Eric said:
"Much of the time was spent outlining how our work is done now. I hope any future implementation explores new ways of doing things in order to take better advantage of the changing environment as opposed to simply automating existing processes."
I agree wholeheartedly!
While I applaud the OLE program, I have a few concerns. I have a relatively limited knowledge of of OLE, so some of my concerns may be unfounded or not really significant:
1. OLE seems to be focusing on the way work gets done now (Eric's point), and not much on alternatives.
2. OLE seems to be focusing on the "back room" aspects of library work, which is important, but not the whole enchilada.
3. Following up on point #2, there doesn't seem to be an emphasis on the public side, i.e., how end users use the ILS.
Points #2 and #3 underscore what I see as a central problem with ILS development. The systems are designed BY librarians, FOR librarians. Sure, it's important that ILS's are properly designed so that librarians and staff can do their work efficiently and effectively. But that's only part of the picture. How end users use the system is important as well.
The whole point of libraries and library systems is to organize information in a way that facilitates end user access to the information. A well organized library (from the staff perspective) is pretty much useless if the public access side doesn't work well for end users.
One could make the case that it is backwards to design the "back room" functions of an ILS without first having a good understanding of library users' real needs. What's done in the "back room" can have an impact on how the public uses the system. Just think of cataloging records (and the catalogs that are based on them) and the problems they can cause for end user searching.
Bernie Sloan
Sora Associates
Bloomington, IN
--- On Sat, 12/13/08, Eric Lease Morgan <emorgan_at_ND.EDU> wrote:
> From: Eric Lease Morgan <emorgan_at_ND.EDU>
> Subject: [NGC4LIB] open library environment
> To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Date: Saturday, December 13, 2008, 9:34 AM
> I had the opportunity to participate in an OLE (Open Library
> Environment) workshop the other day in Chicago, and in a
> sentence, it was an opportunity to describe and flowchart
> back-end library processes in an effort to help design an
> integrated library system.
>
> I'm glad I had the opportunity to attend. It gave me a
> chance to get a better understanding of what OLE is all
> about, and I saw it as a professional development session
> where I learned more about where things are going. The
> day's events were well-structured, well-organized, and
> manageable given the time restraints. I only regret there
> was too little "blue skying" by attendees. Much of
> the time was spent outlining how our work is done now. I
> hope any future implementation explores new ways of doing
> things in order to take better advantage of the changing
> environment as opposed to simply automating existing
> processes.
>
> For more details, see:
>
> http://infomotions.com/blog/2008/12/a-day-with-ole/
>
> --Eric Lease Morgan
> University of Notre Dame
Received on Sat Dec 13 2008 - 11:37:06 EST