June 2007 Archives

The application of SOA and Web services to library systems is an area that DLT is starting to explore. Maintaing our current ILS takes a lot of our cycles but we realize that we need to put our heads up and position ourselves to support the next-generation ILS. Our colleagues in ITS are looking at SOA too, and we're collectively "organizing to be organized" around SOA - taking an enterprise and architectural approach so we can best leverage the benefits of SOA and avoid standards-collisions.

Here's a link to a useful three part article by Peter Murray (aka the Disruptive Library Technology Jester) that first defines SOA, then shows how it would work with WorldCat as an example, and finally how it would enable the "dis-integration" of the hitherto monolithic ILS.

Here is a presentation we've just put together outlining what DLT is focusing on right now. It's a busy time of the year. Questions, comments, concerns?

Jimmy V. has a very interesting post at All Things Software on what he considers the ideal composition for a software development team - If I could Construct a Team. Idealistic? Realistic, IMHO, but what can ITS do as an organization to realize this? I worked with teams like this in my previous position at an Institution I've Been Asked Not to Mention Again. Typically they were cross-departmental since one unit could not likely bring all those resources and expertise to bear.

BTW, Educational Technologies are working at enabling Trackback in the Movable Type platform; obviously it'd be useful here.

Check back again tomorrow: I'm working on a presentation for IT Strategies that outlines what DLT is up to these days. I'll post it here later tomorrow.

Meanwhile, here's a photo or two to reward you for visiting in lean entry times:

The pond at my new house

Arthur checking out the fish

Roscoe under a comforter during a recent storm