Library Technology Guides

Thanks to a $475,700 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, there is a new initiative to design and create a next-generation library automation environment. The goal of the project is to develop a set of requirements for library automation based on a fresh analysis of the workflows that take place in libraries free from the constraints imposed by current library automation products. The project will follow principles and methodologies consistent with the service-oriented architecture (SOA). The current one-year project aims to produce a requirements document. A possible follow-up effort may result in the development of an open-source implementation built on the work of the OLE Project.

With the support of the Indiana State Library, a pilot project is attempting to implement the open source Evergreen ILS, working toward an opt-in, potentially statewide automation environment.

Although open source library automation has gained unprecedented popularityin recent years, the industry is still dominated by companies offering traditionally licensed software. In discussing the new open source software projects, it’s important to keep in mind that the vast majority of libraries continue to use proprietary ILS products and that the sales of these products to new customers is continuing at moderately stronglevels. Innovative Interfaces and Polaris Library systems have made a number of new sales in North America. Ex Libris has made sales of Primo and Aleph internationally. A number of libraries have migrated from Dynix Classic and Horizon to SirsiDynix Symphony this year, although the company has made few public announcements.