K-State Libraries: Conference Reports

The future of the OPAC

The future of the OPAC and the ILS running it behind the scenes were hot topics. Aside from my usual committee meetings, I was able to gather some information on OPAC overlays and ILS options. An OPAC overlay is an interface that sits on top of one's existing ILS providing Library 2.0 interaction and an improved interface.

The most interesting presentation I attended was from LITA and sponsored by the Next Generation Catalog Interest Group. The topic was of great interest as the room was full with more chairs being added as the speakers began. The presentations were from three different institutions who have taken an open source route with a catalog overlay. Slides are to be posted in the future to the LITA Web site. Rather than migrating to a completely different ILS, these institutions have opted to create a new face for the OPAC. All libraries were seeking to add Library 2.0 features to their catalogs. Each overlay includes the ability to search facets. None needed support from one's ILS vendor to implement. Vufind is synchronous, whereas Solrpac is asynchronous with a 2 hour delay.

OPAC overlays

• Vufind  developed by Villanova University with a Voyager catalog as the source of data
• Solrpac by Miami University of Ohio with an Innovative catalog as the source of data and using Drupal
• Project Blacklight portal by University of Virginia with a Sirsi/Dynix catalog as the source of data

All of the above systems are XML-based and open source. The thing I found most intriguing was the fact that these overlays work with your existing ILS. While open source ILS options are gaining traction, an OPAC overlay based on an open source model provides a host of display options. Considering a migration of a large ILS is a matter not to be entered quickly or lightly. An OPAC overlay could be a solid intermediate step.

Other products beyond the above panel presentation (by no means exhaustive, but rather a reflection of the information I gathered at the exhibits)

New ILS
Koha by LibLime (open source)
AGent VERSO

OPAC overlays
WorldCat Local
Encore by Innovative Interfaces

Federated searching
AGent Search
MasterKey (open source)

OCLC Symposium

I rarely arrive early enough at Midwinter to attend the OCLC Friday afternoon symposium. This year was different. The afternoon was titled, New Leadership for New Challenges. The two guest speakers provided a nice complement to one another. The first speaker was Leslie Crutchfield, co-author of Forces for good: The six practices of high-impact nonprofits. Crutchfield and co-author Grant examined successful nonprofits known as innovators in their given field. Their case studies yielded 6 practices shared by all of the successful nonprofits. The practices are: Advocate and serve, make markets work, inspire evangelists, nurture nonprofit networks, master the art of adaptation, and share leadership (a.k.a. lead and let go). Sitting there it struck me that libraries do at least one portion of this well, that is actively seeking collaborators.

The second speaker was Dr. Rush Miller, director of the University of Pittsburgh Libraries. Dr. Miller detailed the numerous organizational changes the University of Pittsburgh Libraries have gone through during his tenure and suggested that "claiming value is not enough." He explained libraries need to demonstrate how they connect to the university's mission in order to avoid marginalization. He also shared that organizational structure should not be the chief concern; our concern should be the people in the organization.

ALCTS Metadata and Digital Library Development preconference

I attended the ALCTS Metadata and Digital Library Development preconference before the start of ALA Midwinter. The preconference lasted two days and included discussions and exercises on functional requirements for digital libraries, metadata assessment and analysis, metadata conversion (i.e. mapping), and metadata workflows. Those in attendance included electronic resource librarians, catalogers, metadata specialists, and a few folks in library systems. The creation and maintenance of digital libraries is a complex topic. Much depends on the local environment and the goals of the digital library. What purpose does it serve now and in the future? I found the discussions with colleagues in a variety of roles and position within libraries to be more valuable than the formal content. Many libraries are still tentatively stepping out into various digital projects. While K-State has completed numerous grant-funded digital projects with groups outside the libraries, library-wide projects have been more limited. As the libraries take a more active role in the creation and curation of digital content, the opportunities for improved tools and content exposure are vast.

Moving to One Service Point

Moving to One Service Point: 70+ participants

Hot Topics in Frontline Reference Discussion Group, RSS

Lisa Horrowitz: MIT Central Reference Services Coordinator, Humanities

Lisa opened the Moving to One Service Point discussion with an explanation of how MIT did this about 10 years ago and the outcome.

ALA MidWinter - ERL Breakfast/Discussion

ERL (Electronic Resources & Libraries)

I'd estimate that 40-60 folks attended this discussion on Sunday morning. In addition to the wonderful breakfast buffet sponsored by Ebsco, there were several great topics on our plates:

• ILS buyouts - what does this mean for legacy systems?

• ERMs
• next gen search engines
  • ILS vendors: when will we get better OPAC search engines

• publisher buyouts and their impact on our existing licenses
• usage stats

ALA MidWinter - E-Resources Mgm Group

Linda Miller from the Library of Congress led the discussion on background of a white paper on interoperability of ILS acquisitions systems and ERMs.  The authors (Miller, Medeiros (Haverford), Chandler (Cornell), and Riggio (UCLA)) consulted with developers from Innovative, Ex Libris, Sirsi/Dynix, and Serials Solutions.

