One of the most critical success factors of implementing any new enterprise system is to plan for making everything form the workflows to individual screens as permeable and customizable as possible (Lampert, Vaughan, 2009). This is essential for aligning the specific information roles and needs to the contents of the library and its content and knowledge management systems.
In conjunction with the Cloud-based ILS system, the library must also include federated search across all sites, so that users can quickly find what they are looking for. Federated search needs to also be integral to the CMS and KMS platforms as well, ensuring immediate, real-time access from requests and queries. The new system architecture also needs to include a workflow designer and manager so that each individual query can be optimized and routed through the most relevant databases. The cloud architecture needs to include support for single sing-on across all databases once so students and faculty can get to all information and knowledge as rapidly as possible. The critical factor in designing an ILS architecture is to ensure a high degree of agility and flexibility in defining workflows and personalization of queries to meet specific needs and requirements (Flower, 2004). The new system will also need to have mobility configuration options, as it is anticipated that over the next three to five years the majority of queries will be completed on tablet and smartphone devices. The future direction of the Cloud-based ILS needs to also take into account how analytics will be used over time to streamline queries and make the overall system more efficient. Advanced analytics of queries will become commonplace in three years, adding in contextual search. The inclusion of federated search into the Cloud-based ILS is the first step.
In conjunction with these technical requirements there is also the need to include extensive amounts of training and development. These are the catalysts that drive change management over time, and they need to be at...
Training does more than just inform users of how to use the software; it makes the value of the system permeate the culture of any organization, making adoption of the system more likely over the long-term (McGee, 2006). Skills assessments and investments aimed at gaining greater levels of mastery of each module of the system is critical as it fuels greater adoption and engraining of key workflows into the overall approach the library uses to serve patrons. In planning three to five years out it is essential to look not just at the cloud architecture, integration of federated search, support for ECM and EKM systems but also to how the overall ILS system can be made more agile and responsive to the changing needs of the patrons of the library. In conclusion the Cloud-based ILS must be both structurally sound enough to support data taxonomies but also agile enough to support the rapid access and queries that are the new reality of information and library science.
References
Edwards, J.S., Shaw, D., & Collier, P.M. (2005). Knowledge management systems: Finding a way with technology. Journal of Knowledge Management, 9(1), 113-125.
Flower, E. (2004). Competition, technology, and planning: Preparing for tomorrow's library environment. Information Technology and Libraries, 23(2), 67-69.
Lampert, C., & Vaughan, J. (2009). Success factors and strategic planning: Rebuilding an academic library digitization program. Information Technology and Libraries, 28(3), 116-136.
McGee, R. (2006). Information technology (it) strategic planning for libraries. Library Management, 27(6), 470-485.
Shupe, C., & Behling, R. (2006). Developing and implementing a strategy for technology deployment. Information Management Journal, 40(4), 52-55,57.
Vaughan, J. (2002). Preparing for technology: Systems planning and implementation in advanced libraries. Library Hi Tech, 20(1), 33-46.
