Panorama of Electronic Resource Management Systems

Abstract

Management of electronic resources requires more features and fields than legacy integrated library systems (ILS) can provide. Relationships between title, package, platform and publisher, incident and breach records, changeable holdings, license, and access restrictions cannot easily be captured. Usage combined with cost is needed for collection development and public services decisions. This chapter demonstrates how the Electronic Resource Management Initiative reports, library-developed systems, and existing and in-process standards help the continuing development of compensating electronic resource management systems and their integration into ILS. Much more work and discussion is needed in order to maximize the use of these resources and their data. Modular, extensible, standards-based tools will supplement legacy ILS and their valuable business and bibliographic data. Vendor-provided bridging tools, also based on these standards, will enable and maximize data movement between systems.