OCLC Online Computer Library Center Libraries and the Landscape of the Future Symposium on the Future of Integrated Library Systems September 13, 2007

OCLC Online Computer Library Center

Libraries and the Landscape of the Future

Symposium on the Future of Integrated Library Systems

September 13, 2007

Chip Nilges Vice President, Business Development

OCLC, Online Computer Library Ctr.


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Are we there yet?

As seenOn GoogleAs seen

On Google


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Outline

User & resource environment

Customer view

Gaps and trends

Getting into the flow

Integrated resource management

Logistics


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User expectations continue to shift

The network is the library

MySpace and Facebook are the new Google

Customized information

Collaborating at a distance

From “Future Worker 2015: Extreme Individualization,” Gartner (March 2006) & “Search, Aggregation Y Syndication,” 2006 Results (Outsell, Inc. )


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search engines

bibliographicmgmt. service

PDAs

learning management systems

campus portal

Social networkingsites

personal collections

readinglists

Institutional repository

Digital collections

E-reserve CatalogLicensed collections

Aggregations

Virtual reference

CatalogingILL

libraryuser environmentsresource environment

Changing resource environments


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Impact on the ILS

She’s breaking up, captain!

She’s breaking up, captain!


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What do users think?


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Libraries are used heavily

96% have visited a library

57% use libraries frequently

69% say library use is steady or higher


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Libraries are viewed favorably as an information source


10 From OCLC: Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005)

84%

Search Engines

2%

Library Portals

But libraries are not visible to many users on the Web

Q: Where do you typically begin your search for information on a particular topic?


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This gap raises a fundamental question …

How do we deliver our value – collections, services and community …

To the user

On the network

At the point of need?


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3 Industry Trends

1. Getting into the flow2. Integrating resource management3. Outsourced logistics


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Gap 1: Getting into the “flow”

Customer workflows, not products or services, should be the focal point of companies

Customers care about the “jobs” they need to complete, not about products.

Solutions that customers need will vary by task and change over time.

From Outside Innovation, Patricia Seybold (2007)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70778382


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University of Minnesota http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/mellon/KM%20JStor%20Presentation.pps


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Using workflow analysis to improve the library portal

http://www.lib.umn.edu/undergrad


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Another example of designing around user workflow …


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Supporting user workflow on “published” content

Personal bibliographic management services

Refworks

CiteULike

LibraryThing

Shelfari

Google My Library


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Library ELF


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Moving beyond the portal -Getting into the flow on the broader Web

Home Page

Destination or Portal model

Users find relevant content in search engine - start there

Search engine driven model (“bottom-up”)

Home Page

From search engine or external site

AND

Traditional model:

• Start on the home page• Work from the top down• Search only what library offers• Authentication for many resources


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Syndication of library collections into the Web

Home Page

Syndication Model:

• Start outside of library portal• Work from bottom up• Search across larger “collection”• Authenticate only where necessary


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Many library information companies are creating publicly accessible vertical sites to test direct-to-consumer models


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And many others are testing syndication models, as an adjunct to public portals and authenticated services

Driving traffic to library collections

Partnering

Crawling

“Cooperative” Ad campaigns

Web services


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Machine-level syndication:LibraryThing for Libraries


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Growing Importance of “Business Intelligence”


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What about the rest of the library’s capacity?


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Gap 2: Integrated resource management


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The nature of content & collections is changing


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Impact on content strategy & collection development


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Industry Trends: Collections & Platforms

Consolidation as niche players look to broaden their markets

New partnerships emerging in the effort to bring legacy collections online

The focus on integrated platforms among content providers signals need to connect and collect

Bowker & aquabrowser

Gale and Grokker

EBSCO and WebFeat


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Gap 3: Logistics

Supply chain management for “published” library collections is moving on Web

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37132571


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Library participation in the supply chain for Published Materials

Library Functions

Identify

Select

Acquire

Accession

Circulate

Deaccession

Eliminate or Preserve

Notable initiatives:

Online selection

Purchase for ILL

Patron-driven acquisition

Home delivery

Print on Demand

North American Storage Trust

Reverse logistics


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The library of the future?


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What do these trends say about the future of libraries?

• Syndication will become a critical component of the library’s discovery infrastructure

• The current delivery & access infrastructure will give way to much more integrated, on demand solutions from much larger players

• The catalog will become a general metadata repository

• Collection development/management will increasingly move “up” to the network level

Libraries will outsource more and more of their physical logistics both through deeper collaboration and commercial outsourcing


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You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

- Steve Jobs


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Thank you!

[email protected]

Documents

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Libraries and the Landscape of the Future Symposium on the Future of Integrated Library Systems September 13, 2007