Turning Patrons into Partners When Choosing an Integrated Library System

UCLA, which has one of the top 10 research libraries in the country, has been using Taos software since 1996. However in 2001, Sirsi Corp. announced that it was freezing development on Taos software. As the associate university librarian for information technology at UCLA, the author relates that it was his responsibility to lead the way through the process of selecting a new integrated library system. The UCLA Library Executive Committee, made up of the university librarian and the associate university librarians, was committed to seek input from faculty and students in developing the Request For Proposal (RFP) and in evaluation competing vendor systems. Although it is challenging to involve library patrons in system selection, the library believes that involving them is crucial. In this article the author shares the techniques that they found the most effective in turning patrons into partners.