1. Re-Thinking the ILS
Neil Block
Vice President of Discovery Innovation
EBSCO

2. Agenda: Re-thinking the ILS
 Re-thinking the ILS
 Aligning technology choice with library mission
 Importance of choice in the library ecosystem
 User Research improves technology
 Discovery Services Platform and a true next-gen
ILS

3. Re-thinking the ILS
 Started with post in EBSCO Discovery
Pulse blog
 http://discovery.ebsco.com/pulse/article/re-re-
thinking-the-integrated-library-system

4. Re-thinking the ILS

5. Re-thinking the ILS:
 The ILS grew out of the need to automate
library tasks that had been done manually,
such as circulate a book

6. Re-thinking the ILS

7. Re-thinking the ILS:
 The ILS focused on tasks that streamlined
manual processes, and indirectly benefitted
the user, or customer of the library

8. Re-thinking the ILS

9. Place holder for new-look Discovery

10. Re-thinking the ILS: Changing Needs
 The academic library collection is evolving
and traditional ILS functions represent a
smaller part of the library workflow

11. The Changing Library Collection
1.0 million volumes
15K print serials
250K circ
OPAC and Databases
Via native interface or
federated search
12,000 FTE
1.0 million volumes
100K circ
No growth. Increased offsite
storage
Declining
eBooks
50,000 titles via subscription,
DDA and purchase
eJournals
Via EBSCONet
Discovery
100s of millions of articles
searched via discovery (EDS)
Monographs
No growth, Increasingly
automated (e.g. OCLC, YBP)
New
collection
means new
workflow and
technology
focus

12. ILS: Traditional Workflows
Traditional ILS workflows focus on print
materials and managing inventory, with user
experience as an afterthought

13. New Paradigm
Diverse selection of content
that is accessed on a myriad
of devices
“Digital native” users with
modern expectations, different
needs, across disciplines
Unique technology mix within
the library ecosystem

14. Aligning Technology Choice
with your mission

15. Supporting the Library Mission
 The mission statement of your library is
probably focused on serving your users
 The value of the library is tied directly to
the end user’s experience with the library
and its resources
 Library Success = User Success

16. Strategic Goals of One Academic Library
Source: presentation by Don Gilstrap, Dean of Libraries,
Wichita State University @ NISO ODI Jan. 28, 2015

17. Focus on the user and all else
will follow…
Google: 10 things we know to be true
www.google.com/about/company/philosophy

18. Has Your Automation Strategy Evolved?
 In RFPs for ILS, 80% of requirements are
concerned with “traditional” library workflows, e.g.
Cataloging and Circulation
 User research tells us providing access to content
and improving the user experience are the highest
priorities for the academic library
Shouldn’t 80% of the technology selection
process should be focused on user success and
outcomes?

19. Re-thinking the ILS
Should the ILS become the Discovery Services Platform?
?

20. The Importance of Choice

21. Every Library Has a Unique Mix of Services

22. DISCOVERY
MARC
Infrotrieve
British Library
Regional Providers
ILL
EBSCO
Publishers
Gale
PQ
JSTOR
Books/
eBooks
Springer
Sage
JSTOR
Wiley
OA
EBSCO
Subject Indexes
Gale
Lexis Nexis
Cost Per Use
Usage Consolidation
Platform Use
Analysis
Tools
Journals
Databases
Blackboard
Moodle
Canvas
Sakai
D2L
LMS
SFX
Serial Solutions
Full Text Finder
Holdings
Management
Dspace
Content DM
e-Prints
Fedora
IRs
Innovative
Sirsi Dynix
Regional Providers
ExL
Koha
OCLC
Kuali
ILS

23. Title Slide
“Libraries need the ability to set
Discovery and Resource
Management strategies
independently and expect these
systems to have mutual
interoperability.”
Marshall Breeding
February 2015
NISO White Paper, “The Future of Library Resource Discovery”,
Feb 2015, Marshall Breeding
http://www.niso.org/apps/group_public/download.php/14487/future_li
brary_resource_discovery.pdf

24. EDS Integrates with your Technology
 ILS
 Knowlegebase / Link Resolver
 Learning Management System
 Institutional Repository

25. EDS fully integrates with the ILS
 Via full ILS partnerships
 Koha
 Innovative Interfaces (Sierra, VTLS, Polaris)
 OCLC (WMS)
 SirsiDynix (Horizon, Symphony, BLUEcloud)
 Kuali OLE
 Via customer technical collaboration
 Ex Libris (Aleph now fully integrated;
Voyager & Alma in development)

26. 30 ILS partners worldwide,
+Others via customer technical collaboration
ILS Partnerships

27. EDS Discovery Deployment Options
 EDS as the front end user experience
 Library catalog metadata integrated into EDS
 Patron functionality delivered via API from ILS
 ILS as the front end user experience
 EDS content integrated into vendor-provided
platform via API
 Open source as front-end user experience
 Koha, VuFind or Blacklight

28. EDS as the front end with OCLC
WMS:
Patron account with Holds and
Checkouts
OCLC and EDS