Reports of Conferences, Institutes, and Seminars

Abstract

This quarter"s column offers coverage of multiple sessions from the 2016 Electronic Resources and Libraries (ER&L) Conference, held April 3-6 in Austin, TX. There is also a report from the UKSG Annual Conference and Exhibition, held April 11-13 in Bournemouth, UK and another from the Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge, held May 14-17 in Timberline Lodge, OR.Topics in serials acquisitions dominate the column, including reports on altmetrics, cost per use, and demand-driven acquisitions; scholarly communications and the use of subscriptions agents; but also ERMS, access, and knowledgebases.The role of choice in the future of discovery evaluations In this presentation Neil Block, (vice president for discovery innovation, EBSCO), Marshall Breeding, (founder and editor librarytechnology.org), Robert H. McDonald, (associate dean/deputy director, Indiana University), and Curtis Thacker, (director of discovery systems, Brigham Young University) came together to discuss the merits of interoperability and factors that either encourage or hinder choice in today"s discovery ecosystem.Breeding began by providing an historical overview of the library automation market and how the integrated library system (ILS) became the tool for comprehensive management of library system functionality. Breeding provided a quick overview of the development of the Open URL (uniform resource locator) link resolver tools, which have traditionally been stand-alone tools providing services in tandem with integrated library systems (ILSs) but not bundled with the ILS. Breeding mentioned the development of the ERMS, or electronic resource management system, which was designed to manage burgeoning electronic resource collections separately from print. Responses to these ERM systems indicated that they were difficult to use and required too much staff time for minimal added value. Further development in the discovery space included the opportunity to separate the front end online public access catalog (OPAC) ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 3 from the back end ILS with the introduction of new discovery layers such as VuFind andAquaBrowser. Web-scale discovery systems were the next developments to enter this arena. This new approach to academic research provided libraries with a centralized index that worked with already established knowledgebase and link resolver tools. Recent developments in the market have seen a shift from the integrated library system to library service platforms (LSP) such as Alma and Intota. These systems combine print and electronic resource management into the same interface and consolidate backend workflows. Breeding asks whether this consolidation of functionality increases efficiency across technical service units. Is there an advantage to selling these library service platforms as a bundled all-inclusive platform or to offer modules a la carte?Breeding noted that two advantages to a bundled system are the utilization of one common knowledgebase, plus the full support by one vendor. The bundled approach is do...