Dis-integration and re-integration –ERMs in
the wider context - predictions
ELECTRONIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
A Solution with Its Own Challenges
University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
August 16-17, 2007
Robert Bley
Sales Account Manager
Ex Libris
Back to the future…
Predictions from the past…
The Future of Library Systems, Seen from the Past, by
Karen Coyle, in Journal of Academic Librarianship 33(1),
p138.
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Back to the future…
What most futurologists got right:
Remote access to the library
Reduced need for physical storage
Regional catalogues facilitating ILL
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Back to the future…
Predications that came close(ish) to the mark:
Computers take-over all ordering, cataloguing,
check-in, and circulation
Glowing future for librarians as “information
consultants”
Speech interfaces
Libraries of the future would be less expensive
Automation of concept-linking
“Thinking machines” answering reference questions
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Back to the future…
What most futurologists got wrong:
OPAC would be the focus of library development
No IPR issues anticipated
Disintermediation - not anticipated
User independence – not anticipated
Home access would be via the TV
Search engines outside library control
The competitive information landscape
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Back to the future…
Lessons:
ERMs and integration in the wider context
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Agenda
“Internal” functionality
User-facing functionality
Integration
Conclusions and “predictions” 
ERMs and integration in the wider context
An E-Resources Management System:
the
vision
“ A system that supports management of the
information and workflows necessary to efficiently
select, evaluate, acquire, maintain, renew/cancel and
provide informed access to e-resources in
accordance with their business and license terms”
- Ivy Anderson, Robin Wendler (Harvard
University Library) and Ellen Duranceau (MIT
Libraries)
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Basic ERM Data Elements
Element
Includes data points
such as….
Descriptive
Title fields, holdings,
publisher, ISSN, interface,
package…
Authorized users, ILL rights,
archiving rights…
Price, price cap, relationship
to print…
Administrative password,
vendor contact information…
Licensing
Financial
Administrative and Support
Access
Authorization method
ERMs and integration in the wider context
The bottom line:
ERM is about more than payments and licenses etc.
ERMs are (or will become) the library’s corporate
memory for all factors related to electronic resources at
all levels
In filling that role, ERMs become central to all process
and all services within the library
Interoperability with ERMs is vital for all players
in the information chain – including publishers
ERMs and integration in the wider context
The bigger picture
Legacy systems
ILS Serials
ILS Acq
Homegrown ERM
Licensing
ILL
ILS OPAC
Spreadsheets &
paper records
ERMs and integration in the wider context
ERM’s role
Process management
Link Server interaction
ILL / resource sharing
Business transaction
Financial system
interoperability
Permission authority
Central and integrated
ERMs today touch many different areas
VLEs
Authentication
Serials
Library Web
Applications
Link resolvers
OPACs
Content providers
(& agents?):
Campus Finance
Systems
•Statistics
•Holdings
•Licenses
Metasearch
Acquisitions
ILL Management
ERMs and integration in the wider context
•Orders, Renewals
•Help Desk
And the current ILS model is …
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Dis-integrating, or perhaps
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Re-forming around a new model
ERMs and integration in the wider context
The DLF ERMI data model: A useful starting point
Print
Interface
Standalone
Package
Constituents (e-journals, e-books)
ERMs and integration in the wider context
17
DLF ERMI entity relationship model
e-Product
Licensee
e-Interface
License
Licensor
e-Package
Admin
e-Constituent
Access
Prevailing
terms
Bib. record
Acquisitions
Vendor
Cost
Usage
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Workflow
Trial
Beyond ERM: “Unified Resource Management”
Unified solutions that go beyond
traditional silos and boundaries
Print – Digital – Electronic
Multiple formats (MARC, RDA, dc, RDF,…)
Owned – Subscribed – Pay Per Use
Support business processes and task-based
workflows
Support standardization and interoperability to
reduce cost of ownership
ERMs and integration in the wider context
What we can expect in the immediate future?
Discovery and delivery tools will become more
distinct from ILS/LMS in presentation and
function
ERMs will feed just-in-time data to any public
service applications (including discovery, link
resolvers, metasearch, library web apps, VLEs
and institutional portals)
ERMs will eventually subsume (and then, expand
on) large portions of current library systems’
“Acq and Serials” functionality and responsibility
EDI is not enough…
ERMs and integration in the wider context
The immediate future (2)
As the notion of an ILS morphs, interoperability
among the ERM and other vendors’ systems
becomes essential – not just for management,
but also because …
Library efficiency measures and statistics will
assume a streamlined management process and
interoperability with other institutional and
external systems
ERMs and integration in the wider context
The immediate future (3)
Increased demand on content providers from
ERMs and libraries for rapid implementation of
SUSHI, License Expression transmission, etc.
Increased transparency from content providers
on pricing (esp. titles within packages) for
meaningful cost-per-use numbers
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Top 7 Standards Wish List
7. Standard for communicating IP address changes to
content providers
6. Standard for vendors to communicate real-time
availability (that is, advise when they’re down and
when they’re back up)
5. A sub-library level unique library identifier –
something like the SAN but international in scope.
ISO 15511 (ISIL) doesn’t do it …
4. A unique collection identifier for aggregations and
databases: like an ISBN per e-package
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Wish List…
3. ACQUISITIONS – a set of standard structures
that would encapsulate elements relevant to an
acquisitions transaction:
Order record
Invoice record
Vendor information
X.12 and current EDI doesn’t do the job
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Wish List
2. SUSHI
http://www.niso.org/committees/SUSHI/SUSHI_
comm.html
- Will soon enable evidence-based librarianship
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Wish List
1. License exchange format
http://www.editeur.org/onix_licensing.html
-Will make it easier to tell users what they can(‘t) do
-Will ensure compliance – linked to link resolvers,
proxy servers and so on…
-Will make for easier comparisons
-Will reduce ambiguity
-… and paperwork!
