21st Century Library Systems |
| |
| Authors: | Andrew Pace |
| |
| Institution: | Networked Library Services , OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. , Dublin, OH, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Less than a decade into the 21st century, perhaps it is more fitting to describe library automation as approaching its 80th birthday, is a time to look back and carefully measure moving forward. Since the introduction of a punch card circulation system at the University of Texas in 1936, through the advent and perseverance of the MARC record, and following the ebb and flow of nearly 75 different library automation vendors, library automation has come a long way. For some, however, it has not come nearly far enough. If one were to stop the history of library automation in the mid-1990s and wish away the dominance of the Internet, libraries and patrons might have been quite content with the state-of–the-art as it existed 15 years ago. But wishing away the Internet is like envisioning a world without electricity and indoor plumbing; as such, that 1990s library automation summit is now a plateau from which many library technologists and futurists can see no launch pad to a next-generation of library software and services. |
| |
| Keywords: | Library Automation cloud computing OCLC ILS next-generation library system |
|
|
