On Tue, 29 Jan 2008, Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
On another topic, I also think it's good to have options, so I'm not
sure I expect (or would welcome) total convergence between various open
source ILS projects. But to the extent we're imagining various loosely
coupled modules which can be mixed-and-matched, I fantasize that the
modules from various open source (AND proprietary!) ILSs can become
inter-operable, so an institution can take the one that best meets it's
needs in each class, and mix-and-match them. Different ones may meet
different institutions needs best.
Just to take this idea a bit farther, I believe it that to design a
successful "next-generation" ILS you will need to decompose the problem
into its constituent parts. At that point, I strongly suspect that the
library-specific pieces will be a small percentage of the whole. In fact,
the idea of an ILS itself is probably outdated. What we are talking about
is a distributed system for organizing metadata, inventory control,
workflow, etc. Surely metadata/cataloging practices will come into play,
but on the edges of the system, not at it's core (i.e., metadata schemas &
library practices are implementation artifacts, not design principles).
The emergence of the OpenSRF framework from the Evergreen project is
certainly a sign that this sort of thinking is taking hold (and is a
hopeful sign, for sure!). The question becomes: what do we need to do,
and what tools do we need to do that. E.g., we need sophisticated
messaging -- Jabbber looks to be the proper protocol, so lets build the
tools to make that possible -- thus emerges OpenSRF. One can find either
best-of-breed software OR best-of-breed architectural principles (e.g.,
REST) as a starting point and build a compelling framework to allow the
next steps towards tackling the library domain-specific tasks. I suspect
a distributed system used by a library will look a heck of a lot like a
distributed system used in other domains, so constantly looking "outside
the walls" will be a real key.
--Peter Keane
The University of Texas at Austin
Liberal Arts ITS
Jonathan
--John
On Jan 29, 2008 11:02 AM, Eric Lease Morgan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Jan 28, 2008, at 5:26 PM, John Little wrote:
The Duke University Libraries are preparing a proposal for the Mellon
Foundation to convene the academic library community to design an open
source Integrated Library System (ILS)....
Personally, I think this is a good idea. Yes, there are existent
ILSs, but such things are not the be-all and end-all of ILSs. The
software implementation, whether it be operating systems, text
editors, or integrated library systems is an iterative process. It
repeats. Moreover, there are many ways to get there from here; one
size does not fit all. The process outlined will enable a thousand
flowers to bloom, or call it friendly competition.
--
Eric Lease Morgan
University Libraries of Notre Dame
--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
ILS Support Section Head
Duke University Libraries
919.660-5932
--
Jonathan Rochkind
Digital Services Software Engineer
The Sheridan Libraries
Johns Hopkins University
410.516.8886
rochkind (at) jhu.edu
