
Focus on strategic and technology planning; operations improvement,
content management, and service quality assessment .
Develop toolkits, benchmarking data, and dashboard services.
Organizational operations management
Open source software and technology hosting, and expand educational and
group purchasing services

Delivering on the Promise:
Some Accomplishments
• Accreditation, assessment & dashboard summits
• Directors Forums
• Strategic Planning Toolkit
• Dashboards
• Open source software
– Training
– Implementation
– Support
– Web-scale cloud computing (hosting)

2009
a strategic union
to advance New England libraries

2009: Creating the New Union
Voting Procedure
• June 2 – 16
• Voting by both NELINET and Lyrasis members
• 2/3 of voters must approve the transaction
• Instructions for casting ballots will be sent via a separate email to
each Official Representative

Some Thanks to Friends and
Colleagues, Past and Present
• The Delegates to the OCLC Members
Council delegates
• The members of the NELINET Board of
Directors
• And, in particular …

Tammy Ely
Retiring Immediate Past Chair of the
NELINET Board of Directors

Great Thanks to the NELINET Staff

Thank you for your membership and
support for so many years!
a photo montage

So, what’s next?
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2009
National Recognition
Regional Presence
Local Touch
advancing libraries together