What Is An ILS Anyway?
CSG Meeting - Boulder, CO
Robert H. McDonald
Associate Dean for Library Technologies
Indiana University
March 23, 2016
Charleston and ILS
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Outline
• ILS Defined
• History of Academic Integrated Library
Systems
• Current Marketplace for Academic Libraries
• Core Functionality of Academic ILS
• Core Functionality Needs of Academic
Libraries
• Developments in the Open Source
Community
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
ILS Defined
• Integrated Library System - Legacy
Concept
 ILS = Integrated Library System
 (Cataloging + Serials + Acquisitions +
Circulation + Catalog)
 Focused on print and physical inventory
 Electronic content at the Journal Title or collection
level
 Emerged in the 1960’s – 1970’s
 Functionality has evolved and expanded, but
basic concepts and modules remain intact
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
ILS Defined Continued
• In addition to the core ILS layer libraries operate
seperate systems to handle the following:
 Electronic Resources Management System
 OpenURL Linking Systems
 Proxy or VPN Systems/Identity Mgmt
Systems
 Advanced Discovery Systems
 Digital Library Content Systems
 Digital Preservation Systems
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
ILS History
• History of Library Automation
 Follows history of computing
• Eras of Change (40 years – 1968-Present)
 Pre-Mainframe Era
 Electromechanical automation
 Mainframe Era
 MARC Record 1968
 Client/Server Era – 1990s
 Open Source Era – 2000s
 Cloud Era – 2008 - OCLC
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Current Academic ILS Market
• Ex Libris/Endeavor - 1465
 Voyager - 862
 Aleph 500 – 603
• Innovative Interfaces - 1163
 Millennium – 1163
• SirsiDynix - 1076
 Unicorn - 740
 Horizon/Symphony – 336
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Legacy ILS
Functionality
Public User
Interface:
Circulation
Acquisitions
Vendor Based
ePurchasing
Functional
modules:
Cataloging
Serials
Vendor Based
Metadata
Enhancement
Data Stores:
Staff Interfaces:
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Learning Mgmt./Campus Portal Feeds
Proxy/VPN for eContent Access
Federated
Search/
Advanced
Discovery
Circulation
Acquisitions
Cataloging
Serials
Electronic
OpenURL Resource
Linking
Mgmt.
System
Legacy ILS
Functionality
+
eContent
Module
+
Advanced
Discovery
Interface
Unified Workflow Interface for Staff
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
National Library of Australia
• Four Reorganized Areas of an ILS
 Bibliographic Subsystem
 Search/Discovery Subsystem
 Customer Management Subsystem
 Document Delivery Subsystem
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Current Academic ILS Needs
 Bibliographic Subsystem
 Electronic Leased Content
 Electronic Owned Content
 Physical Inventory
 Search/Discovery Subsystem
 Customer Management Subsystem
 Document Delivery Subsystem
 Physical Delivery Library to Library
 Electronic Delivery to Customer
 Digital Preservation System
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
New ILS Needs Enterprise Layer:
Can this be an SOA Model?
Composite
Applications
Rule Oriented
Workflow
Process
Reusable
Business
Services
Data Stores:
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Developments in Open Source
ILS
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•
•
•
•
Evergreen
Koha
OPALS
Learning Access ILS
NexGenLib
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Evergreen
•
•
•
•
•
Developed by the Georgia Public Library Service
Small development team
June 2004 – development begins
Sept 5, 2006 – live production
Currently a group in Canada is developing
Serials and other academic library requirements
for Evergreen - called Conifer Project
• Includes a Business Service Bus called
OpenSRF
• Supported vendor services provided by Equinox
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Libraries Using Evergreen
• Georgia PINES
• http://gapines.org
• Georgia PINES:
• 1 Installation
• 54 Public Library Systems
• 260+ library facilities
• Does not include municipal systems: AtlantaFulton County, Cobb County
• Province of British Columbia in Canada – SITKA
• Kent County, MD
• Evergreen Indiana (Consortium of 35 Public
Libraries)
• Under consideration by academic libraries in Canada
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Evergreen
Koha
• First open source ILS
• Includes Serials functionality in latest
version (required for academic
functionality)
• Includes Federated Search and
Discovery System
• Supported vendor services provided by
LibLime
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Libraries using Koha
• 300+ libraries
• Horowhenua Library Trust
• Nelsonville Public Library
• Athens County, OH
• Crawford County Federated Library System
• 10 Libraries in PA
• Howard County, MD
• Service area population: 266300
• 4.7 million circulation transactions in 2006
• 1 million volumes
• Central Kansas Library System
• Santa Cruz Public Library
• Central, 9 branches
• 2 million volumes
• Near East University Library
What is an ILS? - McDonald
• 1.5 million volumes
3/23/2016
Koha
Works Cited
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Antelman, K., E. Lynema, and A. Pace. 2006. Toward a Twenty-First-Century
Library Catalog. Information Technology and Libraries. 25(3): 128-39.
Borgman, C. L. 1997. From Acting Locally to Thinking Globally : A Brief History
of Library Automation. The Library Quarterly. 67(3): 215-49.
Breeding, M. 2008. Making a Case for Open-Source ILS. Computers in
Libraries. 28(3): 36-9.
----------. 2007. An Industry Redefined. Library Journal. 132(6).
----------. 2007. The Sun Sets on Horizon. Computers in Libraries. 38-41.
Cervone, F. 2007. ILS Migration in the 21st Century. Computers in Libraries.
27(7).
Demspey, L. 2009. Always On: Libraries in a World of Permanent Connectivity.
First Monday 14(1):
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2291/2070.
Pace, A. 2007. In the Beginning… A Historical Glimpse into Library Automation.
American Libraries. 38(6).
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016
Web Sites of Interest
• Library Technology Reports
http://www.librarytechnology.org
• Evergreen ILS
Ga Pines – http://www.gapines.org
Evergreen Indiana - http://www.in.gov/library/5592.htm
Equinox - http://www.esilibrary.com
Evergreen - http://www.open-ils.org
• Koha ILS
Koha - http://www.koha.org
LibLime - http://liblime.com/
• National Library of Australia ILS Redesign
What is an ILS? - McDonald
http://wvw.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/redevannounce.html 3/23/2016
Questions and Discussion
• Most current ILS systems are out of date
 Old code
 Last generation technology
 No means for innovation (dwindling market)
 Do NOT handle digital content well
 Do not function at an enterprise level with
current ERP systems
 Which direction should libraries be pushing
toward in regards to enterprise functionality for
the academic arena?
Thank You
robert at indiana.edu
mcdonald {twitter}
rhmcdonald {Gtalk, skype}
What is an ILS? - McDonald
3/23/2016