Library Search and Survival
July 29, 2016
I read “Library Systems Report 2016.” Interesting round up of niche player companies. The focus is upon library systems. This is today’s equivalent of the card catalogs I used when I was a wee lad in central Illinois.
Three points jumped out at me:
- Most of the companies mentioned in the report are unknown outside of the library market. That’s okay. One can make a great deal of money serving niche markets. The takeaway for me was the technologies referenced struck me as decidedly 1990s-ish. There are no Palantir Technologies in this collection of “high tech” leaders.
- The industry, which strikes me as small, compared with Pokémon Go is consolidating. I have no problem with this, but it suggests that library funding may be further constrained. With fewer libraries, there will be fewer customers; therefore, only the “big” will survive. MBAs threaten MLSs it seems.
- Open source software and Web based and cloud solutions are beginning to have an impact. As I said, 1990s-ish thinking perhaps.
This quote sums up how one of the big dogs approaches the financial challenges it faces:
EBSCO Information Services stands as one of the major forces in the library technology sector, despite not offering it own comprehensive management product.
Unlike Google or Facebook, EBSCO, a company once known for making three ring binders, wants to be everyone’s connectivity pal.
Which of these vendors will become a billion dollar company? Which library start up will be the next big thing on Shark Tank?
I think I know the answer to these questions. Do you?
Stephen E Arnold, July 29, 2016
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