JISC Grant Funding 01/12

“The aim of this work is to contribute to a new vision for library systems and provide concrete,

practical examples of work that might help contribute to the creation and implementation

of that vision.”

Appendix D2: Library Systems (Information and Library Infrastructure) – Pathfinder projects

JISC Grant Funding 01/12

“JISC invites projects to undertake work under one of the following broad themes:

Shared library systems

Emerging tools and technologies

Emerging library systems opportunities”

Appendix D2: Library Systems (Information and Library Infrastructure) – Pathfinder projects

JISC Grant Funding 01/12

“Projects should see themselves as a stepping stone toward a different future for library

systems.

While the project may be time limited and contained, the opportunities and potential

vision for a future library system should not.”

Appendix D2: Library Systems (Information and Library Infrastructure) – Pathfinder projects

The Benefits of Sharing

This proposed project seeks to contribute towards anew vision for library systems by investigating thefollowing question:

“How would a shared library management system improve services in Scotland?”

This will be achieved by a project team backed bythe Scottish Confederation of University andResearch Libraries (SCURL), and led by theUniversity of Edinburgh Library.

The Benefits of Sharing

There are several aspects to this question that will be investigated:

Services – how do different groups of users benefit from shared content and systems, and are there any complications introduced from such sharing?

Systems – how far can a shared system sensibly reach, do suitable solutions exist that can be shared and that scale appropriately, and to what extent is a local view of a shared system required or possible?

Content – how common are the current content holdings, licences and cataloguing practises across the libraries in Scotland that would help or hinder deeper sharing?

Project timeline

WP1: Looking ahead

• Perform a brief review of recently published analysis in this area, both in the UK and internationally.

• Gather together practitioners from across SCURL members and experts nominated by the JISC Programme Manager to take part in a facilitated session to start thinking about the potentials of a shared LMS for Scotland. The facilitator will ensure that the participants think across a broad spectrum of timescales, from practical steps that can be taken now, to forward thinking envisioning of possible systems in the future.

• Invite library systems vendors (including open source) to present their ideas for the future of shared systems. It may be possible to co-ordinate this event with some other vendor presentation events that are being organised in Edinburgh by other organisations.

WP2: Services for users

Based on the future visions developed in work package one, this work package will present those visions to a variety of users across SCURL institutions.The visions and perceived benefits will be explored with users through a variety of methods, including the use of facilitated focus groups and surveys, giving participants the opportunity to provide feedback and to contribute their own vision of an ideal LMS system.The output of this work package will allow us to compare the users' perceived benefits of a shared LMS with those benefits gained at an institutional and systems management level.

WP3: The systems

An overview of LMS products will be compiled with a focus on the offering on consortial services.This will be coupled with an investigation into the possibilities and issues related to the sharing and privacy of user information, local versus cloud hosting, general local content and data, and locally customised presentation.The final strand will look at possibilities beyond the basic LMS for including other related systems such as OpenURL resolvers and e-resource managements systems.

WP4: The content

A shared LMS will need to be based on access to accurate descriptions of library content, in print and electronic forms. This work package will seek to build on work being done for SHEDL and the JISC KB+ project on common e-holdings of Scottish HEIs. An analysis, by survey, will be carried out to quantify the number of electronic records available for local, print, holdings and their format.A shared LMS need not necessarily mean a shared or union catalogue; attitudes to this will also be surveyed.

WP5: Evaluation and dissemination

Evaluation and dissemination activities will take place in two areas.

Firstly activities will take place within and across all SCURL members, to ensure that thorough evaluation and dissemination of the findings are discussed at the regional level.

Secondly further activities will be planned in liaison with the pathfinder synthesis project, to ensure that the reports are widely available and complimentary to the other projects’ outputs.

WP6: Project management

Ensure that the project is managed suitably to ensure that the project is completed on time, on budget, and in accordance with relevant requirements.

The Project Manager will be the main point of liaison with the JISC Programme team and the synthesis project.

Project staff

Each work package will be led by a different member of the project team. The core team will be made up of staff from the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Stirling, both of whom are members of SCURL.

A project board will oversee the project. The project board will be made up of members of SCURL, representatives nominated by the JISC, project staff, and other relevant staff. It will be chaired by a SCURL officer. The project board will meet bi-monthly with additional written reports made to the SCURL business committee.

Photo credits

• “Tape drive”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pyntofmyld/4488018774

• “Sharing”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/micahtaylor/6036026737

• “Sorry”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/justanotherhuman/6370336331

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 UK: Scotland License.