Libraries and Learning Links of the Week

2024 Library Systems Report | American Libraries Magazine

Marshall Breeding's annual report is out for this year. Basically a sober analysis, however Breeding's claim that there is robust competition at all levels of the library tech industry seems a little strong to me. Whilst it looks like perhaps there are multiple products in the LSP space, for example, OCLC is so far behind in the index space that there are really only two options for the knowledge graph sitting underneath these systems: Clarivate's Central Discovery Index, and the EBSCO Discovery Service. The impact of these huge indexes on library staffing and workflows is still playing out, but in public libraries it's already well established, and vendors are cashing in:

Last year, SirsiDynix introduced Outsourced System Administration Services, a new support model for select operations related to ILS administration. This premium service enables library workers to offload many routine tasks, such as loading bibliographic records, producing reports, and updating loan rules.

Watch for more deskilling I mean “offloading routine tasks”.

Decentralized Infrastructure for (Neuro)science

Jonny Saunders wrote and published this enormous treatise back in 2022 but I've only just managed to read it. It's pretty dense in parts, but if you're interested in some deep thinking about scholarly communication, it's definitely worth investing the time.

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Only two links today because I'm sick, and it will take you a long time to read Jonny's piece.

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Libraries and Learning Links of the Week is published every week by Hugh Rundle.

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