We need your input!

Submitted by Dace Freivalds, LMSRWG chair

Are you tired of managing ebooks in a system designed for print materials? Are you having trouble getting data on collection usage from our current ILS? Have you had to develop one too many workarounds to get things done in WorkFlows? Then we need your input.

The Library Management System Requirements Working Group (LMSRWG) was recently charged by the Libraries’ administration to “Define library management system functional requirements for the University Libraries for all components (selection, acquisition, cataloging, discovery, fulfillment, ERM, publishing and curation services, etc.) across all resource types (print, electronic, digital, e-books, open access and repository based materials, multi-media, etc.).” Our current library management system, or integrated library system (ILS) as it is typically called, is SirsiDynix Symphony, WorkFlows and the CAT. During the past decade, our SirsiDynix system has facilitated the acquisition, cataloging, inventory control, circulation, and discovery of our print collections. Our current ILS was designed for a print world and cannot be easily reconfigured to accommodate electronic resources and digital materials. Given that 70% of our collections budget is spent on electronic resources and digital materials, it is necessary to start looking at library management systems that can manage the Libraries’ resources in a comprehensive and unified way regardless of resource format and location.

LMSRWG team members are: Bob Alan, Barbara Coopey, Jeff Edmunds, Mike Giarlo, Lauren Kime, John Meier, Emily Rimland, and Dace Freivalds. We will be contacting departments, both those who use and do not use our current system, during the summer to start gathering requirements for a new library management system. In thinking about requirements please focus on future rather than current needs – blueskying and thinking out of the box are encouraged. The new LMS will affect everyone!

And one more thing. LMSRWG doesn’t roll off the tongue easily, and we would like to come up with a tagline for our group that we can use to easily identify ourselves when communicating with you. Please send suggestions to us by Tuesday, July 9.

Our group email address: UL-LMSRWG@LISTS.PSU.EDU