Comparative Study of Library Administration Software

The evaluation focuses on the library administration software, a program developed to address the fundamental housekeeping activities of a library. Library administration system consists of a relational database, program to relate with that database, as well as two graphical client interfaces are meant for staff and the other one for patrons. However, library Administration Software has various basic roles to carry out inside the library, which include Housekeeping activities, administrative planning, public services as well as decision making (Lovvorn et al., 2015). Housekeeping activities incorporate acquisition of files, technical processing such as categorizing and cataloging, control of circulations, interlibrary loan, and control of serial among others. Public services incorporate the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) options meant for buying books.

Administrative planning consists of the creation of transaction rules, customization of Library Management system, restore as well as the backup of the database among others. Integrated Library Management System differentiates the software activities into discrete plans known as modules, every one of them with a united display. Acquisitions, inter-library loan, circulation as well as cataloging, however different roles of the library are interdependent. Library program has advanced by combining these duties into an integrated library system. The OPACs examined include infinite concord module and the spydus module.

Analysis and Comparison of OPAC Modules

            Concord

Infiniti module offers a library solution for all stages of education and it presents a powerful tool that is designed to improve educational outcomes among the learners. Infiniti consists of K-12 school library solution with components that ensure effective functionality to its student audiences. The suite of customization allows personalizing of the displayed content, which enhances the experience of the customers (Saffady, 2011). The researchers are able to share information with each other through the styled information portal. However, each library or campus in Infiniti module is presented with different frames and fonts to show distinctive character (Saffady, 2011). The theme may be applied to change font size, style and colours, backgrounds, borders or even customize a personal theme that suits the customer requirements.

            Similarly, spydus module incorporated an integrated library system management that is hosted and comprises of the archive as well as digital asset management. The system also incorporates mobile working, patron discovery and event management using modern technology to integrate all features to manage changes in library services (Saffady, 2011). The module used discovery OPAC that consists of reader recommendations that enable the provider to work with various library partners to ensure that customers have seamless technology experience when accessing resources. Library staffs are able to experience improved backed features to enhance operational efficiency by use of web-based applications. Similar to Concord Infiniti module, Spydus software is customizable to meet the library needs of the customers (Saffady, 2011). The users are able to set various types and sizes of libraries such as large consortia, educational institutions, and schools as well as public and government libraries.   

            Contrary to concord Infiniti module, the Spydus module offers digital asset management and other features such as circulation for both local study collections and ordinary library collections. The database allows for the file to be either stored in an archive or library and provides a digital repository (Saffady, 2011). The digital objects are uploaded to the catalogue by use of a metadata structure. In spydus, digital asset resources are linked to bibliographic MARC, artifact as well as archive records, whereby they are accessed via Spydus Integrated Discovery OPAC (Saffady, 2011). There is no need of predefined object taxonomy to enable digital asset to develop its virtual taxonomies by use of digital object’s metadata.

The interrelation between Concord Infiniti and Spydus Modules

            Both Concord Infiniti and Spydus modules are designed to ensure security and privacy of users’ data. For instance, Infiniti is hosted by Amazon AWS data centers to guarantee customers that their data is kept based on the country’s regulation on security and privacy. Infiniti uses a cloud-based library that is more secure than other on-premise systems since there are strict securities measures put by cloud providers more than what schools can do by to ensure the security of confidential data. Nevertheless, e-content used by Spydus is critical for enabling users to view available content, borrow or reserve resources in a specific search platform (Saffady, 2011). The technology has made the systems effective for handling lean statistics since it enables users to review both digital and physical loans in one library account.

            Infiniti and Spydus present an interactive business intelligence tool though charts and dashboards that help in library decision making. For instance, SydusBI suite has three modules that include SpydusManager that allows for the creation of reports around borrowers, bookings, notices as well as acquisitions.  SpydusCollection, on the other hand, ensures in-depth look at the library’s collection by focusing on performance tasks.  Another library is SpydusAnalytics that brings different data sources and supports computer usage, door count, OPAC searches, council systems, and WIFI. The system ensures that reports can be scheduled manually for exportation or converted to PDF, Excel, and MS Word, among other formats (Breeding, 2015). Similar, to Spydus, Infiniti uses intelligent email notification system that provides notices to customers as well as updating them on overdue escalating messages.

The technology used in both OPACs incorporates current culture, which ensures that it makes sense to the school community by ensuring that users are able to access the system regardless of the device used from either school or home.  For instance, Infiniti is adaptive to all mobile devices and does not require a separate app (Breeding, 2012). The component allows students as well as the school community to access the database from their phones, laptops, and tablets since they can download and manage apps for various gadgets. Contrary to data management system in Spydus, Infiniti has library management system that is simple and users are not required to learn how to use it (Breeding, 2015). The system provides a platform for navigation, which ensures effective management of tasks, whereby parents are able to connect from home together with their children.

