This presentation was provided by Robert Gerrity of Boston College Libraries during the NISO event, "Library Resource Management Systems: New Challenges, New Opportunities," held October 8 - 9, 2009.

1. Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
Happy Birthday, Barcode

2. What do libraries want to achieve
with their library systems?
Thomas Wall, University Librarian
Boston College
Library Resource Management Systems Forum,
Boston, Oct. 8, 2009

3. Confession:
I am not a systems guy

4. But I am a Public Services Guy
• Find it
• Get it
• Use it
• Create it
• “Talk” about it

5. What do libraries and their users
want to achieve with their library
systems?
Bob Gerrity, AUL for Info. Tech.
Boston College
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston, Oct. 8, 2009

6. Toward Service-Oriented
Librarianship at Boston College
Bob Gerrity and Kevin Kidd
Boston College
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston, Oct. 8, 2009

7. About Boston College
• Private, Jesuit university
• 14,000 students
• 900 faculty
• 200 library staff
• 2.6 million volumes
• $8M acquisitions budget
– 60% on e-resources
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

8. About Boston College
• Library Technology: The Usual Suspects
– ILS (ALEPH)
– Federated Search (MetaLib)
– Link Resolver (SFX)
– Next-Gen. Search (Primo)
– ERM (home-grown)
– IR (bepress, DigiTool)
– ILL (Illiad)
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

9. More on the Usual Suspects
– Provide good functionality:
• Help manage and link users to expanding e-resource
collections
• Leverage cooperative/consortial relationships
• Expose our digital collections
• Inventory control for print collections
– But:
• They require a lot of overhead and support
• Don’t always play well together, or with other systems
we need to interact with (VLE, campus financials, etc.)
• Lack holistic design
• Still require users to come to us
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

10. • Fewer silos
• Framework that supports unified
management of mixed collections (print,
electronic, digital)
• Reduced TCO
• Service-Oriented Architecture
• Reduced complexity
– Only possible if we are willing to simplify and
streamline the way we do business
What we’re looking for in future library
systems
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

11. • One stop shopping (discovery to delivery)
• Flexible delivery options
• Services delivered to mobile devices
• Contextualized services
– Take advantage of what we know about the user
based on his/her role or what we can deduce
based on their behavior
What users are looking for in future
library systems
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

12. How do we add value to current
systems?
• Overlay services/add-ons/widgets
• Recommenders (bX, bibtip)
• Enrichment services
– Book covers, ToCs
• LibX
• X-isbn
• Local development
– Locate (Stack Map)
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

13. Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
Huh?

14. Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

15. Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

16. Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

17. How do we build a framework to build and
sustain a suite of value-added services?
Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston

18. Library Resource Management Systems
Forum, Boston
“How does the library best make services and resources available
to users at the point in their research that makes the most sense?”