Author Archive: Marshall Breeding

Google promoted its “Libraries Ready to Code” joint initiative with ALA.

Tech Power

By Marshall Breeding | July 19, 2017

I probably spend more time in the exhibit hall than most conference attendees—you may have seen me browsing the aisles or rushing to my next appointment. The meetings I have with company executives and product experts inform much of my research and writing for months to come as a chronicler of the library technology industry. … Continue reading Tech Power →

Library Systems Report 2017

By Marshall Breeding | May 1, 2017

More statistics on sales performance, installations, and personnel for 2016 are available here. Consolidation deep and wide Library technology continues to consolidate horizontally and vertically. Horizontal consolidation—the merging of companies with similar business activities—shaped some of the larger players in the industry, such as Follett, and Infor Library and Information Solutions, Innovative Interfaces, Lucidea, OCLC, … Continue reading Library Systems Report 2017 →

Products related to makerspaces, like these from TeacherGeek, had a strong presence this year.

Hot Venue, High Tech

By Marshall Breeding | July 20, 2016

Though turnout was a bit lighter than usual (16,597 total attendance), many exhibitors mentioned that traffic was brisk. Vendors appreciated the opportunity to engage with current and potential library customers. Consistent with the consolidation of the industry, there were fewer booths, and many vendors showed off an ever-expanding portfolio of gadgets and devices. Technology products … Continue reading Hot Venue, High Tech →

Protecting Patron Privacy

By Marshall Breeding | May 31, 2016

Secure communication on the web provides two important benefits: identifying the website authoritatively enabling encrypted communications between the user’s browser and the server that provides the resource Encryption algorithms transform the data into a seemingly garbled form that, if intercepted, cannot be deciphered. The use of a secure communication protocol (HTTPS) provides the best approach … Continue reading Protecting Patron Privacy →

Library Systems Report 2016

By Marshall Breeding | May 2, 2016

Libraries have much at stake in products that align well with their strategies, resonate with their patrons, and facilitate the work of their staff. Previously established products are evolving to gain long-overdue modernization. In an era of web-based and cloud computing, library technology has held fast to aspects of the previous age of client–server computing. … Continue reading Library Systems Report 2016 →

EBSCO has contributed funding to a new open source library services platform aimed at academic libraries, with early versions expected to be ready by 2018.

EBSCO Supports New Open Source Project

By Marshall Breeding | April 22, 2016

If the yet-unnamed project sticks to its schedule and finds interest as lively as expected, it could open a new chapter in library technology at least as important as the advent of LSPs and the recent rounds of major company mergers and acquisitions. The initiative builds on the enthusiasm of academic and research libraries for … Continue reading EBSCO Supports New Open Source Project →

ProQuest to Acquire Ex Libris

By Marshall Breeding | October 6, 2015

Following the close, a new business group will be formed called Ex Libris, a ProQuest Company. This new entity will combine the portfolio of Ex Libris and the Workflow Solutions division of ProQuest and will be headed by current Ex Libris President and CEO Matti Shem Tov and a combined management team built from Ex … Continue reading ProQuest to Acquire Ex Libris →

SirsiDynix booth at ALA 2015 Annual Conference and Exhibition

A Look at Tech

By Marshall Breeding | July 23, 2015

One current trend in library technology aims to improve the engagement of patrons with libraries or to provide tools to help users work more effectively. In many respects, the technologies on display reinforced the theme of the “Library Systems Report 2015,” operationalizing the innovations brewing in recent years, including the increased adoption of Semantic Web technologies … Continue reading A Look at Tech →

Library Systems Report

By Marshall Breeding | May 1, 2015

Tied to the economy of libraries, the vendors that make up the library technology industry support a stable but highly constrained economic sector, with global opportunities. Library budgets may never recover to pre-recession levels, fueling interest in technology to improve their efficiency and the impact of collection resources. Products able to deliver efficiency, innovation, and … Continue reading Library Systems Report →

