Host or Hosted?
Where to house the digital library
Digital Resources Librarian at Asbury
Theological Seminary
Thad Horner
Control Wow Factor Cost Libraries must be willing to rank or reorient
priorities based on these three factors
3 Competing Concepts
What Does Control Mean?
The ability to shape the digital library to meet your desires and needs.
The level of responsibility placed on the institution
Control
Generally, More Control Exists When Libraries
Host Their Own Content But Control Can Be Limited by the Software
Chosen DSpace Fedora Greenstone Digital Commons
Control
Branding
Making the digital library “fit” with institutional criteria
Metadata How much and what data to add
Technological Who is responsible for maintaining the servers? Who has ultimate administrative power?
Legality If we get sued, do we have protection?
Types of Control
What is the Wow Factor?
Everything besides control Stunning visual presence Extra capabilities
Journal publishing Streaming of media Searching
Wow Factor
Nothing is Free! Questions to ask
Which is cheaper now, doing it ourselves or paying someone else?
Where do we plan to be as an institution and a digital library in 3 years?
Which will be cheaper in 3 years?
Cost
Must have physical resources to support (cost) Must have staff to support (cost) Support response time Backup Copyright insurance Google Be sure to purchase Handle How the system searches
Host
Must have the money Must be willing to give up some control Contract
Persistent URLs 24/7 Support Uptime Speed Backup Copyright Insurance
Hosted
Training 3rd party access to material Increasing Costs Google How the system searches
Hosted
This:
Asbury’s Experience
Originally Hosted Dspace in-house IT and Library were one department No money was to be spent Handle was not purchased 1/3 programmer time “Too many hands in the cookie jar”
Asbury’s Experience
Redesign
Cleaned up the structure Fewer admins Updated to XML interface
Looked prettier Searching did NOT work
Needs for classes
Asbury’s Experience
Move to a hosted platform
Consultation with other libraries Conference attendance Examined hosted DSpace and BePress (Digital
Commons) Contract
Asbury’s Experience
Findings
Loss of control in administrative power Slower download speeds Improved searching Improved design and “wow factor” Able to support classes better Customer support mostly good
Asbury’s Experience
Do we have the in-house capabilities to run a
digital library? What content do we want in the digital library? Can the platform meet the needs of our
classes? Do we have the budget to move to a hosted
solution? What will happen in 3 years? Will we have persistent URLs? Can we get an agreeable contract?
Making a Decision
In the end the choice is yours…
Making a Decision
Recommended
