Reality Check: Today's library automation marketplace
| Pages | 167-170 |
| Published date | 01 March 1998 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045632 |
| Date | 01 March 1998 |
| Author | Pamela Cibbarelli |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Reality Check: today's library
automation marketplace
Pamela Cibbarelli
CIBBARELLI'S,
419
Main Street, Suite 82, Huntingdon Beach,
CA
92648,
USA.
e-mail: cibbarelli@aol.com
Judging from
the
press, conference exhibit halls,
and
titles
of
papers
at
library conferences everyone
is
automating with Web browsers, graphic interfaces, client/server interfaces,
and
new operating systems.
But
how many libraries really have implemented these technologies?
In reality, library automation software publishers
are
continuing
to
evolve their products
to
take advantage
of
emerging technologies, and librarians expectations are evolving just as quickly. However, the implementation
of
the
newer technologies lags considerably. This article provides
a
"reality check"
on the
level
of
library
automation product development and on
the
level
of
implementation
of
new developments
in
libraries.
The focus
of
product development
in
library automation firms
for
the last five years
has
been toward devel-
oping
interfaces:
Web-based
interfaces to the Online
catalog,
Technical Processing, Acquisitions, Serials,
and
Cataloging; telnet access
to the
online catalog; graphical user interfaces;
and
interfaces
to
other vendors
products. Product migration has been
to
UNIX, Windows NT, and Windows
95
operating systems.
Interfaces
At the annual
Computers
in
Libraries Meeting held
in
Arlington,
Virginia
in
March 1998,
I
chaired
a
Round
Table discussion among five library automation
ven-
dors and asked
for
product development and imple-
mentation information. Individuals from Ameritech,
Winnebago, GEAC, EOSi, and Gaylord were on
the
panel.
One
of the
questions posed
to the
panel was "what
percentage
of
libraries using your software product
have implemented Web browser software
to
access
the online catalog?" The panel all responded that the
implementation
of
Web browsers was
at
about 20%
of their installed base except Gaylord. Gaylord
has
one site installed with their new Polaris product
and
that site
has
implemented Web browser interface
to
the OPAC, thereby giving Gaylord 100% with their
one Polaris site.
Web
browser interfacing
to the
online catalog was available
for
each
of
the vendor's
systems,
but the
supportive technology
to
permit
implementation of
Web
browser access
is
so expen-
sive that most libraries must plan toward
its
imple-
mentation.
Academic, corporate,
and
governmental
libraries lead the implementation because they have
other uses
for
the computers and require connectiv-
ity. Their libraries simply "piggy-back" onto
the
high
speed data networks. Public and school libraries
are
slower
to
implement
the
technology because
the
demand
is not
adequate from
the
public. Home
and
school computers with adequate memory
and
speed
to
use Web
browsers are owned by less than 25%
of
the homes.
One
large vendor indicated that about
50%
of
their academic sites
and
about
5% of
their
school sites
had
implemented
Web
browser inter-
faces
to
the OPAC.
Implementation
of
capability for remote dial-in
is
con-
siderably higher, close to
100%.
This
is
because most
vendors require remote log-in
so
they
can
provide
assistance from their headquarters. Although techno-
logically speaking, most libraries have implemented
remote
log-in,
fewer
publicize
their phone numbers for
remote log-in or
and
even fewer provide telnet access.
Telnet access establishes
a
remote log-in
via the
Internet
in a
character-based mode, unlike
the
graphical based mode used
for
World Wide
Web
access. Since
it
uses
the
Internet
to
establish
the
link, long-distance phone calls are
not
required,
and
only knowledge
of
the telnet address
and
log-in
are
required.
When
the
Computers
in
Libraries
panel
of
software executives discussed telnet access
it was
agreed that
for
those libraries without telnet access
today, the probability
of
wanting
to
plan for future
tel-
net access
is low.
Implementation
of
Web browser
access
is
much more desirable
in
today's library
automation environment. Some vendors which
are
releasing
new
systems
are now
eliminating telnet
capabilities
in
their newest products believing
the
technology
is no
longer in demand.
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) have been
an
area
of considerable product development
for
several
years.
First implemented as graphical user interfaces
to online catalogs,
the
technology
is now
reaching
the back rooms
of
the library. Cataloging
is
the most
widely implemented technical processing module.
Acquisitions
and
Serials
are
typically
the
last
to be
implemented.
FOCUS
article
Library
Automation
The Electronic Library, Vol. 16, No. 3, June
1998 167
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