In‐house library systems development at the University of Lancaster

Abstract

One of the basic decisions to be made when considering the automation of a library is whether to go for an ‘off‐the‐shelf’ solution developed by a commercial company experienced in the library field or whether to go for an in‐house solution. The latter is attractive in that it provides the library with total control over the nature of the resulting system, incorporates only the facilities that the library wants and can be a cheaper option. On the other hand, it is often a matter of treading new ground where mistakes can be made or problems not anticipated—all experiences which the commercial suppliers will no doubt have already been through. A large proportion of the universities and polytechnics in the UK have taken the former route and gone for commercially produced integrated library systems many of which have been described in this journal's pages over the last few years. Interestingly, the Library at the University of Lancaster has chosen the alternative and have been working on the development of their own in‐house system based on the PICK operating system.