The Synergism of Library Innovations

Library Journal March 15, 2004. [Via RLG Shelflife]

Roy Tennant suggests that small improvements can come together synergistically to create large innovations. For example, library bookmarklets are small JavaScript programs in the form of a link that a user can drag to the bookmark bar in the Web browser (so that clicking on that link executes the JavaScript program); combined with OCLC's xISBN service, they can allow a library user to query a catalog while viewing a book (on a site such as Amazon) and finding any version of that book in the library much more successfully than if they had searched on a specific ISBN. Now add OpenURL to the mix -- as is being done by UK Office of Library Networking (UKOLN). Tennant writes: "To see it in action, go to the UKOLN Sample Reading List page and click on a link. The resulting OpenURL resolver page displays links for that item but also the message, 'It may also be worth checking the following alternative ISBNs.'" Tennant's point is that libraries can mix-and-match small solutions "to make big ideas a reality."

Posted by Tom on April 08, 2004