Ex Libris open platform initiative

I attended an Ex Libris session on its open platform strategy. All three of the presentations were excellent. Even though I've never managed an Ex Libris software product, I found a lot of common ground between the presentations and the kinds of issues that I'm dealing with as the head of a Systems unit in an ARL library.

Carl Grant described the benefits of the hybrid commercial and open source model, and described a number of his experiences in OSS during his time running CARE Affiliates, an open source software company. From a services model, I see the hybrid model as the best possible one for meeting user needs.

Mark Dehmlow of Notre Dame described his work with the Ex Libris open platform, including the development of a mash-up using data from his university's Aleph system, Google web services, and isbn2book.com. At one point, Mark talked about the gap between library online services and user needs and the availability of product APIs enables institutions to help close that gap. I'm thinking about this subject (the gap between expectations in services) as I prepare for an upcoming session, later this afternoon, on OCLC WorldCat Navigator. In a fundamental way, Navigator has enabled WSU to better meet its user expectations, both now and in the future. Undoubtedly, it has done so at a cost (for example, the loss of some specific, previously-supported requesting functions due to Millennium's lack of NCIP compliance), but like this Ex Libris tools, OCLC is enabling end-user extension and adaptation of its software products.