KNOW HOW TO INTEGRATE SERVICES TO MAKE LIBRARIES EASIER TO USE.

The article highlights ways to integrate the services of a library to make it easier to use for library patrons. Using a library should be easy. Patrons with simple needs should not have to navigate through dozens of databases to find what they want. If they locate something in a citation database that needs to be requested through interlibrary loan, they should not be required to enter the information by hand into a separate form. Improved technology and vendor support for standards that allow systems to talk with each other has made seamless access to a wide variety of services a reality in many libraries already. It takes relatively little effort to let patrons find issues of electronic journals in a catalog, link database citations to the full text or to interlibrary loan system. Staff members do not want to change the address or other patron information in more than one system. Other objectives are not clear because different types of users may have competing interests and abilities. Some of the services that libraries want to integrate may not support a good mechanism for automatically sharing information with other systems. Some database may want substantially higher license fees because of the increased usage they expect from being included in a metasearch.