IFLA posteri
Towards a new library system
Esitteeseen alkuun JA posteriin yhteystiedot: Jarmo Saarti, Sinikka Luokkanen, Tommi Jauhiainen, Lassi Lager (tähän yhteystiedot: organisaatio, s-posti)
posterin taustalle wikistä kokonaisarkkitehtuurisivuja.
posterin yhteyteen palautemahdollisuus (wikissä, post-it-lappu tms).
posterin esittelijöille UKJ-paidat tai väh. logolla varustetut nimilaput
esitteen etusivulle puulogo ja johdanto (kukkiva omenapuu esim ok). Esitteitä tulostetaan aluksi vaikka 300, sitten lisää kysynnän mukaan.
posteriin QR-koodi, jolla aukeaa UKJ-wikin engl.kielinen IFLA-sivu. Siellä handsout, poster. Kuvitusta wikiinkin.
Lassi huolehtii posterin seinälle sunnuntaina, pidetään kokous esittelyajoista elokuun alkupuolella.
Posteriin otsikon alle tuleva johdanto (ei siis se alkuperäinen):
The aim of the process is to assess the feasibility of a library system entirety for all types of libraries in Finland. In the libraries in different library sectors in the daily routines, there are different traditions, domains of expertise, and social language. This will be the first case in Finland when representatives from different library sectors together formulate the hard core aims of the library system.
The project plan will specify the following:
- The necessary joint guidelines and culture (e.g., principles for lending and cataloguing)
- Products and functions based on library systems
- The opportunities and needs of joint databases (bibliographic, collections, customer and similar databases)
Abstract
Finnish libraries are using different integrated library systems. Higher education libraries funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture are using the same ILS in three different installations on the same hardware. Special and public libraries are using several different systems. Many of these library systems are reaching their end-of-life phase. During the spring and summer of 2011 all the Finnish library sectors together with the National Library of Finland formed a joint committee in order to assess the feasibility of a new library system entirety, possibly an open source solution that would suit the needs of all the different types of libraries.
Introduction
The Finnish libraries have been active in implementing modern library technologies (Saarti 2006 and Tuominen & Saarti 2012; see also Fig. 1). The modern era of library automation started in the 1970s when some of the largest public libraries started to implement library automation in order to manage lending of library materials. At the same time, university and some special libraries started to utilize digital technologies, especially in information searching.
The 1980’s and 1990’s saw the birth of online services. Libraries started to utilize internet technologies both in disseminating their resources and in providing internet access to the general public. During the 1990’s, some of the most important Finnish centralized services were inaugurated.
first off-line loaning systems | online loaning systems | integrated library systems and database searching | birth of the national library database services | internet and the development of the digital library | outsourcing, open access, open source, joint systems |
the end of the 1970’s | the beginning of the 1980’s | the end of the 1980’s | the beginning of the 1990’s | the end of the 1990’s | the beginning of the 2000’s |
Fig 1. Milestones in information technology between 1970 and 2000 (updated from Saarti 2006).
The most recent trend in Finnish library automation is the joint library system. These have been most extensively developed within the higher education libraries that have a joint library automation system. At the present, the planning of the acquisition of a new library system has started; the concept is to try to establish a joint system with common databases for all the libraries in all sectors willing to collaborate in this effort.
The aims of the new library automation system (UKJ) and enterprise architecture method
The aim of the process is to assess the feasibility of a library system entirety for all types of libraries in Finland. In the libraries in different library sectors in the daily routines, there are different traditions, domains of expertise, and social language. This will be the first case in Finland when representatives from different library sectors together formulate the hard core aims of the library system.
The project plan will specify the following:
- The necessary joint guidelines and culture (e.g., principles for lending and cataloguing)
- Products and functions based on library systems
- The opportunities and needs of joint databases (bibliographic, collections, customer and similar databases)
- Joint sections and tailored sections
- Standards and interfaces
- A risk analysis
- A financing solution and a cost-benefit analysis
- An administrative model and legal issues
- A timetable (for the first implementation projects for the new system in 2014)
The new Finnish legislation, passed in 2011, drives towards the interoperability of information systems that are funded by the government. To be in line with the legislation the committee decided to use enterprise architecture as a method describing the functionalities of the new library system. The enterprise architecture itself is a method for describing the operational processes of an organisation, information used, systems and produced services as one functional entirety. The decision to use enterprise architecture leads to a challenging learning process to almost all participants.
There are two parallel project entireties that have an influence the new library system planning. In Finland, we have the National Digital Library project (www.kdk.fi/en/). The project is set up and financed by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The public interfaces (i.e. OPAC with more functionality) of the current and forthcoming library systems are planned to be the interface implemented in this national project. There are projects to expand the Linda database (the union catalogue of Finnish University Libraries www.nationallibrary.fi/libraries/linnea/linda.html). The aim is to create a national metadata repository for all libraries. This will impact more or less to the libraries’ resources description processes.
Collaboration and tools used in the planning
The joint committee decided to keep the assess process as open as possible, from the project point of view enable all librarians to joint, and still hold on to the goal and timetable.
Several working groups were formed from all types of libraries to do the actual hard work. The working methods include wiki-collaboration, email-lists, web meetings, face-to-face meetings and workshops.
The focus areas of the working groups are those traditional ones like resources description, circulation, interlibrary loans, access to electronic resources, acquisition and life cycle surveys of all kind of material (i.e. printed, electronic, monographs and serials), but also co-operation with other systems and resources (i.e. financial, staff and student administration systems).
Conclusions Timetable and Results
The first phase of the process 2011-2012
- 08-09/2012: deadline for the enterprise architecture descriptions (made by different working groups and lead and compiled by the joint committee)
- 12/2012: deadline for the project plan
The second phase of the process 2013-2014
- Beginning of 2013: primary desicions how to continue.
The result of the first phase is not only the project plan. There will be many librarians who will have a first-hand experience of co-configuration working and learning process.
Time will tell how many libraries and library sectors will continue to the second phase.
References
Saarti, Jarmo (2006). Libraries without walls: information technology in Finnish public libraries from the 1970s to 1990s. Library history 22 (1), pp. 33-43.
Tuominen, Kimmo & Saarti, Jarmo (2012). The Finnish library system - open collaboration for an open society. IFLA Journal (2).