Target Audience: Administrators; technical, public, and access services staff
Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will be able to explain alternative options to traditional library management systems and factors to consider when planning a migration.
2. Participants will be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the systems described and how these alternatives interact with systems already in place.
The web-based OPAC, and the more recent "discovery layer" craze, has had a positive effect on how people find resources in libraries. But has there been a corresponding change updating library operations? What will future library management systems offer in terms of the "back-end" staff interface relied upon so heavily to manage and deliver collections? Pressure to improve workflows, increase efficiency, and cut costs continues, but staff can only do so much with the tools they have. Will the next generation of library management systems finally break away from the traditional card catalog and print-based workflows? This session will examine the Open Library Environment (OLE) project and Ex Libris' Unified Resource Management (URM) framework, as well as explore the future of the library system staff interface.