Future of the ILS
Here are some impressions from today’s meeting.
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I’m more and more convinced that Evergreen is credible. I had lunch with two of the developers and asked them about the acquisitions and serials modules; they said they’d be starting work on them early in the new year, using the same process they used for the OPAC: starting with extensive focus groups from around Georgia to set development priorities. They are paying close attention to what Art Rhyno has been saying about using existing business management systems like OFBiz, which is currently an Apache incubator project but which has started the process of graduating to a full-fledged Apache project. There’s every reason to believe these guys will get it right.
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A good point from Art: why isn’t there a NextGen-Acquisitions listserv? Why is all our revolutionary innovative energy focused on the front end?
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Beth Jefferson’s BiblioCommons (Most Impressive Library-Oriented Business Without A Website) is building a full OPAC replacement [i.e. user interface to sit in front of an existing ILS, not a complete new ILS], not just a package of services to be included in an OPAC (as I had thought). They’re focusing on the public library market and doing a lot of very impressive work on the social aspects. The wireframes she showed are lightyears ahead of anything I’ve seen elsewhere.
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Peter Murray gave a good talk about Service Oriented Architecture, which helped me finally get a grip on what SOA is about. It’s more than just web services. He recommends the forthcoming “SOA for Dummies” book (no kidding) as the best introduction.
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Alan Darnell showed what he’s doing with MarkLogic, indexing full-text articles, A&I metadata records, and OPAC records together and using citations to link items. It looks very cool and shows the advantages of local loading of licensed dbs. It also shows the value of thinking again about the boundaries between the OPAC and the peripheral OPAC-like services we have these days like the OpenURL resolver and the metasearch engine.
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When in Windsor, have the Walkerville Amber. Also, wireless access at the Windsor Hilton has improved dramatically since Access 2002.
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Alan’s system aims to “capture the conversation” of the research process by linking things together based on citation analysis. The nextgen OPAC projects aim mostly to improve the undergraduate search experience. Both are based on assumptions about what their target audiences want from systems that we hope to insert deeply into their workflows. We need to know these users very very well.
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I still can’t find anyone who understands why a Second Life library is such a great idea.
Look out! Those SLLers can bite!
Thanks for the kind words, Peter -- and it was great to finally meet you face-to-face. I really can honestly recommend the dummies book. Perhaps we can just think of "dummies" as "ignorant about this particular topic before reading the book but now that I've read it I've got a really good handle on it"? Hmmm... a little too long. :-)
It was good to meet you, Peter-- and thanks for the support.
[...] Peter Binkley has posted his thoughts, and typical of Peter, he not only captures all the major threads but recognizes that Windsor has at least one great ale (product of some joint empirical research, the sacrifices we make for science) [...]
Thanks for making the 4th trip to Ontario, Peter, I will remember to use the power of Walkerville Amber for all future events.
Dude, I can't agree with you more about the Second Life Library. I mean, WTF?
Hi there, have you been in Second Life? If not I would be glad to show you around! If not, that is ok. Many people are asking this question and it is for good discussion. I think it is great because we are readhing people we might not otherwise. My name in second life is Lorelei Junot andyou can email me if you want.:)
[...] pbinkley's notes on the symposium [...]
Heh, we're also trying to figure out the Second Life scenario for success. If you find an angle... aside from positioning the library in a new place, please let me know. The library in Second Life does not work for me, but as I've been recently informed, I'm a dinosaur due to the fact that I prefer email above text/Instant messaging. Perhaps I'll never understand these teenagers and their new fangled ideas.
The Future of the ILS... I've just returned from a symposium hosted by the great folks at the University of Windsor and the Leddy Library entitled The Future of the ILS. It was only a one day affair, but was jam packed with quality information, an informal atmosphere, and pop...
[...] Peter Binkley wrote up a concise synposis. [...]
.: I wonder, how long do you think it would be before the UA Libraries changes to a system like Evergreen?
[...] But of the flowing of flows there is no end, and the Second Life Library project challenges us to recognize and participate in flows hitherto unimagined in the library systems unit. I didn't get it when I posted a throw-away comment last week, and I still don't really get it, but now I think I don't get it in a slightly more useful way, at least to me. I really cut loose with my avatar: I would never have the nerve for those socks in real life. [...]