Dis-integration and re-integration –ERMs in the wider context - predictions ELECTRONIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS A Solution with Its Own Challenges University

Dis-integration and re-integration –ERMs in the wider context - predictions

ELECTRONIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

A Solution with Its Own ChallengesUniversity of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

August 16-17, 2007 Robert Bley

Sales Account ManagerEx Libris

ERMs and integration in the wider context

Back to the future…

Predictions from the past…The Future of Library Systems, Seen from the Past, by Karen Coyle, in Journal of Academic Librarianship 33(1), p138.



What most futurologists got right:Remote access to the libraryReduced need for physical storageRegional catalogues facilitating ILL



Predications that came close(ish) to the mark:Computers take-over all ordering, cataloguing, check-in, and circulationGlowing future for librarians as “information consultants”Speech interfacesLibraries of the future would be less expensiveAutomation of concept-linking“Thinking machines” answering reference questions



What most futurologists got wrong:OPAC would be the focus of library developmentNo IPR issues anticipatedDisintermediation - not anticipatedUser independence – not anticipatedHome access would be via the TVSearch engines outside library controlThe competitive information landscape



Lessons:



Agenda

“Internal” functionalityUser-facing functionalityIntegrationConclusions and “predictions”


An E-Resources Management System: the vision

“ A system that supports management of the information and workflows necessary to efficiently select, evaluate, acquire, maintain, renew/cancel and provide informed access to e-resources in accordance with their business and license terms”

- Ivy Anderson, Robin Wendler (Harvard University Library) and Ellen Duranceau (MIT Libraries)


Basic ERM Data Elements

Element Includes data points such as….

Descriptive Title fields, holdings, publisher, ISSN, interface, package…

Licensing Authorized users, ILL rights, archiving rights…

Financial Price, price cap, relationship to print…

Administrative and Support

Administrative password, vendor contact information…

Access Authorization method


The bottom line:

ERM is about more than payments and licenses etc.

ERMs are (or will become) the library’s corporate memory for all factors related to electronic resources at all levels

In filling that role, ERMs become central to all process and all services within the library

Interoperability with ERMs is vital for all players in the information chain – including publishers


The bigger picture

Legacy systemsILS SerialsILS AcqHomegrown ERMLicensingILLILS OPAC Spreadsheets & paper records

ERM’s roleProcess managementLink Server interactionILL / resource sharingBusiness transactionFinancial system interoperabilityPermission authorityCentral and integrated


ERMs today touch many different areas

Authentication

Acquisitions

OPACs

Link resolvers

Campus Finance Systems

ILL Management

Serials

Library Web Applications

Metasearch

Content providers (& agents?):

•Statistics

•Holdings

•Licenses

•Orders, Renewals

•Help Desk

VLEs


And the current ILS model is …


Dis-integrating, or perhaps


Re-forming around a new model


Interface

Standalone Package

Constituents (e-journals, e-books)

17

Print

The DLF ERMI data model: A useful starting point


Prevailing terms

Access

Admin

License

Licensee

Licensor

Acquisitions

Vendor Cost Usage Workflow

Trial

e-Product

e-Interface

e-Package

e-Constituent

DLF ERMI entity relationship model

Bib. record


Beyond ERM: “Unified Resource Management”

Unified solutions that go beyond traditional silos and boundaries

Print – Digital – ElectronicMultiple formats (MARC, RDA, dc, RDF,…)Owned – Subscribed – Pay Per Use

Support business processes and task-based workflowsSupport standardization and interoperability to reduce cost of ownership


What we can expect in the immediate future?

Discovery and delivery tools will become more distinct from ILS/LMS in presentation and function

ERMs will feed just-in-time data to any public service applications (including discovery, link resolvers, metasearch, library web apps, VLEs and institutional portals)

ERMs will eventually subsume (and then, expand on) large portions of current library systems’ “Acq and Serials” functionality and responsibility

EDI is not enough…


The immediate future (2)

As the notion of an ILS morphs, interoperability among the ERM and other vendors’ systems becomes essential – not just for management, but also because …

Library efficiency measures and statistics will assume a streamlined management process and interoperability with other institutional and external systems


The immediate future (3)

Increased demand on content providers from ERMs and libraries for rapid implementation of SUSHI, License Expression transmission, etc.

Increased transparency from content providers on pricing (esp. titles within packages) for meaningful cost-per-use numbers


Top 7 Standards Wish List

7. Standard for communicating IP address changes to content providers

6. Standard for vendors to communicate real-time availability (that is, advise when they’re down and when they’re back up)

5. A sub-library level unique library identifier – something like the SAN but international in scope. ISO 15511 (ISIL) doesn’t do it …

4. A unique collection identifier for aggregations and databases: like an ISBN per e-package


Wish List…

3. ACQUISITIONS – a set of standard structures that would encapsulate elements relevant to an acquisitions transaction:

Order recordInvoice recordVendor information

X.12 and current EDI doesn’t do the job


Wish List

2. SUSHIhttp://www.niso.org/committees/SUSHI/SUSHI_comm.html

- Will soon enable evidence-based librarianship


Wish List

1. License exchange formathttp://www.editeur.org/onix_licensing.html

-Will make it easier to tell users what they can(‘t) do

-Will ensure compliance – linked to link resolvers, proxy servers and so on…

-Will make for easier comparisons-Will reduce ambiguity-… and paperwork! - There may be a role for intermediaries here?


