A Marketplace of Ideas | American Libraries Magazine
The American Library Association’s (ALA) 2022 Once-a-year Meeting and Exhibition returned to Washington, D.C., June 23–28, and the temper in the exhibit corridor was only a bit subdued in contrast with preceding in-man or woman conferences. This year’s attendance of just around 14,000 people—though nicely under the 21,000 noted in 2019 in the exact same venue—was powerful taking into consideration the ongoing pandemic. The Friday night opening of the Library Marketplace seemed frenetic, as common.
ALA mandated COVID-19 vaccinations and encounter masks for convention attendees, which lent some self confidence for personal interactions on the exhibit ground. Whilst some vendors mentioned lighter website traffic than in earlier many years, there appeared to be a perception of appreciation for the return of a stay marketplace—and a consensus that digital conferences have not been able to build the publicity and networking alternatives that hook up vendors with current and prospective purchasers.
The concept of equity, range, and inclusion was commonplace throughout a lot of products and companies. On the business enterprise front, a incredibly hot subject was vendor consolidation, epitomized by the acquisition of ProQuest by Clarivate and the modern lawsuit OCLC has filed in opposition to Clarivate.
An emphasis on guides
As in past many years, ebook vendors—ranging from boutique presses to global conglomerates—attracted the most focus in the show corridor. Publisher aisles were packed, with attendees lining up for creator signatures and clamoring for advance copies of new titles, posters, and other studying-similar giveaways. In addition to eight stages committed to reserve talks, the Dwell from the 25 podcast booth featured are living author interviews.
Close by, distributors promoted many products and services to aid libraries control their inventories of guides. Companies together with D-Tech, Lyngsoe Devices, mk Answers, and Tech Logic demonstrated machines for sorting, self-provider, and logistical assist geared to general public libraries wanting for economical and economical alternatives for chaotic circulation functions. FE Technologies presented its Whenever Library, a standalone dispenser that enables debtors to check out and return supplies, even though EnvisionWare shown its 24-Hour Library, a self-company, offsite vending machine that lets patrons to place or decide on up holds. International Library Services, which specializes in outreach kiosks, confirmed off its new AutoLend Library, a versatile standalone product for self-provider borrowing, returns, and pickup.
Baker & Taylor, once once again an impartial enterprise subsequent its separation from Follett Corporation in 2021, proceeds to be a major distributor of library materials through its Title Supply 360 purchasing process. The group highlighted related services, this sort of as its new BTCat cataloging system its suite of Educational Solutions, together with its digital written content system Axis 360 and its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Analysis device.
BetterWorldBooks has partnered with the Web Archive to offer expert services for libraries seeking to responsibly dispose of books weeded from their collections. Iron Mountain offered products and services for libraries that need selection relocation or outsourced storage of physical elements.
Ebooks were being also major of mind as the pandemic has pushed use of digital offerings. OverDrive, the main supplier in this current market, featured its “Access for All” initiative, which aims to cut down obstacles to content for underserved populations. Bibliotheca continues to bridge print and digital formats with its cloudLibrary system and aim on self-company, sorting, and unattended library providers. Midwest Tape’s booth highlighted hoopla, its streaming support for electronic audiobooks, ebooks, tunes, and movie.
Massive small business reigns
The super-sized library vendors, with their towering and very well-staffed booths, were being the landmarks of the Library Marketplace. Lots of of these firms make huge financial contributions to ALA, the meeting, and its packages.
The scholarly publishing sector was represented by main providers such as Elsevier, Sage Publications, Springer Mother nature, and Wiley. Each individual demonstrated the advantages of its supply platforms and analytics applications to measure the effects of authors, content articles, and journals. These firms continue on to increase and diversify into new products and company areas—not just in the library technological know-how market but also in the broader investigation and scholarly communications area.
Gale highlighted its training and instruction programs made available via community libraries, this sort of as its on the internet diploma application Gale Offers: Excel Grownup Higher University. For academic libraries, the company confirmed how its multidisciplinary collections of key resource materials are now complemented by the Gale Digital Scholar Lab, a turnkey platform for humanities research.
ProQuest’s booth mirrored its growth and new ownership by Clarivate. In addition to ProQuest written content and workflow solutions, the organization now subsumes the offerings of Ex Libris and Modern Interfaces. Ex Libris showed its flagship Alma library services platform, Leganto course checklist supervisor, Esploro analysis expert services resolution, and Rapido and RapidILL resource sharing goods. Innovative’s Sierra and Polaris integrated library process (ILS) solutions ended up on show, nevertheless the focus was on Vega LX, a suite of components for patron discovery and engagement.
EBSCO Facts Services emphasised its choices for EBSCO FOLIO, an open resource library companies system, in addition to its main solutions EBSCO Discovery Providers and exploration system EBSCOhost.
At the OCLC booth, staffers provided a chaotic slate of packages and demonstrations for its cataloging and useful resource sharing services, as properly as OCLC Wise, a consumer-centered system for general public libraries, and WorldShare Administration Expert services, a library solutions system used typically by tutorial libraries. The business previewed its new interface for WorldCat.
A target on the ILS
SirsiDynix showcased its Symphony ILS and its growing suite of BLUEcloud programs, which present modern, world-wide-web-based mostly interfaces for workers and patron solutions. Special consideration was supplied to CloudSource OA, a new discovery and useful resource administration membership for open up entry content.
The Library Corporation carries on as a mainstay of the convention and demonstrated its Library•Solution and CARL•X ILS platforms. LibLime confirmed off its Bibliovation ILS, which is now compliant with FedRAMP (the Federal Possibility and Authorization Management Method) by its Amazon-primarily based hosting products and services.