Recommendation  

            The analysis of the OPACs shows that Spydus module is better than Infiniti module due to its unique features. For instance, patron discovery technology used in Spydus enable the system to access digital and physical items from different components to ensure unified public access during the search. The customers are able to enjoy personalized experience after logging in and are also able to receive alerts and recommendations for other sites for the firms offering similar services. Another benefit of implementation of Spydus is the archive module that helps in managing local studies. The layout of the archive is in compliance with international archiving standards ISAD, which is designed to accommodate various collections of both digital and physical items. The OPAC also creates an environment for mutual relationships between items (Breeding, 2012). In this case, records are created using ISAD G that comprises data fields such as title donor, summary description search dates as well as use restrictions.  Spydus incorporates digital asset management that ensures support digital resources such as eBooks, journals as well as manuscripts.

            Spydus event management portal is designed for specific libraries that integrate LMS that enables users to link up with events as well as marketing them. The platform is also user-friendly since the event management portal and student portal are designed as an extra window in the library OPAC to update the users on the oncoming news and events. In many cases, the add-on such as Twitter And Facebook whereby users can promote their events to specific individuals or sites. Another attractive feature of Spydus module is the new consortia model that ensures that libraries have options of retaining their unique identities, regardless of participating in a wide shared environment.  The flexibility of the Spydus module is also enhanced by the development of mobile applications that enable staff and users to access the interface via web browsers and get library services. The module incorporates customized OPAC that is loadable in smartphones through production different versions based on the targeted operating system.  The app also enables users to use the camera when scanning an ISBN to assess if the library has similar copies. Use of Spydus module would improve customer experiences on online libraries as well as OPAC.

References

Breeding, M., 2015. . Introduction and Concepts. Library Technology Reports, 51(4), pp.5-19.

Breeding, M., 2012. Agents of change. Library Journal, 137(6), pp.30-36.

Breeding, M., 2012. Cloud computing for libraries (Vol. 11). American Library Association.

Pritchard‐Jones, K., Williams, R., Segers, H., van den Heuvel‐Eibrink, M., Pieters, R., van Tinteren, H., Vujanic, G. and Bown, N., 2015. Response to the letter to the editor: 1q gain is a frequent finding in preoperatively treated W ilms tumors, but of limited prognostic value for risk satisfaction in the SIOP 2009/Gesellschaft für Pädiatrische Onkologie und Hämatologie (GPOH) trial. Genes, Chromosomes, and Cancer, 54(6), pp.397-399.

Saffady, W., 2011. Integrated library systems for microcomputers and mainframes: a vendor study. Library technology reports, 30(2), pp.157-319.

Appendix

Appendix A: Criteria Table for ILMS Report Step 1 Evaluation

(Shaded rows are headings / explanations.  Look for the points, 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2 etc.)

Feature

Comments

Feature rated 1/2/3

Not found?

1. A single point of entry to all library information (one box search point for all material held by or accessible through the library)

1.1 bibliographic information

Available

3

1.2 full text electronic

available

2.4

1.3 digital archives

Clear

2.9

1.4 any library resources such as guides

Identifiable

2.3

2. State of the art web interface

2.1 intuitive interface

Customisable

2.2

2.2 visually appealing

Themes can be changed

2.7

2.3 “looks & feels”

2.3

3. Enriched content (not just from the MARC records)

3.1 Book covers

Many book covers

2.6

3.2 reviews

Available

2.5

3.3 Summaries

Abstracts and reviews presented summaries

2.6

3.4 Other (list them…)

N/A

4. Faceted navigation

4.1 narrowing searches by facets, e.g. subject, author, dates, types of material, location, series…(rate for range and degree of variety available)

Not well synchronized

1.9

5. Simple keyword search box

5.1 looks & feels like other popular internet search engines

2.4

5.2 link to advanced search if want more complex searching

2.6

6. Relevancy rating/ relevance ranking

http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_r.aspx#relevance

6.1 traditional, i.e. based on frequency & positions of terms/ keywords in bibliographic records

2.5

6.2 number of times borrowed (note that in the research article referenced, almost no OPACs capable of this)

2.6

6.3 size & font of keywords in tag clouds/ word clouds/ weighted lists

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_cloud

Font size and colour can be changed

3

6.4 Number of comments

Positive comments

2.7

6.5 Any others? (list them)

2.3

7. ”Did you mean” search support

e.g. like Google

Showing results for disaster

Search instead for diaster

7.1 for when a search term is not spelled correctly

2.2

7.2 for when nothing is found in the search

The site displays ”no result found

2.3

8. Recommendations and related materials

8.1 recommendations of related materials

Spydus digital data management

2.8

8.2 patrons who borrowed this also borrowed… (like Amazon etc.)

2.7

9. User contribution can be added (which could then be used in relevancy ranking)

9.1 ratings

2.4

9.2 reviews

2.1

9.3 tags

2.7

9.4 comments

1.9

10. RSS feeds (rich site summaries)

RSS file contains details of the latest items available within a website, it helps you keep up to date without having to check the site itself

From http://www.abc.net.au/services/rss/

10.1 delivering lists of new acquisitions

Present

2.4

10.2 delivering search updates

Updates dome gradually

2.6

Total score for rated features:

Numerous resources and features.

2.1

Total not found features

2.3