Shared Integrated Library System Team

Members

Charge

Context

Council has determined that members are highly likely to achieve significant benefits in efficiency and service by moving to a shared ILS and collaborating to a greater extent in technical services operations.  For the purposes of this initiative,

• "Shared" is intended to mean a system that is potentially used by all Alliance members
• "ILS" is shorthand for a system that offers critical elements of traditional integrated library system functionality as well as new features and capabilities, and
• "Technical services" is shorthand for those library operations most directly associated with acquisitions, cataloging, discovery, access, and technical support for ILS functions. 

Although it is too soon to make a formal decision on a specific system or set of workflows, Council has concluded that this is a direction with great promise and that the Alliance will proceed with the expectation of implementing a shared ILS and collaborating in selected technical services operations.
 
In pursuing such an initiative, it is clear that there are cultural, administrative, and technical issues to tackle.  Given the quickly changing nature of technology and existing Alliance technical initiatives such as the Network Library System Task Force work on OCLC Web-scale Management Services (WMS), Council has decided to charge a Shared ILS Team with advancing fundamental non-technical aspects of such a move and to charge a Collaborative Technical Services Team with developing best practices in technical services operations.  Later steps are expected to include additional work on functional requirements of a shared ILS, investigation of specific products, and further work on best practices. 

It is expected that work of both teams will be informed by the final reports of the Ebook, Shared Bibliographic Database, and Collaborative Technical Services task forces.  Because the charges of the Collaborative TS and Shared ILS Teams are strategically related, the chairs are asked to communicate regularly and to coordinate the work of the two teams.

Charge
The Shared ILS Team is charged with investigating, developing, and providing recommendations concerning steps required for Alliance members to move to a shared ILS.  At this stage of investigation, the SILS Team will investigate broad administrative issues but will not assume or investigate specific technical solutions.  
Topics to address include

• Total Cost of Ownership: determine total cost of ownership of current ILS.
• Timeline: specify major steps and potential time frame required for implementation; provide recommendations for when a project should begin.
• Legal aspects: identify legal obstacles and how these might be dealt with.  Investigation should include Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), accounting requirements, risk assessment, etc.
• Governance: identify major issues that will need to be addressed via a governance model; recommend best practices based on consortia that successfully share an ILS.
• Assessment of work and recommendations concerning next steps

Membership
Each Team is expected to consist of a chair and 5-8 members, at least one of which is drawn from Council.  The Council representative will make a particular effort to facilitate communication between Council and the Team.  Nominations will be broadly sought from directors and staff.

Deadlines
Reports and proposals are submitted about a week before EC meets.

• First Progress Report
• EC Meeting February 19, 2010
• Council Meeting March 11-12, 2010
• Second Progress Report
• EC Meeting June 16, 2010:
• Council Meeting July 8-9, 2010
• Final Report
• EC Meeting tba, approximately mid October
• Council Meeting November 11-12, 2010

Current work

Meetings 

Background

• Final Report Shared Bibliographic Database Task Force
• Final Report Collaborative Technical Services Task Force