British Library har gett ut en rapport som beskriver och diskuterar fem möjliga alternativ till digital transformation av biblioteken i Storbritannien.
De fem punkterna är:
1. Deep Shared Infrastructure – a common, centralised Library Management System, procured at a UK wide level and run as a single piece of technology serving all libraries.
2. UK wide Content Discovery – an aggregator at UK national level of free-to-view digital content from libraries, archives and other public collections.
3. Unified Digital Lending – a single, publicly-run service devoted to the free digital ‘lending’ of books and other copyright content that would otherwise only be available on a commercial basis.
4. Safe Social Space – a user-led digital platform for the people who love libraries, replicating the community spaces they visit and work in as a complementary alternative to commercial social media services.
5. One Library Brand – an intervention to create and promote a single ‘library brand’ at cross-UK scale: potentially applicable in both the digital and physical realms and consistent with any of the above propositions.
Mellan juni och oktober 2018 har åtta workshops hållits. Några av de önskemål som framfördes var (s. 12):
"/.../ online registration was identified as a key gap for some authorities, as the vast majority of library authorities still require users to physically visit the library before their account becomes fully active, even for access to e-content."
"Online events booking and improved promotion of events across the whole public library system was another opportunity identified as being desirable."
"The ability to provide event booking without being directed to a third-party site was something very frequently brought forward by public library staff."
"The most popular potential digital service identified by library professionals by quite some margin in these workshops was a centralised payment platform."
"Another widely-supported suggestion was the creation of online reading groups: supporting and augmenting physical reading groups instead of simply replacing them with a digital format."
"Some groups we spoke to also debated the possibility of a self-publishing platform, mediated by local libraries to share work by local authors and to increase the diversity of voices and experiences represented."
I diskussionen kring ett gemensamt bibliotekssystem för alla bibliotek i Storbritannien hänvisas till Irland (Libraries Ireland), där alla folkbibliotek använder Innovatives bibliotekssystem Sierra (se information från Innovative).
Några citat från avsnittet "Deep Shared Infrastructure" (s. 16):
"In the United Kingdom, three companies held a 67.8% share of the LMS public library market, according to a review conducted by independent consultant Ken Chad in 2015. At the time of writing, this review showed Axiell and Capita each providing LMS solutions for 24.5% of UK public libraries, with Sirsi Dynix the third largest supplier, providing solutions to 18.8% of public library authorities. However Sirsi Dynix have since increased their market share since 2015, following their successful bid for the London Libraries Consortium’s new framework agreement, which brings together a growing number of library authorities within Greater London. Additionally, the framework agreement in place with Sirsi Dynix in Wales already integrates six library authorities, with the remaining authorities scheduled to move over to this shared platform in 2019."
"Issues would also be raised over the scale of monopoly power that a single selected provider would provide, albeit subject to the usual mitigations that a public procurement process would provide. This is to some extent a common risk-type with any kind of a “single digital presence” intervention – single centralised offer brings with it dangers of over-concentrated influence and lack of competition – but our judgement is that the risk is especially acute in this instance because of the sheer scale and complexity of any service that was put in place, with its need to interface with some 200+ adjacent IT systems."
Rapporten innehåller information om flera internationella exempel på intressanta digitala lösningar, bland annat framhålls danska eReolen och finska Finna.fi.
Klicka här för att läsa rapporten Digital transformation for UK libraries : five approaches to a 'single digital presence' : a report by the British Library for Arts Council England and Carnegie UK Trust.
Klicka här för att läsa pressmeddelandet om rapporten 2019-06-06.
Läs gärna också:
Nationellt bibliotekssystem på Island. Liksom Irland använder de isländska biblioteken Innovatives bibliotekssystem Sierra.
Nationellt bibliotekssystem i Norge? Rogaland fylkeskommune vill ha ett nationellt bibliotekssystem men samtidigt flera systemleverantörer.
Biblioteket i skyn : nationella digitala bibliotekstjänster
Nyheten om rapporten "Digital transformation for UK libraries" hittade jag via Library Technology Guides.