Download Library Automation

System Analysis and
Library Automation
Session 12
LBSC 690
Information Technology
Agenda
• Questions
• System analysis
• Library automation
– What do libraries do?
– How can computers be used?
– What management issues arise?
• Digital libraries
Solving Large Problems
• System analysis
– How can we know what an organization needs?
• User-centered design
– How can we discern and satisfy user needs?
• Implementation
– How should we build it?
• Management
– How will the organization use our technology?
Systems Analysis
• Understand the task
– Strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches
• Understand the environment
– External factors such as structure of the industry
• Identify the information flows
– e.g., Serials use impacts cancellation policy
• Design a solution
Library Activities
• What do libraries do?
• Which can benefit from automation?
Core Workflow (Information Services)
• Acquisition
– Books, serials, nonprint media, electronic sources
• Cataloging
• Search
– Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC)
– Reference service
• Circulation
Other Core Activities
• Overdue notices
• Interlibrary loan
• Statistics
– Door count, circulation, interlibrary loan
• Collection policy
• Weeding
• Preservation
Specialized Services
•
•
•
•
•
Reserve
Recall
Special collections
Unique provisions for access
Document delivery
Support Activities
• Financial
– Fines
– Budget
• Schedule
– Personnel
– Facilities
• Personnel records
Analyzing Information Flows
• Where does information originate?
– Might come from multiple sources
– Feedback loops may have no identifiable source
• Which parts should be automated?
– Some things are easier to do without computers
• Which automated parts should be integrated?
• What other systems are involved?
– And what information do they contain?
An Integrated Library System
Availability
Serials
Supplier
Availability
Book
Supplier
Acquisition
Orders
Orders
Title, Author, etc
Existing Catalog Records
Cataloging
New and Revised Records
Catalog Records
Library
Consortium
Query
Query
OPAC
Search Results
Patron
Search Results
Availability
Hold
Circulation
Overdue Notices
Order
Availability
Barcode and
Due Date
Interlibrary
Loan
Order
Implementation Requirements
• Availability
– Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
– Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
• Capacity
– Number of users for each application
– Response time
• Flexibility
– Upgrade path
System Architecture
• Batch processing
– Save it up and do it all at once
• Useful for recall notices, management reports, ...
• Timesharing
– Everyone uses the same machine
• Simple but expensive design, limited upgrade path
• Client-server
• Mobile software agents
Client-Server Data Replication
Client
Client
Client
Client
Primary
Directory
Server
Alternate
Directory
Server
Data
A-M
Data
N-Z
Client
Client
Data
A-Z
Client-Server Systems
• Divided workload improves efficiency
– Between client and server and across servers
• Flexible upgrade paths
– More machines, different division of work
• Good availability
– Put the same data on several servers
• The Web as a client-server system
Automation Management Issues
• Retrospective conversion
– Even converting electronic information is expensive
• Management information
– Peak capacity evaluation, audit trails, etc.
– Sometimes costs more to collect than it is worth!
• Staff training
• End user training
• Privacy
What is a “Digital Library” ?
• A library with digital devices?
– OPACs, CDROMs, online search services, ...
• A library with digital content?
– Programs, data files, digitized media, ...
• Digital content organized like a library?
– Collection policy, cataloging, access, preservation
Advantages of Digital Objects
• Perfect reproduction
– Copies are as good as the original
• Inexpensive and rapid distribution
– Anywhere on the planet
• Compact storage
– Measured in rooms, not buildings
• Easily searched
– With combinations of retrieval and browsing
Hybrid Paper/Digital Libraries
•
•
•
•
Publishing journals on demand
DOIs on journal articles
Bar codes and chips on paper
“Electronic ink”
Agents
• Defining characteristics of an “agent”
– Autonomous
– Purposeful
– Reactive
• Mobile Agents: can move around the network
– To compute as close to the data as possible
– Requires trust and a “reference architecture”
Problems with Digital Objects
• Display technology is often inadequate
– Many tasks are easier on paper than on a screen
• Some traditional cues are missing
– Shiny new book, dog eared pages, …
• Acquisition and cataloging costs may be inverted
– For information that is “born digital”
• Conversion of existing objects can be expensive
– Particularly if full-text searching is desired
• Long-term access is not assured
– Media longevity, hardware and software dependence
Access to Digital Materials
• End user searching
– Retrieval and browsing
• Expert human inter-mediation
– Reference service, information brokering
• Emergent behavior
– Recommender systems
Digital Library Design Exercise
• Form eight groups of 3 people (project teams?)
• Choose one digital collection
– Two groups for each collection, from the next page
• Conduct systems analysis
– Information flows, selective automation, integration
• Choose an implementation
– Timesharing, client-server, autonomous agents
• Compare your design with another group
Example Collections
• “Gray literature” in a discipline
– Preprints, technical reports, experiment datasets, …
• Government documents
– Reports, databases, declassified documents, …
• Internet broadcasting
– News, documentaries, public affairs, …
• Theses and dissertations
– Bachelors, masters, doctoral
Digital Libraries and the Internet
• Digitize the content
– BLS, performing arts library, ...
• Develop the standards
• Dublin CORE
• SMIL
• XML-Data
Summary
• Systems analysis
– Required for complex multi-person tasks
• Implementation
– Client-server systems are the present trend
• Management
– Operation can cost more than acquisition
• Digital libraries
– At present, mostly focused on digital collections