Erik T. Mitchell - Cloud-Based Services for Your Library

Cloud-Based Services for Your Library

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Cloud-Based Services for Your Library

A LITA Guide

Erik T. Mitchell

An imprint of the American Library Association

Chicago 2013

Erik Mitchell is an assistant professor at the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition to studying information technology adoption and use in libraries, Erik examines metadata issues and professional development in library and information science. Before joining the University of Maryland, Erik served as the assistant director for Technology Services in the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University, where he worked for twelve years. During this time he coordinated the development, implementation, and management of a variety of library systems and most recently was responsible for the migration of the Reynolds Library IT services to cloud-based platforms. Erik is a columnist for the Journal of Web Librarianship and has published and presented on library IT, metadata use, and pedagogical approaches. He holds a PhD in information and library science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MLS from the University of South Carolina, and a BA in literature from Lenoir-Rhyne College.

2013 by the American Library Association. Any claim of copyright is subject to applicable limitations and exceptions, such as rights of fair use and library copying pursuant to Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act. No copyright is claimed for content in the public domain, such as works of the U.S. government.

Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book; however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs: 978-1-55570-878-8 (paper); 978-1-55570-900-6 (PDF); 978-1-55570-901-3 (ePub); 978-1-55570-902-0 (Kindle). For more information on digital formats, visit the ALA Store at alastore.ala.org and select eEditions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mitchell, Erik T., 1972

Cloud-Based Services for Your Library / Erik T. Mitchell.

pages cm. (A LITA guide)

Includes bibliographical references and .

ISBN 978-1-55570-878-8

1. Web servicesLibrary applications. 2. Cloud computing. 3. Electronic information resourcesManagement. 4. Internet programming. I. Library and Information Technology Association (U.S.) II. Title.

Z674.75.W67M58 2013

025.04dc23 2012040838

Cover image Lightspring/Shutterstock, Inc.

For Mom, Dad,

Lisa and Jeff.

Thank you.

Contents

I n 2009, I began the process of migrating the IT infrastructure of Wake Forest Universitys Z. Smith Reynolds Library to the cloud. We moved to the cloud because we believed our library IT systems needed to be as flexible as the services we wanted to deliver, and we suspected that the cloud, although not necessarily cheaper at that point in time, would help us be more agile in the coming years. We were also committed to open-source solutions and viewed the cloud as an environment that would enable us to work with the best open-source library information systems. I took on this migration with the support of my colleagues at the library, a collaborative spirit with campus IT, a good measure of vendor support for our proprietary systems, and healthy doses of optimism and openness toward what the cloud is and what it would take to be successful. Over the course of a year my technology team and I learned much about cloud architecture, system administration, application administration, and IT service for libraries.

My goal in writing this book is to help libraries considering cloud computing to start their exploration of these systems with a more informed perspective. In speaking with librarians I found that, although many libraries shared our enthusiasm, there was little in the way of formal works and guidance available to help them on this path. Because of this need, this book explores the broad area of virtualization and cloud computing adoption but makes an effort to focus on their use in library environments. To do this, I take a wide-reaching approach by defining cloud computing, by examining models to assess its adoption in libraries, and by exploring specific examples of cloud computing and virtualization to serve as a practical guide.

AUDIENCE AND SCOPE

there are sections that define basic technical concepts as well as discussion sections that examine the range of skills and IT service capacity required to implement each solution. One of the goals of this book is to help bridge the gap between technical and organizational issues in technology adoption and to suggest approaches that work well in a virtualized environment.

This book provides readers with several cloud computing frameworks, potential real-world solutions, and evaluative models to assess the fit of these items with their own organization, concluding with an exploration of potential virtualization and cloud computing approaches for libraries and a discussion of examples already in use in the library world. In getting the reader to this point, the book seeks to answer some of the central questions in technology evaluation. For example, , including IT service management issues and IT service adoption issues such as expertise, budgeting and expense analysis, legal/policy factors, and service level agreements. Though not a complete replacement for a full work on IT service management or the legal and organizational issues relevant to a move to a new IT environment, the chapter provides readers with a framework with which to examine issues critical to the success of the cloud in their environment.

The material in this book was drawn from numerous sources, including my expertise in cloud adoption, a survey of library-specific uses of cloud computing, relevant literature in IT service management, vendor interviews, platform testing, and technical and case study literature in the library IT field. Although I selected particular projects, vendors, and platforms to highlight, I also found that the number of systems and options in this area is growing rapidly, so it is likely that some popular systems and services are not covered in this book.

ORGANIZATION OF MATERIAL

defines virtualization and cloud computing, examines specific solutions for these platforms, and discusses some common approaches to platform adoption. This chapter examines cloud computing models and uses these models to set up the discussion in the remainder of the book.

reports the results of a survey of virtualization and cloud computing adoption in libraries. The survey was conducted in the fall of 2011, and the data were analyzed using technology adoption models. The findings of this chapter are an empirical grounding for the model used to examine specific cloud computing solutions in the remainder of the book.

explores factors and issues related to IT adoption in detail. The chapter is grouped by technical, organizational, and environmental factors and takes the reader through system evaluation and implementation planning. This chapter also includes a focus on the role of IT service management in system design.

examines software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions that are relevant to library information systems. The chapter includes an overview of relevant technical concepts, an exploration of information systems that use SaaS, and an examination of factors that influence decision making for these services.