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Automation ResourcesAutomation of the major manual process in your library -- creation and maintenance of a catalog, management of circulation, perhaps management of periodical subscriptions and acquisitions -- can be a complicated and expensive process. It can also lay the foundation for substantial improvements in local library service. Categories of ResourcesFollow the links below for information about technologies, techniques and products for automating some or most of the tasks that keep library staff busy day in and day out. (Suggestions and corrections can be sent to Janet McKenney under Contact Us.
Master SitesThese sites provide a substantial overview of library automation processes, issues and/or products.
Integrated Library Systems for Larger LibrariesObviously, "larger" is a relative term. This section is directed toward the issues and products most frequently of concern to the largest 10% or 20% of public or academic libraries. In some respects, it reflects a perspective that places greater weight on meeting detailed and demanding performance and functionality requirements with less emphasis on the cost of maximizing system function. There certainly will be "smaller" libraries that share this perspective. There will also be libraries that, while financially unable to get everything they want, nevertheless wish to start from an "all is possible" posture in order to better understand the trade-offs involved in approaches more fiscally within reach. In other words, it is for a library to determine for itself to decide whether it is "large" in the subjective sense employed here. Background
VendorsThe exact boundary between systems for "larger" and for "smaller" libraries is fuzzy -- and getting fuzzier every year. Vendors in the "larger" group tend to predominate in installations costing from $50,000 to well into six figures and beyond. Some, however, do have a few installations in smaller sites. Conversely, vendors in the "smaller" group tend to dominate in sales where software license costs range from $1,000 to $10,000 or $20,000. This is not to say that some vendors in this group could not, in some circumstances, meet the needs of larger libraries or construct a larger system that in the aggregate that might extend to $50,000 or above. Some of them can, and doubtless have. The point is simply to approximate the market in which vendors have so far been most successful. A wise purchaser will look at his/her needs in detail, and compare them to a detailed list of features and capabilities from a wide range of vendors -- irrespective of whether "larger" or "smaller" is used here to describe the respective marketplace of each.
Integrated Library Systems for Smaller LibrariesVendorsThe exact boundary between systems for "larger" and for "smaller" libraries is fuzzy -- and getting fuzzier every year. Vendors in the "larger" group tend to predominate in installations costing from $50,000 to well into six figures and beyond. Some, however, do have a few installations in smaller sites. Conversely, vendors in the "smaller" group tend to dominate in sales where software license costs range from $1,000 to $10,000 or $20,000. This is not to say that some vendors in this group could not, in some circumstances, meet the needs of larger libraries or construct a larger system that in the aggregate that might extend to $50,000 or above. Some of them can, and doubtless have. The point is simply to approximate the market in which vendors have so far been most successful. A wise purchaser will look at his/her needs in detail, and compare them to a detailed list of features and capabilities from a wide range of vendors -- irrespective of whether "larger" or "smaller" is used here to describe the respective marketplace of each.
Open Source Software for LibrariesThe Open Source movement -- programmers developing software on a non-commercial basis and releasing it at no cost to individuals who wish to use it -- has reached the automated library systems niche. A number of projects are underway aimed at creating free alternatives to commercial library management software products. However, these alternatives are only beginning to emerge from the chaos of initial implementation, alpha testing, etc. Change in capabilities and in software availability can be expected to be rapid. As of mid-2004, one can expect that most open source products will require more user expertise and patience than the commercial products with which they are beginning to compete. If library staff are ready and able to take on some of the technical support and troubleshooting responsibilities that would otherwise fall to a commercial vendor's staff, then it may be the right time to begin investigating the following: Retrospective Conversion and Record ProcessingBackground
Vendors
MARC Records and MARC CatalogingBackgroundThe MARC 21 bibliographic data format makes possible computer-based copy cataloging, easy sharing of records to build union catalogs and easy migration from one automated library system to another. The links that follow provide the details, more than one might like to know at times, about MARC 21.
Vendors
Bar Code Technology and SuppliesBackgroundVendorsThe following vendors are known to have sold barcode hardware and / or labels to Maine libraries.
Z39.50BackgroundVendors
Catalog Card SoftwareRelatively few libraries still print catalog cards. The advantages of an online catalog over a manual catalog are many and varied. However, if cards on paper are still required, computer software can speed up considerably the process of creating them. Advice
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