Discussion covered:

• challenges to interoperability
• why would you want acq data in your ERM?
• data sharing between systems
• recommend the KISS principle: ID a modest set of elements to populate
• options for exchanging data between systems
• next steps: more discussions

The white paper draft can be found at:
http://www.haverford.edu/library/DLF_ERMI2/ACQ_ERMS_white_paper.pdf

ALA MidWinter - EndUser Board Meeting

EndUser Board Meeting with Ex Libris

Simon, from Monash U., facilitated the discussion.

Those present included EndUser board members & individuals from Ex Libris: CEO, North American Director, Director of Strategy, VP of Customer Srvc for NA, and former Endeavor folks (now part of Ex L): Director of Marketing (Randy Fink), Director of Customer Relations (Susan P.), VP of Marketing (Nancy ?), Director of Product Management (Kathryn Harnish), VP of Global Support (Don Mucchino), and Director of Global Support (Dave Carlson). (I think I have the names/titles correct! Sorry I couldn't get them all!)

Ø Board to have discussion at MidWinter with Ex L VIPs.

Ø Hope to have a formalized plan for Endeavor users by the end of the year

Ø Will put out preliminary info to the listserv very soon

       Ø EndUser conference 2007 will go on as planned

Ex Libris folks introduced themselves and gave some history

Ø With the Endeavor acquisition, the company has grown from 500 to 1500 customers in

North America

Ø Current discussions center on the integration of the 2 companies; working on a plan

Ø Will combine the R&D of both groups

Ø Focus on standards and interoperability; support collaboration & resource sharing

Ø Maintaining 2 of the Endeavor products: Voyager and Journals OnSite

Ø Customer/tech support: will consolidate though this will take a bit of time – cross training will begin in 2^nd quarter 2007; Ex L support model is different: have regional 1^st line support, leverage systems, regions, & know-how

• Board members report that phone & tech support has not been too good lately (i.e., Nov./Dec) but things seems to be getting back on track. Support staff hasn’t changed much.
• CEO says structure is stable for the moment; no other imminent changes.

Dave (Director of Global Support ):

Ø schedule of upgrades can proceed

Ø backlog: closed more incidents than opened in 2006

Ø dedicated development staff now

Ø will move to Pivotal for reporting/tracking/searching incidents (Ex L has been using this)

 EndUser Conference

Ø will cover product lines & enhancement

Ø registration will open in Feb.

Ø Ex L staff will be there

 Products

Ø Enhancements: Del Hamilton reported on the enhancement voting: very clear info, will be shared soon with customers. 80% of folks voted on the top 10 issues; top 7 – 50%.

o Ex L plans to respond to customers as soon as possible; ongoing eval by Ex L staff; help develop strategies to move products forward

o The “me, too” functionality is being worked on

o Board voted to dissolve the current enhancement process & enhancement board: new “board” will be in place by EndUser

Ø OPAC interface: in light of merger & Ex L product Primo – there is (?) need to develop & support WebVoyage; trying to determine what can be used from prototype (what prototype?) and looking at ADA compliance. More info at EndUser

Ø Maintenance costs: have not changed pricing 

Regional User Groups: will continue with some support and Ex L staff will attend in 2007. 

Legacy Systems:

• Susan’s group will be contacting customers with legacy products very soon to determine how to manage.
• Board suggests that Ex L send out targeted emails to customers because there is much confusion

ALA MidWinter - Verde II

continued from previous post...

Betty Day is describing the consortial set up in MD. 16+ libraries: small, large, law, medical
They do consortial licensing and have individual SFX and MetaLib (fed.searching) instances
their office also supports the consortial licensing of e-resoruces for the Maryland Digital Library (includes 34 research and tech schools, community colleges, etc.) = lots of administrative data

250 dbs, 16 SFX, ALEPH (USMAI)
MDL 100 dbs (some overlap)

admin data had been in Excel

planning:
acquired Verde about a year ago
had to wait for version 2 which handles consortia
currently installing new consortial model
17 indiv Verde instances
central consortial verde instance with 50 libraries
consortial instance handles all data for all consortial participants

ALA MidWinter - Verde

Verde implementations - Monday 8am

Presenters:
Jennifer Weintraub, Yale (single-instance install)
Betty Day, U of MD (consortial install)
Ted Koppel, Ex L - an early peek at the next version of Verde

I'm going to attempt to blog live so some of my notes may not make much sense... and forgive the typos!!  The room is packed! An ALEPH/Verde customer from Towson in MD is sitting next to me. They've been on ALEPH (the equiv of Voyager) since 2003 and are waiting to go live with Verde.

ALA MidWinter - Ex Libris - Verde

Greetings from Seattle.

I was really excited to see a program entitled "Ex Libris Verde Seminar: Case Studies: Managing Electronic Resources with Verde: Customers Speak Out" because of the recent announcement from Ex Libris that Meridian - the electronic resource management (ERM) tool we were almost ready to implement - will not be supported beyond 2008.  So, what's a library to do: hear what Verde (Ex Libris' ERM) customers think of the product, of course!

Unfortunately, the session was not appropriately named in the ALA event planner.  It turned out to be a session about consortial interoperability using various Ex Libris products and services