Steven Escar Smith
Professor and Dean
University of Tennessee
Kevin Kidd
Head of Library Systems & Applications
Boston College
Carl Grant
Associate Dean, Knowledge Services and Chief Technology Officer
University of Oklahoma
Oren Beit-Arie
Chief Strategy Officer
Ex Libris Group
As is true with all higher education today, libraries face large challenges in providing core services while at the same time, offering clear differentiation and distinct value to their organizations. Cloud based infrastructure and services offer a pathway for achieving that result. Many libraries have long relied on private clouds and continue to do so today, but now the commercial cloud offerings have also become a ubiquitous and solid choice. As librarians plan new services, they will want to understand the vision of change behind cloud services and the features and benefits of both types of clouds and what those will mean for the library in terms of being more efficient and effective. They will also want to examine how to best prepare an organization to properly select and implement technologies in the cloud and how best to use that movement as a strategy for managing, or changing, cost models. Other issues to be looked at include: opportunities and challenges that systems departments will face as they push their applications and services into the cloud; what new services will be possible; what considerations should go into using a private vs. commercial cloud; what are the differences between commercial cloud services; how do cloud-based services better support collaboration efforts; what will be the practical effect of implementing a Library Service Platform (LSP) on an organization and its services (on a systems department, for example, including what will be the change in job responsibilities); and what new duties will departments take on and what skills will they need to develop. This presentation looks at all these issues and the answers developed by three separate organizations that are in the process, or have completed it, and one organization that develops these technologies.