Other vendor <--> library transmissions?Publisher to Library

Suspected license breach communications to libraryInteraction with library financial systems on pay-per-use titlesNon-e-journal and non-e-book identification and electronic delivery (for instance, patents, technical reports, digital objects)

Library to PublisherCustomer incident reporting to publisher when resource misbehavesLicense expression delivery/receipt with library-based changes (versioning)


…but the most important standard is simple, available and being used now!

Web servicesWell used in enterprise-level business computing Fundamental architecture for large-scale complex business applications Trend in business: Creating service-oriented business applications using Web services for all aspects of communication among the many applications involved in an organisation's business & information infrastructureApplication in libraries: Allows back-end MARC-based systems to feed presentation systems based on more mainstream formats (e.g. XML).Allows innovative presentation / interpretation and social computing


User-facing systemsThe OPACInstitutional repositoriesOther local repositoriesRemote resourcesVLE/MLEInstitutional portal and portletsAmazon, Google, Ask…Flickr, FaceBook, Connotea, YouTube, del.icio.us, and many many others….


User-facing systemsThe most “2.0” of current library systems is the OpenURL

Connects open sites with library-controlled resources

Effectively the ERM’s “catalogue”

But there’s much more to 2.0…


Library services increasingly touch many other areas


User-facing systems: expectations

“Community”

Interactivity, not passive consumption of information

Question “does my library have this book?” is now “is this book available anywhere in any format?”

“What does my library have on this topic?” is now “what exists on this topic, anywhere?”


User-facing systems: expectations

Users need to know what they can(‘t) do with a resource

Users need to know about relevant license terms

Users need to know about technical requirements, concurrent user limits

Users need to know about downtime


Delivering on those expectations

Web services: Enables back-end (MARC-based) systems to feed presentation systems using mainstream formats (e.g. XML)

Allows innovative presentation / interpretation and “social computing”

“Just in case” web-crawling gives faster response times, plus access to a wider range of resources in a single search


Delivering on those expectations

Web services: Enables license terms and other information of interest to end-users to be “pulled” from back-end systems (such as ERM systems) to end-user interfaces.


Web services / SOAP

ERMStaff interface

3rd partyapplications

OpenURL

Web Services (SOAP)

Link resolver

Portal/ federated

search tool

Library Management

System

ERM System


Link resolver interaction with ERM


Link resolver interaction with ERM


Institutional

Front -

end

Primo repository

Discovery & Delivery

Back-end

Metasearch

ERMs and end-user services in the wider context

Institutional

Websites

External

Databases

Journals

Repositories

Internet Services

EBSCOHost

Google Scholar

ProQuest

ILS

VoyagerAleph

Unicorn…

DigitalRepositories

DigiToolDSpaceTV News

…

KnowledgeBases

ERM

Link resolver …

CMS/LMS

SakaiBlackBoard

Moodle…

H A R V E S T I N G





In conclusion – the “back end”E-products have changed the priorities for standards in data interchange, but we still need some library-specific standards

Previous models for automated library management are changing, largely because of e-products

The ERM will be the nexus/crossroad/bridge between libraries and content providers and other suppliers

The ERM will ultimately supplant the ILS for many (perhaps even most) back-room functions (my opinion :-) )

Content providers will need to exchange data with such systems

The most important developing standards for streamlining the “back end” are (1) the electronic expression of license terms and (2) the automation of COUNTER stats collection


In conclusion – the “front end”

The most important “standard” for streamlining the “front end” is already there: Web Services.Enables re-integration within the libraryTaking the service to the userMaking them better informed, without them having to see “back end” systems and their interfacesBetter integration with systems outside the library, the institution and the industry


In conclusionMain problem with Web 2.0 technologies lies in the creation of even more “information silos”: blogs, wikis, the library catalogue, digital library collections and so on.

Technology standards now enable provision of all these features on the front end, while facilitating better internal resource management.

The new generation of the Web involves not just a more interactive (Service Orientated Architecture) approach (e.g. social computing), but it also facilitates dynamic communication between systems behind the scenes.


Predictions

No library futurologists predicted the rise of a vibrant information environment outside the library

So my predictions might not take account of some similarly crucial future development

Need to look at examples and technology, and social, political and economic developments outside the library world

That said…A mix and match approach will be used increasingly to build user-orientated systemsERMs will be a key component


The evolution of library systems

Electronic/DigitalAssets

(2000’s)

UnifiedResource

Management(future)

Physical ++e add-ons

(1990’s)

UserExperience

(2006)

Decoupled architecture enables libraries to revolutionize the front-end while continuing the back-end evolution

PhysicalAssets

(1980’s)

ILS ERM+ URM

Repository software

ERMs

OpenURL etc…


Re-forming around a new model


Robert Bley

[email protected]

Thank You!

Documents

Dis-integration and re-integration –ERMs in the wider context - predictions ELECTRONIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS A Solution with Its Own Challenges University