- There may be a role for intermediaries here?
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Other vendor <--> library transmissions?
Publisher to Library
Suspected license breach communications to
library
Interaction with library financial systems on payper-use titles
Non-e-journal and non-e-book identification and
electronic delivery (for instance, patents,
technical reports, digital objects)
Library to Publisher
Customer incident reporting to publisher when
resource misbehaves
License expression delivery/receipt with librarybased changes (versioning)
ERMs and integration in the wider context
…but the most important standard is simple,
available and being used now!
Web services
Well used in enterprise-level business computing
Fundamental architecture for large-scale complex business
applications
Trend in business: Creating service-oriented business
applications using Web services for all aspects of
communication among the many applications involved in an
organisation's business & information infrastructure
Application in libraries: Allows back-end MARC-based systems
to feed presentation systems based on more mainstream
formats (e.g. XML).
Allows innovative presentation / interpretation and social
computing
ERMs and integration in the wider context
User-facing systems
The OPAC
Institutional repositories
Other local repositories
Remote resources
VLE/MLE
Institutional portal and portlets
Amazon, Google, Ask…
Flickr, FaceBook, Connotea, YouTube, del.icio.us,
and many many others….
ERMs and integration in the wider context
User-facing systems
The most “2.0” of current library systems is the
OpenURL
Connects open sites with library-controlled resources
Effectively the ERM’s “catalogue”
But there’s much more to 2.0…
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Library services increasingly touch many other areas
ERMs and integration in the wider context
User-facing systems: expectations
“Community”
Interactivity, not passive consumption of information
Question “does my library have this book?” is now “is
this book available anywhere in any format?”
“What does my library have on this topic?” is now
“what exists on this topic, anywhere?”
ERMs and integration in the wider context
User-facing systems: expectations
Users need to know what they can(‘t) do with a
resource
Users need to know about relevant license terms
Users need to know about technical requirements,
concurrent user limits
Users need to know about downtime
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Delivering on those expectations
Web services: Enables back-end (MARC-based)
systems to feed presentation systems using
mainstream formats (e.g. XML)
Allows innovative presentation / interpretation and
“social computing”
“Just in case” web-crawling gives faster response
times, plus access to a wider range of resources in a
single search
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Delivering on those expectations
Web services: Enables license terms and other
information of interest to end-users to be “pulled”
from back-end systems (such as ERM systems) to enduser interfaces.
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Web services / SOAP
OpenURL
3rd party
applications
Link
resolver
Portal/
federated
search tool
ERM
Staff interface
Web Services (SOAP)
ERM
System
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Library
Management
System
Link resolver interaction with ERM
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Link resolver interaction with ERM
ERMs and integration in the wider context
ERMs and end-user services in the wider
context
Front
-end
Metasearch
Discovery & Delivery
Primo repository
Databases
H A R V E S T I N G
ProQuest
EBSCOHost
Back
-end
ILS
Digital
Repositories
Voyager
Aleph
Unicorn
…
DigiTool
DSpace
TV News
…
Knowledge
Bases
ERM
Link resolver
…
CMS/LMS
Sakai
BlackBoard
Moodle
…
Institutional
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Institutional
Websites
Journals
Repositories
Internet Services
Google Scholar
External
ERMs and integration in the wider context
ERMs and integration in the wider context
ERMs and integration in the wider context
In conclusion – the “back end”
E-products have changed the priorities for standards in data
interchange, but we still need some library-specific standards
Previous models for automated library management are changing,
largely because of e-products
The ERM will be the nexus/crossroad/bridge between libraries and
content providers and other suppliers
The ERM will ultimately supplant the ILS for many (perhaps even most)
back-room functions (my opinion :-) )
Content providers will need to exchange data with such systems
The most important developing standards for streamlining the “back
end” are (1) the electronic expression of license terms and (2) the
automation of COUNTER stats collection
ERMs and integration in the wider context
In conclusion – the “front end”
The most important “standard” for streamlining the “front end”
is already there: Web Services.
Enables re-integration within the library
Taking the service to the user
Making them better informed, without them having to see
“back end” systems and their interfaces
Better integration with systems outside the library, the
institution and the industry
ERMs and integration in the wider context
In conclusion
Main problem with Web 2.0 technologies lies in the creation of
even more “information silos”: blogs, wikis, the library
catalogue, digital library collections and so on.
Technology standards now enable provision of all these
features on the front end, while facilitating better internal
resource management.
The new generation of the Web involves not just a more
interactive (Service Orientated Architecture) approach (e.g.
social computing), but it also facilitates dynamic communication
between systems behind the scenes.
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Predictions
No library futurologists predicted the rise of a vibrant
information environment outside the library
So my predictions might not take account of some similarly
crucial future development 
Need to look at examples and technology, and social, political
and economic developments outside the library world
That said…
A mix and match approach will be used increasingly to build
user-orientated systems
ERMs will be a key component
ERMs and integration in the wider context
The evolution of library systems
Repository
software
ERMs
OpenURL
etc…
User
Unified
Physical Physical + Electronic/
Digital Experience Resource
Assets +e add-ons
(1980’s) (1990’s)
Assets
(2006) Management
(2000’s)
(future)
ILS
+
ERM
ERMs and integration in the wider context
URM
Decoupled
architecture
enables
libraries to
revolutionize
the front-end
while continuing
the back-end
evolution
Re-forming around a new model
ERMs and integration in the wider context
Thank You!
Robert Bley
robert.bley@exlibris.co.uk
ERMs and integration in the wider context