Change as a service - Challenges and effects of a new paradigm for library systems and content infrastructure

Other conference contribution, 2012

The infrastructure for supplying information resources to higher education and research has gone through dramatic changes the last 15 years. The amount of electronic resources available and library systems that handle them have multiplied leaving libraries in a challenging situation. We are coping with a changing definition of library collections, changing business models for owning and accessing materials as well as a shift in the architecture of library systems. The Library at Chalmers University of Technology spent close to 98% of the media budget in 2010 on electronic resources and has been spending more than 50% of the budget on electronic resources for over 10 years. So far the library has not been able to lower total cost of ownership for library systems or information resources since there has been few changes to existing systems or subscriptions. Instead we have been trying to cope with the development by introducing new systems and more electronic resources leaving us with complex workflows and dependencies. As we look to new unified services for libraries where information resources and systems are merged in a ― as a service environment there is a need for libraries to re-evaluate the current situation and what led up to it. Chalmers university library has initiated a system survey with the ambition of reviewing current workflows, quantifying and defining the crucial elements of todays systems with the goal of finding what we actually need in the near future. The evaluation is still in progress but this paper summarizes Chalmers evaluation so far, highlighting key findings, trends and possible strategies for the future.