[Web4lib] RE: library automation vendors

[Drew, Bill]

> We in libraries have four distinct advantages over vendors:
> 
> (1) Libraries can hire interaction designers and information 
> architects
> to do this task.  That's feasible even for mid-sized academic 
> libraries.

I disagree.  This costs big bucks!  Besides, most libraries are not
mid-sized academic libraries. Most are small.
> 
> (2) At the local library, we actually interact with end-users 
> on a daily
> basis.  We understand them, even if we don't always appreciate their
> point of view.  We can do regular usability tests with our users and
> make updates to our API-based systems whenever we see fit, instead of
> having to "lobby" vendors for years to "fix" problems.

Who does this?  What systems do we have that use APIs?  Where would the
one person library IT (systems librarian) staff get such skills or even
the time?  

> 
> (3) It's ultimately more economical and sustainable to design an
> interface against an XML-based API than to have to mess with
> vendor-supplied interfaces, in which even minor customizations are
> vulnerable to upgrade incompatibilities.  We're separating the
> presentation layer from the application layer.
> 
Again, where do you expect me to learn these skills?  I am learning XML
but am not a programmer.
This is a job for vendors based on our wants and wishes!!!

> (4) We can share our ideas and code with each other in open source
> communities, allowing even technology-poor libraries to benefit from
> those who have the ability to build these systems.

Maybe.  Most of us have no choice as to what LMS or ILS we use though.