Page 7 - DLIS408_INFORMATION_TECHNOLOGY-APPLICATIONSL SCIENCES

Information Technology and Application

Notes circulation (lending materials to patrons and receiving them back)
serials (tracking magazine and newspaper holdings)
the OPAC (public interface for users).
Each patron and item has a unique ID in the database that allows the ILS to track its activity.
Big libraries use an ILS to order and acquire, receive and invoice, catalogue, circulate, track and
shelve materials. Smaller libraries, such as those in private homes or non-profit organizations
(like churches or synagogues, for instance), often forgo the expense and maintenance required to
run an ILS, and instead use a library computer system.
Librarians often referred to ILSs as library automation systems or automated systems in the 1970s
and early 1980s. Before the advent of computers, libraries usually used a card catalogue to index
their holdings. Computers came into use to automate the card catalogue, thus, the term automation
system. Automation of the catalogue saves the labour involved in sorting the card catalogue,
keeping it up-to-date with respect to the collection, etc. Other tasks automated include checking-
out and checking-in books, generating statistics reports, acquisitions, subscriptions, indexing
journal, articles and linking to them, as well as tracking interlibrary loans.
Since, the late 1980s, windowing systems and multi-tasking have allowed the integration of business
functions. Instead of having to open up separate applications, library staff could now use a single
application with multiple functional modules.
As the Internet grew, ILS vendors offered more functionality related to computer networks. As of
2009 major ILS systems offer web-based portals where library users can log into view their account,
renew their books, and authenticate themselves for access to online databases.
In recent years some libraries have turned to major open source ILSs such as Koha and Evergreen.
Common reasons noted were to avoid vendor lock in, avoid license fees, and participate in
software development. Library technology organization does an annual survey of over 1,500
libraries and noted in 2008, 2% of those surveyed used open source ILS, in 2009 the number
increased to 8% and in 2010 (most recent year available) 12% of the libraries polled had adopted
open source ILSs.

1.1 Library Automation

Library automation which started in late 70s in few special libraries has now reached most of the
university libraries. It is yet to take off in college libraries in India owing to various problems. We
will try to identify the barriers, analyze the convenient steps in automating the library and the
technology available. Even though this question seems to be very fundamental it is essential to
emphasize this aspect as the library automation is yet to take off in majority of the Indian libraries.
Secondly, while justifying need for library automation more than cost-effectiveness the benefits
derived by the library users become the major consideration. Since library does not happen to be
an economic entity such benefits need to be looked at in a different perspective.
To appreciate the advantages it becomes necessary to highlight the different levels of library
automation. For convenience it can be visualized at four levels:
1. Library cataloging system
2. Housekeeping operations and networking
3. Development of CD-ROM library/products
4. E-mail system and internet.

Notes The library catalogue or index to the collection forms the base for most of the library
activities such as acquisition, reference, bibliographic service, inter-library loan etc.

2 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY