Library Technology Guides

Consolidation has been a prevailing trend among organizations that provide products and services to libraries—including both commercial and non-profits—since about the late-1990s. This newsletter and its predecessor Library Systems Newsletter have chronicled a constant succession of events that have transformed the industry from a large array of smaller organizations to a more consolidated landscape. These business acquisitions, often positioned under the more neutral sounding label of “merger,” have formed some dominant powerhouse companies as well as some mid-sized organizations.

EBSCO Information Services has acquired Stacks, a company that has developed a specialized web portal for libraries. Stacks has worked with EBSCO as a partner in the development of Stacks since 2016 and has served as its exclusive channel for sales and support. This move advances the arrangement from partnership to full ownership. The launch of Stacks as a new product was featured in the November 2016 issue of Smart Libraries Newsletter.

Axiell, a major provider of technologies to libraries, museums, and archives, has acquired Bibliotekenes IT-senter, more commonly known as Bibits, expanding its presence in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This acquisition brings two important products into the Axiell product portfolio, the Micromarc ILS dominant in Norway, and Saga, a library web portal. This move represents a significant expansion of Axiell's library business and brings in a new set of customer libraries with potential interest in its flagship Quria library services platform.

Lyrasis, a major non-profit library services organization, and DuraSpace, the non-profit organizational home for open source repository platforms DSpace and Fedora as well as the VIVO collaborative research profile platform intend to merge.

The two major non-profit organizations involved with the broader library and information science community will merge. NFAIS (National Federation of Advanced Information Services) will become part of NISO (National Information Standards Organization). Discussions regarding the possibility of NFAIS and NISO joining forces beginning in the summer of 2018 have progressed and culminated in a decision to go forward, and ultimately in approval by the organizations' respective boards. The merger, still contingent on approval by the NFAIS membership, was announced in February 2019.

How do you think the internet of things will impact libraries in the future?