Computers for Libraries 2012: A Travelogue

(Originally posted March 25, 2012)

For Week 10, students in LSC-555 were asked to visit the Computers in Libraries Conference, held in the Hilton Hotel in Dupont Circle. Held over three days (March 21-23), the conference offered registered members and visitors the opportunity meet with vendors from across the library tech spectrum and examine their offerings.

Timing was an issue. Because of my schedule, it was not possible to attend the conference on Thursday or Friday, so I left work early on Wednesday and spent a few hours at the conference before going to class. Consequently, my ability to absorb the information and speak with vendors was rushed (and matters worsened when a big presentation let out--filling the exhibition floor with visitors). However, I managed to meet with, and speak to vendors from five different organizations (EBSCO Host, OCLC, TLC, VTLS, and Emerald). 

For starters, I was drawn to organizations with which I already possessed a level of familiarity. Being in closest proximity to the entrance, EBSCOhost drew me in first, and I spoke with two individuals about the products (or journals) they offered, services to universities and public libraries, and their role in the CIL Conference. While I mentioned familiarity with e-journals, I was informed that EBSCOhost also provided eBooks and audiobooks. (I should have asked if these were accessible via smart phone or tablet.)

 

EBSCOhost Booth

After walking down one of the vendor isles, I spotted an image on a screen I had previously seen on the NHC Public Library's web site (which I thought was designed by NHC). 
(http://srvlibpac.nhcgov.com:8080/kids/)

As it turns out, this page was designed by The Library Corporation (TLC). It made sense, because NHC turned to TLC when the library updated its ILS from VTLS's Virtua. However, it seemed I gave NHC too much credit for developing their own children's page. This created a new question, because the NHC library is using both OCLC software (particularly WorldCat and CONTENTdm) and running on TLC's LS2PAC. When examining possible ILS to update to, my former supervisor requested that CONTENTdm be part of any package, and I asked the vendor for TLC if there was a relationship/partnership between TLC and OCLC. He could not confirm it, but given the special circumstances, it was entirely possible some deal had been made in order to fulfill NHC's requirements and get the deal made.

TLC Vendors and LS2PAC

 Given the new mystery, I decided to take the matter up with OCLC. Unfortunately, the vendor was busy (and I was pressed for time). However, I did pick up some brochures.

Busy OCLC Vendor

While I am sure vendors are fully capable of working together to make a deal with a customer, I wondered what kind of problems might arise in the IT side should programs not interact well with one another (or are the programs structured so that they can function alongside products from possible competitors). Conducting a quick Google search for LS2Pac (TLC ILS used by NHCPL) and CONTENTdm, I was hoping to see other libraries which used both products--suggesting that such a partnership was not a novel concept. The result made me smile:
 http://ls2pachelp.tlcdelivers.com/1_11/UserApp/I_Want_To/Understand_and_Search_Digital_Collections.htm

The images included in this page are taken from collections I created ("that's my metadata up there!").

 I also made brief stops by VTLS and Emerald--not so much to talk, but to look over products, brochures, and see if anything jumped out. Prior to starting at CUA, I never used Emerald. The main journals for historians are Jstor and Project MUSE. 

Ultimately, it was the experience at the TLC booth which proved to be the most enlightening. Beyond learning more about LS2PAC, the vendor also told me how TLC offered two ILS plans--the mentioned LS2PAC (for small libraries) and CARL X for larger library systems.

I was hoping to learn more about ExLibris, but they were not listed (or simply were not there). Based on the recent research paper, I had some questions regarding the specific differences between Rosetta and DigiTool and I was hoping someone could explain them to me. (Always next year!)