Supporting Print, Digital, and Mobile

By Marshall Breeding | August 5, 2014

The exhibit hall at the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas provided both a respite from the weather and a chance to learn about the latest developments in library technology. As the world’s largest exhibition of library products, the ALA Annual Conference continues to be a unique opportunity to assess current technologies from an almost … Continue reading Supporting Print, Digital, and Mobile →

Library Systems Report 2014

By Marshall Breeding | April 15, 2014

This phase of the industry offers many choices, including both proprietary and open source license options, some based on cloud technologies and others that continue to rely on local hardware. Though a new generation of library services platforms has entered a phase of early adoption, the integrated library system remains viable, especially when extended to … Continue reading Library Systems Report 2014 →

Web-Scale Discovery Services

By Marshall Breeding | January 14, 2014

Discovery services face complex challenges. For example, to accommodate the concerns of proprietary-content providers, discovery services must differentiate publicly available search results from content offered only to authenticated users. In addition, access to resources must be aligned with each library’s subscription and database selections. Discovery services only allow access to resources that a library is … Continue reading Web-Scale Discovery Services →

Latest Library Links

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ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall writes: “After an earth-shifting week that has brought into stark relief the experiences of racism and racial violence that many of us and our communities navigate every day as people of color, it is even more clear that the work of dismantling racism is overdue. It is overdue in our society, in library and information services, and at ALA, which exists to ensure that libraries, learning, and information access are available to all. To that end, I invited several ALA staffers and member leaders to reflect on this moment.”
AL: The Scoop, June 5
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The staff at Booklist have compiled a list of antiracist books and other resources for librarians and readers of all ages, noting, “We cannot rely on the books to do the work for us, but in the hopes they might serve as catalysts for the self-reflection and group discussion that often preface effective antiracist action, we have developed a list of our own. For those committed to this journey—the reading and the subsequent action—the list below is a start.”
Booklist Reader, June 5
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Cass Balzer writes: “As the US unemployment rate spikes to historic highs, many librarians and other library workers are being furloughed from their positions and navigating the personal and professional challenges that result. One of the biggest challenges—the effect on morale—is heightened when furloughs arrive with little warning, little support, or both.”
AL: The Scoop, June 5
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Dandy roll, dentelles, thumb-soiled. What do these words mean? In a short film called “A Body of Language” posted at The New Yorker, D. W. Young interviews two dozen or so rare book dealers about the “obscure and fanciful language of the book world—particularly the bodily lingo.”
The New Yorker, May 21
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Janko Roettgers writes: “Summer typically marks some of the busiest times for local libraries. But with COVID-19, libraries have had to rethink their summer programs and the way they can serve local communities. Many libraries have turned to ebook-lending programs like Hoopla and Overdrive, which have seen usage surge since March. That increased usage has also put a spotlight on the costs associated with these services, and the role that book publishers play in the digital transformation of libraries, as well as conflicts between business models and policies designed to serve the public good.”
Protocol, June 5
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Peter Derk writes: “This year I’ll be involved in my 16th summer reading at the library. There’s your bona fides. The library and summer reading go together like John Carpenter and synthesizers. Wait, that’s too cool. Not that I think summer reading is uncool, but c’mon, there’s a limit. The library and summer reading go together like glasses and retainers. There, that feels about right. From time to time, a library loses its way. Does some weird things with summer reading that don’t quite add up. I’m here to tell you about a couple.”
Lit Reactor, June 1
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A camel library is giving children out of school in some of Ethiopia’s remote villages a unique opportunity to continue reading and learning, despite COVID-19 school closures. Save the Children first began the camel library in 2010. The service includes 21 camels, which are traditionally used by communities in the Somali region of Ethiopia to transport goods across the hot lowland areas. Camels can carry up to 200 storybooks at a time in wooden boxes strapped to their backs. The project currently reaches more than 22,000 children in 33 villages. Across Ethiopia, some 26 million children are out of school due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: ReliefWeb, June 5

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