next generation catalogs for libraries

Re: NGC4LIB Digest - 22 Aug 2008 to 23 Aug 2008 (#2008-39)

>ILSes are, in fact, quite complicated, since, not only do 

>they manage workflows, but have to deal with each 

>individual doing everything a little bit differently 

>(as Jonathan Rochkind says, "we're unique little snowflakes").

...

>However, if they were 'simple systems' like you claim, the OSS 

>alternatives would have far surpassed the competition years ago.

Complexity is a relative thing.  From a programmatic standpoint, ILSes
are not very complex - certainly nowhere near the level of most business
systems and games.  Some of them - Horizon, for example - would barely
pass muster as shareware, at least from a reliability and design
standpoint.  I helped build much, much more complex business and
entertainment applications during my decade as a professional
programmer.  

Even at that, there is a lot of unnecessary complexity in many ILSes,
often stemming from the use of archaic data handling methods and
proprietary, closed systems.  There are a lot of parts to ILSes, and it
would take a little time to build a complete system from scratch, but
they are ultimately just specialized forms of a certain type of common
business software.  Patrons are "customers," books and such are our
"products," and circulation is just a type of "order fulfillment."
Rules and exceptions that may apply to certain individuals, items,

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Tomasz Neugebauer | 8 Sep 17:47

Re: NGC4LIB Digest - 22 Aug 2008 to 23 Aug 2008 (#2008-39)

Jesse,

You said, "Since hiring a devoted tech person with coding and other development skills is not possible for
most small (and many mid-sized) libraries [...]".

I think that libraries *choose* not hire people with information technology skills.  Hiring an IT
professional with project management expertise might be perceived as an admission that librarians are
not self-sufficient, that they need software engineers and information systems analysts to innovate
the library.  Libraries attempt to hide this "insufficiency" by choosing instead to 'outsource' IT
needs.  The idea here is to buy the library technology needs like a product, just like they have been buying
books - business as usual.  The result is the perpetuation of insufficient information technology
expertise within libraries.  This is a choice (a mistake), not a result of 'impossibility'.

Tomasz Neugebauer
Digital Projects & Systems Development Librarian
tomasz.neugebauer <at> concordia.ca
Concordia University Libraries
1400 de Maisonneuve West (LB 341-3)
Tel.: (514) 848-2424 ex. 7738

-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:NGC4LIB <at> LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Jesse Ephraim
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 3:49 PM
To: NGC4LIB <at> LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] NGC4LIB Digest - 22 Aug 2008 to 23 Aug 2008 (#2008-39)

>ILSes are, in fact, quite complicated, since, not only do

>they manage workflows, but have to deal with each

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Charley Pennell | 8 Sep 19:31

Re: NGC4LIB Digest - 22 Aug 2008 to 23 Aug 2008 (#2008-39)

This is a pretty cynical generality to make, and certainly not true in 
many cases.  Libraries that do not hire the best person that they could 
afford to hire for the task at hand are pretty short-sighted and would 
certainly not be able to keep up on the technology side without 
qualified programmers, DBAs, Web designers, and so on.  The NCSU 
Libraries, while hardly a small- to medium-sized institution, routinely 
hires IT professionals to build Web apps and/or databases, and to design 
and implement our Endeca search environment.  In some cases, these folks 
also have an MLS/MIS, but in others they do not.  However, it could 
easily be demonstrated that hiring people with an investment in the 
public service mission of the library is pretty much mandatory if you 
want to retain these IT professionals.  Libraries of any size are not 
going to be able to compete with Google or  EA on salaries and benefits, 
so IT folks who are primarily interested in making big bucks and hanging 
out with other gaming nerds would probably not be happy in a library 
setting.  This might be one reason we tend to hire librarians rather 
than IT people.  On the other hand, if the IT person was committed to 
our mission and willing to work for libraryish salaries, we would be 
fools not to hire them.

   Charley

Tomasz Neugebauer wrote:
> Jesse,
>
> You said, "Since hiring a devoted tech person with coding and other development skills is not possible for
most small (and many mid-sized) libraries [...]".
>
> I think that libraries *choose* not hire people with information technology skills.  Hiring an IT
professional with project management expertise might be perceived as an admission that librarians are

(Continue reading)

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Jason Etheridge | 7 Sep 07:18

Re: NGC4LIB Digest - 22 Aug 2008 to 23 Aug 2008 (#2008-39)

On Sat, Sep 6, 2008 at 3:48 PM, Jesse Ephraim
<JEphraim <at> ci.southlake.tx.us> wrote:
> Many stay away from open source systems because they don't have
> anyone on staff who can install and maintain them, or they have some
> vague concept (often promoted by commercial vendors) of them being
> "unstable."

Or they don't know about the commercial companies that do support the
open source systems, or think them too young.

--

-- 
Jason Etheridge
 | VP, Community Support and Advocacy
 | Equinox Software, Inc. / The Evergreen Experts
 | phone: 1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
 | email: jason <at> esilibrary.com
 | web: http://www.esilibrary.com