Easier material management - at what cost?

Abstract

Intelligent Material Management System, IMMS, was developed in a collaboration between Lyngsoe Systems, a commercial company, and public libraries in Aarhus and Copenhagen, Denmark, with the aim to reduce the time staff spend on managing library materials. The aim of this article is to shed light on what IMMS means for the library practices and hence for the librarian profession. Two research questions will guide the analysis: How do librarians and IMMS interplay at the public library in Copenhagen, Denmark? How does the implementation of IMMS impact the library practices at the branch libraries in Copenhagen, Denmark? With the theoretical lens of practice theory, the article shows how new norms and rules as well as new tools and objects are implemented with IMMS. Librarians need to be able to work with the new objects and tools, the new norms and to create an inspiring library room for library users. Their relation to collection management is changed, and their ability to evaluate materials is not needed in the same way when it comes to selection of titles for the collection. This sometimes creates a tension between the librarian and the system, especially when the librarians’ role in the practice is to perform the decision-making by the algorithm, and not to use their skills to evaluate resources.