EDITOR'S NOTES
Dawning of the Age of Discovery
by
Dick Kaser
Welcome to twenty-ten. The sound that this year makes coming off the tongue has kind of a nice ring to it, don’t you think? No more “aught” years for us. And no more years when we ought to be thinking about what libraries could be. It’s time to become.
This month, CIL focuses on the new discovery systems that are helping transform libraries from the places where you go to look stuff up to the information services you depend on from wherever you are.
Welcome to 2010. Welcome to the dawning of the age of discovery.
In this issue, we review dozens of commercial discovery systems in side-by-side feature comparisons, thanks to Pamela Cibbarelli’s fourth annual survey of ILS vendors.
In a case study, Amy Terlaga confesses to the realities involved in migrating a library consortia to open source ILS, but looking back she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Amber Woodard provides the final installment report on the trials she underwent in taking her public library from Zero to 2.0. Who was it who said, “Nothing worthwhile is ever easy”? And again, no regrets.
You will not have to look far in this issue for inspiration … from Marshall Breeding’s call to arms to get with discovery to Will Sexton’s challenge to libraries to “think outside the search box” to Dan Chudnov’s cutting-edge predictions for the techno year ahead, there’s plenty to provoke some transformational thought.
Janet Balas tells you where to learn more about the discovery movement. Jessamyn West teaches you how to make an RSS widget. Terence Huwe walks you through the process of turning your library into a local history-keeping center. And Juan Suarez Romero shows you how robots figure into the Free Library of Philadelphia’s strategy.
Twenty-ten. According to our authors this month, it’s a great time for libraries to come alive.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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