In an article published earlier this year in the Journal of Library Administration, Laura Kinner and Christine Rigda write about the evolving role of the integrated library system (ILS) (2009). In the 1970s and 1980s, automated library systems (ALSs) modernized libraries, bringing libraries from paper into a digitized system, however ALSs were neither interactive nor user friendly. The four core modules included acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, and serials. In the 1990s, ILSs innovated the library world. Bibliographic databases and authority controls were included in ILS product packages. Stepping beyond the ALS, librarians felt a regain of control they believed they had lost in the shift from paper to ALS. The beginning of the 21st century marked the transformation of the ILS. Now, the demand on ILSs is pushing for a network of digital information within a digital community, providing data available anytime, anywhere. Users are growing increasingly demanding of the services a system presents.
Considering the services CyberTools for Libraries offers, this system loosely fits the bill of an ILS. CyberTools has the core modules of cataloging, circulation, and serials. I did not see a clearly define acquisitions module in the back end of the system. The ILS does have multiple features within each of the three modules. The cataloging module, for example, allows librarians to import and edit MARC bibliographic files. Item-level records may also be edited. Spine and pocket labels may be printed, although the FPL Library uses a home-grown, much more simplistic method to printing book labels. Cataloging reports may be compiled for statistics on bibliographic batches by title, date range, and control number, among other things. I do not see an authority control feature in CyberTools for Libraries.
Kinner and Rigda go on to review how the ILS marketplace has changed over the years (2009). Before 1990, there were many vendors of ILS products. Heading into the 1990s and beyond, buyouts and mergers became prevalent. Today's market is that of a few large ILS vendors and many specialized vendors selling to niche markets. In the future, the authors predict both types of vendors will need to collaborate to yield an optimized product. With the rise in popularity of the Internet, ILSs have changed from being the resource to being a resource among many options. To keep up with popular commercial sites (think Amazon or Google), libraries will need to incorporate faceted searching, relevance-ranked results, end-user tagging, and visual navigation. An ILS will no longer be a stand-alone product; instead, multiple vendors will offer add-ons.
CyberTools for Libraries may be considered one of those niche products. Their users include hospital, law firm, and some governmental libraries, according to the head librarian at FPL Library. CyberTools does additionally market themselves to academic, consortial, and corporate libraries, however I am unsure how many of these subgroups of special libraries actually use CyberTools for Libraries. Perhaps the weaknesses of the CyberTools product could be diminished if they collaborate with ILS vendors of more prominence (e.g. SirsiDynix, MINISIS, Inc., Sagebrush). Alternatively, they could connect with another smaller vendor and, in this way, work to strengthen their product. I am not one to necessarily support mergers. To me, they bring to mind corporate monopolies and decreased user services. The benefits to joining with another company seem to be driven more by fiscal gains than by thoughts of increasing user service. It may be that a system with a few quirks that has excellent vendor-supplied user support is superior to a crisper product with a vendor who does not provide quality support.
Kinner and Rigda note that, as time passes, librarians are wanting more from their ILS, and they are wanting the products to be more efficient (2009). Library budgets are ever-tightening, and library staff numbers are shrinking. Open source is increasing in popularity over proprietary systems. Librarians desire more choice, and open source systems lend themselves to greater flexibility. Vendors, of course, are reacting to the open source movement. They are creating products that include faceted searching, thesauri, relevance ranking, tag clouds, and faceted meta-searching. The authors ask ... is it enough? Will the ILS survive this new digital age?
Perhaps instead of chasing shadows by striving to keep up with the fast-changing digital environment, ILSs should focus on what they do best (Kinner & Rigda, 2009). By developing these core modules (acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, and serials), ILS vendors can stick with what they know best. Then, the ILSs can link into other digital applications (e.g. Facebook, Flickr, YouTube) and portals (e.g. specific community and campus websites), or other virtual learning environments to bring the library search engine to the (potential) user. Integrating the library system with pre-existing applications would increase its interoperability. The authors argue that this interoperability, begetting convenience, is crucial to the survival of ILSs. Without it, ILSs may become extinct.
Cybertools, Inc. is responding to the evolving market. In the coming months, CyberTools plans on releasing a federated searching component to its product, which will incorporate PubMed Central, the National Center for Biotechnology Information, and a few commercial sites (Connor, 2009, p. 241). The company also will be releasing an open-access collection of qualified health science resources at some point in the near future (Connor, p. 241). Perhaps the strongest argument to maintain or buy into CyberTools is its affordability. Keeping true to its aim of affordability, in 2009 the cost of CyberTools for Libraries did not increase ("News," 2009). In this age of automated everything, customers are often willing to pay a little extra for a company that can boast strong technical support. CyberTools is able to offer this help at a lower cost than most of its competitors. For this ILSs future, the focus should be on improving the quality of their product while maintaining their technical support.
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(2009). News. Retrieved from http://www.cybertoolsforlibraries.com/news.php#news.
