Master of “Complex and Ambiguous Phenomena”: The ERL’s Role in a Library Service Platform Migration

Abstract

Library Services Platforms (LSPs) offer academic libraries the ability to integrate the management of print and electronic resources in one centralized platform. This article will examine the role of electronic resources librarians (ERLs) in a large-scale, consortial LSP implementation relative to NASIG's Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians. The speakers, Conor Cote and Kirsten Ostergaard, hail from Montana, where the Treasure State Academic Information and Library Services Consortium, comprised of seventeen academic libraries, is implementing Ex Libris's Alma LSP in conjunction with the Primo discovery layer. The aim of this presentation and article is to examine how the skills and competencies of an ERL can be leveraged for an effective and minimally disruptive LSP implementation.

Cracking the Code on Acquisitions: Transitions From Voyager to Alma

“…Cote and Ostergaard also explored the skills and competencies of electronic resources librarians from the Treasure State Academic and Information Services (TRAILS) Consortium at the time when the consortium was migrating to a next generation of ILS. 11 They suggested using NASIG's "Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians" as a basis to approach the implementation process. They emphasized electronic resources librarians as critical to this process due to their prior experience in troubleshooting e-resources, critical and analytical skills and their experience in managing communications between vendors.…”