On the open supply entrance, ByWater Remedies presented its products and services for the Koha ILS, Aspen Discovery, and the Libki reservation method for desktops and other machines. Index Data staffers ended up on hand to converse about their expert services for open up supply platforms FOLIO and ReShare, as well as other community-based initiatives.
Among the the more compact booths demonstrating ILS goods, TIND, a spin-off of CERN, shared information on its cloud-based mostly TIND ILS as effectively as its institutional repository, investigation information management, and digital archive choices. Simplicity, an ILS from new business Millonex, observed its debut at the meeting. Simplicity attributes fashionable interfaces for cellular and desktop products.
The Media Flex booth featured the open source OPALS ILS utilized by faculties and other little libraries. Likewise, Book Devices shown its Atriuum ILS for compact-to-midsize faculty and public libraries. Insignia Software package confirmed its ILS and discovery interfaces geared for faculty and community libraries, as perfectly as its digital asset manager.
Maximizing patron knowledge
BiblioCommons demonstrated an array of patron-struggling with services, such as its BiblioCore discovery interface, BiblioWeb platform for web page making, and BiblioEmail marketing resource. BiblioCommons goods combine with all important ILSes used by public libraries.
Communico introduced a trailer-sized “tiny library” to the show ground to emphasize its suite of patron-going through components oriented largely to public libraries. These bundled Develop (a web site builder), Attend (an party administration device), Reserve (a module for scheduling rooms and gear), and Broadcast (a digital signage resolution). Also specializing in patron-struggling with interfaces for public libraries, Library Marketplace showed off its LibraryWebsite, LibraryCalendar, and LibraryBrand, a internet marketing device with a aim on tailored branding.
Though some suppliers famous lighter targeted visitors than in earlier a long time, there appeared to be a sense of appreciation for the return of a live market.
SOLUS showcased its Library App, a cellular-pleasant interface for catalogs and internet sites. A number of ILS vendors have partnered with the enterprise, which, most notably, has established a detailed electronic existence for The Libraries Consortium, a 23-member, London-area group.
Springshare confirmed its at any time-expanding portfolio of instruments and systems, which includes the widely well-liked LibGuides, LibGuides CMS, LibAnswers, LibCal, and LibConnect, the company’s most recent offering for buyer partnership management.
Plug-ins, analytics, and cataloging
The exhibition incorporated an array of sellers advertising and marketing area of interest technologies. Atlas Programs highlighted its well-known platforms ILLiad (for handling interlibrary mortgage requests) and Aeon (for requests, success, and monitoring products in unique collections). OpenAthens, an authentication and accessibility administration services, confirmed how its product can hook up with SAML (Stability Assertion Markup Language) sources and simplify distant accessibility. StackMap, a electronic mapping and wayfinding device, enables libraries to visually map spots of things observed in the catalog and integrates with any ILS.
Booths also showcased items and expert services concentrated on info and analytics. LibraryIQ, a sister organization of Library Systems & Providers, delivers a in depth analytics package deal that aggregates facts from distinctive resources into a solitary dashboard. Counting Opinions allows libraries accumulate, store, and assess operational information and effortlessly generate reviews and visualizations.
On the cataloging side, providers like Backstage Library Is effective and MARCIVE introduced information to help libraries with tasks connected to their MARC bibliographic databases.
A hub for understanding
Yet another subset of market merchandise concentrated on the library as a nexus for instruction and ability-constructing. Mango Languages, as in former decades, assembled a prominent booth to attribute its language-learning packages and apps that can be designed accessible by way of libraries and associated organizations. Brainfuse showcased its HelpNow on-line understanding ecosystem, which delivers tutoring and research assistance for a vast selection of subjects.
Library Suggestions shown its suite of information and learning products and services, like Freegal Audio, Rocket Languages, iVOX (an immersive storytelling instrument), and Freading (an ebooks platform). The Evolve Job, an firm that functions with libraries to conceive makerspaces, aided organize the Tech Check Pilot Playground, a section of the exhibit flooring for attendees to attempt out gadgets and finding out toys or entire a make-and-choose project.
Google’s digital upskilling arm, Develop with Google, offered information on how libraries and nonprofits can freely accessibility the company’s coaching sources to aid community users with vocation development and compact organization development. The well-liked NASA booth featured limited movies and displays about picked house expeditions and linked conclusions and analysis. And the Library of Congress booth highlighted its exclusive collections and programs throughout the convention, LC held offsite open-household functions, supplying attendees a scarce opportunity to see at the rear of-the-scenes functions.
The Mobile App Pavilion gave builders a likelihood to clearly show off their library- and literacy-related apps. Nonprofit services Sourcery aids researchers acquire entry to articles not readily available on the internet. The mobile application created by Little No cost Library enables individuals and businesses to register their Little Cost-free Library and come across some others close by. Cell apps have been by no suggests confined to the pavilion, as they are mainly noticed as a mandatory characteristic of any solution or service these days.
Curating the long term
Coherent Electronic, a business established in 2019, offered its increasing set of collections that curate, index, and organize “wild” material that is readily available on the world wide web but may not be conveniently accessible for researchers. For illustration, its Plan Commons database incorporates 3.2 million documents from investigation facilities, assume tanks, and nongovernmental companies.
Nonprofit LYRASIS presented its ongoing expert services linked to open up resource assignments, alongside with its just lately released Palace Project, a collaboration with the Electronic Community Library of The usa that features a library-centered e-written content platform and market developed to simplify user accessibility to electronic resources.
The Library Marketplace at ALA’s Yearly Conference carries on to be the largest and most in depth possibility for libraries to understand about the products and solutions and expert services accessible to them and fulfill the experts and business owners behind these innovations. When this roundup represents the range and wide range of what was showcased, it normally omits lots of appealing and important companies that participated in this year’s function.
