Library Technology Guides

Today's issue of Library Journal contains the annual "Automation System Marketplace" feature, this year subtitled "Opportunity out of Turmoil." Despite it’s April 1 publication date, this article represents some of the most serious research and writing that I do each year. Creating this article involves coaxing each of the companies in the industry to respond to a detailed survey that probes at their key business activities over the previous calendar year. I corroborate the information supplied by the companies with many other sources of data that I gather throughout the year. With that data in hand, I attempt to provide an analytical description of how the industry has changed over the last year and to unearth the factors that drive that change.

The dramatic shifts that redefined the industry in 2006 precipitated turmoil in 2007, which made companies that avoided major business transitions more attractive and sparked explosive interest in open source alternatives. Some companies held a steady course and benefited from the fallout. The consolidated entities formed by recent acquisitions stand as formidable competitors in their respective market sectors, wielding vast resources to retain—or even strengthen—their industry positions. continue reading...

It’s commendable that Library Journal continues to publish this annual industry report. To my knowledge, it’s the only one remaining, at least for the library automation industry within the United States and Canada.

This year marks the seventh year I've had the privilege of writing this feature for Library Journal. It’s impossible to capture the complexity of any given year’s activities in a single tag line, but we do try to come up with something that reflects the essence of the trends in play.

I maintain a resource page of these reports on Library Technology Guides.

Marshall Breeding Apr 1, 2008 08:44:18 Link to this thread