What Is An ILS Anyway?
CSG Meeting - Boulder, CO
Robert H. McDonald
Associate Dean for Library Technologies
Indiana University
January 11, 2017
Charleston and ILS
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Outline
• ILS Defined
• History of Academic Integrated Library
Systems
• Current Marketplace for Academic Libraries
• Core Functionality of Academic ILS
• Core Functionality Needs of Academic
Libraries
• Developments in the Open Source
Community
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
ILS Defined
• Integrated Library System - Legacy
Concept
ILS = Integrated Library System
(Cataloging + Serials + Acquisitions +
Circulation + Catalog)
Focused on print and physical inventory
Electronic content at the Journal Title or collection
level
Emerged in the 1960’s – 1970’s
Functionality has evolved and expanded, but
basic concepts and modules remain intact
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
ILS Defined Continued
• In addition to the core ILS layer libraries operate
seperate systems to handle the following:
Electronic Resources Management System
OpenURL Linking Systems
Proxy or VPN Systems/Identity Mgmt
Systems
Advanced Discovery Systems
Digital Library Content Systems
Digital Preservation Systems
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
ILS History
• History of Library Automation
Follows history of computing
• Eras of Change (40 years – 1968-Present)
Pre-Mainframe Era
Electromechanical automation
Mainframe Era
MARC Record 1968
Client/Server Era – 1990s
Open Source Era – 2000s
Cloud Era – 2008 - OCLC
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Current Academic ILS Market
• Ex Libris/Endeavor - 1465
Voyager - 862
Aleph 500 – 603
• Innovative Interfaces - 1163
Millennium – 1163
• SirsiDynix - 1076
Unicorn - 740
Horizon/Symphony – 336
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Legacy ILS
Functionality
Public User
Interface:
Circulation
Acquisitions
Vendor Based
ePurchasing
Functional
modules:
Cataloging
Serials
Vendor Based
Metadata
Enhancement
Data Stores:
Staff Interfaces:
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Learning Mgmt./Campus Portal Feeds
Proxy/VPN for eContent Access
Federated
Search/
Advanced
Discovery
Circulation
Acquisitions
Cataloging
Serials
Electronic
OpenURL Resource
Linking
Mgmt.
System
Legacy ILS
Functionality
+
eContent
Module
+
Advanced
Discovery
Interface
Unified Workflow Interface for Staff
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
National Library of Australia
• Four Reorganized Areas of an ILS
Bibliographic Subsystem
Search/Discovery Subsystem
Customer Management Subsystem
Document Delivery Subsystem
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Current Academic ILS Needs
Bibliographic Subsystem
Electronic Leased Content
Electronic Owned Content
Physical Inventory
Search/Discovery Subsystem
Customer Management Subsystem
Document Delivery Subsystem
Physical Delivery Library to Library
Electronic Delivery to Customer
Digital Preservation System
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
New ILS Needs Enterprise Layer:
Can this be an SOA Model?
Composite
Applications
Rule Oriented
Workflow
Process
Reusable
Business
Services
Data Stores:
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Developments in Open Source
ILS
•
•
•
•
•
Evergreen
Koha
OPALS
Learning Access ILS
NexGenLib
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Evergreen
•
•
•
•
•
Developed by the Georgia Public Library Service
Small development team
June 2004 – development begins
Sept 5, 2006 – live production
Currently a group in Canada is developing
Serials and other academic library requirements
for Evergreen - called Conifer Project
• Includes a Business Service Bus called
OpenSRF
• Supported vendor services provided by Equinox
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Libraries Using Evergreen
• Georgia PINES
• http://gapines.org
• Georgia PINES:
• 1 Installation
• 54 Public Library Systems
• 260+ library facilities
• Does not include municipal systems: AtlantaFulton County, Cobb County
• Province of British Columbia in Canada – SITKA
• Kent County, MD
• Evergreen Indiana (Consortium of 35 Public
Libraries)
• Under consideration by academic libraries in Canada
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Evergreen
Koha
• First open source ILS
• Includes Serials functionality in latest
version (required for academic
functionality)
• Includes Federated Search and
Discovery System
• Supported vendor services provided by
LibLime
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Libraries using Koha
• 300+ libraries
• Horowhenua Library Trust
• Nelsonville Public Library
• Athens County, OH
• Crawford County Federated Library System
• 10 Libraries in PA
• Howard County, MD
• Service area population: 266300
• 4.7 million circulation transactions in 2006
• 1 million volumes
• Central Kansas Library System
• Santa Cruz Public Library
• Central, 9 branches
• 2 million volumes
• Near East University Library
What is an ILS? - McDonald
• 1.5 million volumes
1/11/2017
Koha
Works Cited
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Antelman, K., E. Lynema, and A. Pace. 2006. Toward a Twenty-First-Century
Library Catalog. Information Technology and Libraries. 25(3): 128-39.
Borgman, C. L. 1997. From Acting Locally to Thinking Globally : A Brief History
of Library Automation. The Library Quarterly. 67(3): 215-49.
Breeding, M. 2008. Making a Case for Open-Source ILS. Computers in
Libraries. 28(3): 36-9.
----------. 2007. An Industry Redefined. Library Journal. 132(6).
----------. 2007. The Sun Sets on Horizon. Computers in Libraries. 38-41.
Cervone, F. 2007. ILS Migration in the 21st Century. Computers in Libraries.
27(7).
Demspey, L. 2009. Always On: Libraries in a World of Permanent Connectivity.
First Monday 14(1):
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2291/2070.
Pace, A. 2007. In the Beginning… A Historical Glimpse into Library Automation.
American Libraries. 38(6).
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
Web Sites of Interest
• Library Technology Reports
http://www.librarytechnology.org
• Evergreen ILS
Ga Pines – http://www.gapines.org
Evergreen Indiana - http://www.in.gov/library/5592.htm
Equinox - http://www.esilibrary.com
Evergreen - http://www.open-ils.org
• Koha ILS
Koha - http://www.koha.org
LibLime - http://liblime.com/
• National Library of Australia ILS Redesign
What is an ILS? - McDonald
http://wvw.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/redevannounce.html 1/11/2017
Questions and Discussion
• Most current ILS systems are out of date
Old code
Last generation technology
No means for innovation (dwindling market)
Do NOT handle digital content well
Do not function at an enterprise level with
current ERP systems
Which direction should libraries be pushing
toward in regards to enterprise functionality for
the academic arena?
Thank You
robert at indiana.edu
mcdonald {twitter}
rhmcdonald {Gtalk, skype}
What is an ILS? - McDonald
1/11/2017
© Copyright 2025