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Library Perceptions 2020: Results of the 13th International Survey of Library Automation
Library Technology Guides [March 5, 2020]
Abstract:
The thirteenth edition of the International Survey of Library Automation presents the latest data on how libraries perceive the effectiveness of the strategic technology systems upon which they depend for their daily operations and to fulfill the expectations of their patrons. This report presents and interprets survey responses gathered from November 2019 through February 2020. Repeating the survey annually reveals interesting trends and insights into the companies and products involved. The survey focuses primarily on integrated library systems and library services platforms as the applications used to acquire, describe, manage, and provide access to their collections. It also assesses the quality of support given from the respective vendor and probes interest in migrating to new solutions and attitudes toward open source alternatives.
| Notable Observations |
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| Survey responses suggest possible trends in the next phase of system selections for academic libraries. Ex Libris Alma continues to be recognized for its sophisticated capabilities, especially among large and mid-sized institutions. OCLC WorldShare Management Services is well regarded among mid-sized academics. An increasing number of academic libraries mention interest in FOLIO as it enters the implementation phase of its product cycle. |
| The migration away from legacy ILS products is in full swing. Most libraries using Millennium, Voyager, and Aleph noted they are considering moving to new systems. The number of libraries using these legacy products continues to diminish rapidly and will fuel the churn of the next round of system selections. |
| Academic libraries considering migration mention Alma as one of their replacement candidates more than any other product, though interest in FOLIO continues to build. |
| Products with steady or rising satisfaction scores and high migration indicators include Ex Libris Aleph, Ex Libris Voyager, SirsiDynix Horizon, suggesting a higher likelihood that these libraries will choose thier next system from their incumbent vendor. Both Millennium and Sierra show diminishing satisfaction scores, high migration indicators, and diminishing company loyalty ratings, suggesting interest in moving away from the current vendor to other alternatives. |
| Libraries using traditional ILS products expressed varying levels of interest in migrating to new products. About 15 percent of those on currently supported products, including Symphony and Library.Solution, indicated they were looking for a new system. |
| Libraries using modern web-based products have little interest in changing systems. Biblionix Apollo received high satisfaction scores and very few libraries using it are considering alternatives. Even through their satisfaction ratings are not superlative, libraries using Ex Libris Alma and OCLC WorldShare Management Services expressed little interest in changing systems. |
| Open source products have been adopted in all library sectors. Both major open source ILS products, Koha and Evergreen, show increasing levels of satisfaction, with variance depending on support arrangements. Awareness of the FOLIO library services platform continues to increase with 104 libraries mentioning it among their migration candidates. |
Several themes are evident in the last few editions of the perceptions survey. Large libraries of all types have complex requirements and evaluate their systems on a much harsher scale than smaller organizations. Presenting results without regard to size categories would give misleading impressions. Products designed for small libraries would not be sucessful among larger and more complex institutions, despite superlative ratings by the small libraries that use them.
Conventional integrated library systems dominate public libraries, with top scores going to proprietary products in the largest tier and to those based on commercially supported open source software in the mid-size category. Small and very small public libraries also favored proprietary ILS products. In the academic library sector, survey results reveal notable patterns regarding library services platforms. These products received strong marks in most categories but are not rated as highly for managing print resources than legacy ILS products. Small libraries give superlative scores--with little differentiation among question categories--to products able to meet their basic requirements without complex features they don't need.
| Permalink: |
 https://librarytechnology.org/document/24957/ |
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| View Citation | |
| Publication Year: | 2020 |
| Type of Material: | Article |
| Language | English |
| Published in: |
Library Technology Guides |
| Issue: | March 5, 2020 |
| Publisher: | Library Technology Guides |
| Place of Publication: | Nashville, TN |
| Online access: | https://librarytechnology.org/perceptions/2019/ |
| Record Number: | 24957 |
| Last Update: | 2024-12-12 16:04:21 |
| Date Created: | 2020-03-05 12:53:47 |
| Views: | 644 |
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