Frequently Asked Questions about the OLE Project

(revised 6/18/09)

1. What is the goal of the OLE Project?
2. What will OLE be when it’s complete?
3. How does OLE help the library support the mission of research and teaching institutions?
4. What will be the advantages of OLE compared to a traditional ILS systems?
5. How does OLE differ from other recent or open source ILS projects?
6. Will OLE replace my ILS?
7. Who is involved in the planning phase of the project?
8. Who will be involved in the software development (build) phase?
9. What does it mean to say that OLE is community source?
10. What kinds of libraries can use OLE?
11. How long will it take to build OLE?
12. What will be developed in Year 1, in Year 2?
13. What will be the costs of OLE when it is released?
14. How will my library transition to OLE once it’s available?
15. What will the public OLE interface look like?
16. How can I be involved in OLE?
17. Why should I contribute to OLE rather than waiting until it is ready to use?

1. What is the goal of the OLE Project?

The Open Library Environment (OLE) project will use open, flexible technology to produce a community-sourced alternative to current legacy automation components, including Integrated Library Systems (ILS) and electronic resource management (ERM) systems.

OLE will automate core library functions in a way suited to modern workflows and that interoperates with business and content applications beyond the library. Libraries control the design of OLE, ensuring that it supports our core mission.

With support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, an international group of research libraries began working with the library community in September 2008 to plan the project. Project participants are developing system requirements and an initial design document, to be ready in July 2009. The next steps are to develop a project proposal and acquire funding for development of the OLE software. The aim is to have a reference implementation available by mid 2011.

2. What will OLE be when it’s complete?

OLE will automate core library functions in a way suited to modern workflows and that interoperates with business and content applications beyond the library. When complete, OLE will allow libraries to discontinue their current ILS and several ancillary systems necessary today to manage scholarly content, and to continue their business functions through OLE or through the enterprise integration of OLE with Identity Management, Enterprise Resource Planning systems and Virtual Learning Environment systems

OLE is the first system for managing and delivering intellectual information designed by and for academic and research libraries.  OLE will provide interoperability with institution-wide applications (e.g. Identity Management, Acquisitions/Financial Accounting, Services to Course and Learning Management systems) allowing the library to leverage rather than duplicate enterprise functions.  This  will be done by using Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) to create building blocks for future needs while supporting the existing workflows currently provided by the ILS.  OLE will be format-agnostic for collection and resource management thereby dissolving differences between physical and electronic resources.  In essence, OLE is a framework and platform that goes beyond the monolithic ILS.

3. How does OLE help the library support the mission of research and teaching institutions?

OLE will integrate with the institution’s broader technical infrastructure, creating more streamlined and faster access to research information and much less duplication of data and effort.

OLE will be able to be deeply integrated with the other applications of the institution. It will flexibly deliver information resources of the library to researchers and will be able to be embedded into all curriculum activities. For example, OLE should provide better options for integration with student information systems, course management systems and identity management systems. OLE will give better access to resources for all members of the institution and add value to these resources.

4.What will be the advantages of OLE compared to a traditional ILS systems?

OLE aims for a transformational design approach to create an extremely flexible, interoperable system that does not just replicate the concepts that underlie legacy software.

OLE will be designed as a single system to manage diverse collection formats and content, including print, electronic and future information sources. It will not have separate systems for inventory control of print or for licensing control for e-journals.

As a community source project, OLE will place control of mission-critical automation infrastructure in the hands of libraries, allowing them to determine the direction of development and to extend and enhance functionality with greater freedom.

OLE will support the needs of libraries involved in consortia and other collaborative organizations.OLE’s Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) will allow OLE to fit in well in the enterprise networks of their parent organizations and to evolve gracefully without the need to create or replace large modules as library needs evolve.

5. How does OLE differ from other recent or open source ILS projects?

The OLE Project is a unique approach aimed at the need for academic and research libraries to move beyond the stand-alone ILS model without sacrificing core functionality.  Starting with extensive library community consultation and design, the OLE Project aims to support libraries in transforming their workflows so they can manage changing services and resource formats – not just to replicate a traditional ILS.   OLE will leverage and integrate connections between the enterprise library and it’s consortia while recognizing the technical infrastructure of the library’s parent organization is a key constituent.  Connections to external library networks will be natural and fully functional, but OLE libraries will differ in their desire to increase the ROI of the parent organization’s embedded systems — identity management, financial accounting, etc.  Since OLE will integrate first with the parent enterprise infrstructure, the researcher will be the central focus of library services designed to support interactions with multiple interdisciplinary networks, interactions with course and learning management systems, and discovery of resources regardless of format.

Additionally, community source development is a forward looking and strategically important step for libraries.  The community source approach allows more input for libraries to direct our future because we are in part shaped by the systems we use and control.  In a library’s quest to be “in the flow” of a researcher’s information management needs, the OLE Project  broadens the current notion of the ILS to directly support or integrate with systems that manage intellectual property and rights, build and maintain content repositories, link content with learning management technologies, facilitate customer authentication and authorization, manage client relationships, and integrate with institution-wide financial services.

6. Will OLE replace my ILS?

Yes, at the completion of the build phase, a migration path will be clear to replace your ILS with OLE core services.  From these core technologies, the OLE Project will develop the core modules of functionality required by libraries to replace their current ILS and several ancillary systems to improve library work- and data- flows.   Additional services beyond the OLE core services can be adopted, built, contributed to the OLE Project community.

7. Who is involved in the planning phase of the project?

The planning phase project team consists of representatives from libraries of different sizes, public and private institutions and varied U.S. and international locations. Partners were chosen for their ability to contribute to both functional and technical planning for community source SOA projects, for their influence in the library community and for their experience in library innovation relevant to this project. By including a wide variety of people and institutions, we increase the likelihood that our design document will reflect the full range of library needs and that we will have a community highly motivated and well prepared as we move towards the build phase.

Project participants in the planning phase include Columbia University, Duke University, Indiana University, Lehigh University, Library and Archives Canada, National Library of Australia, OhioLink consortium, Rutgers University, University of Chicago, University of Florida, University of Kansas, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University.

This planning group has interacted with over 300 individuals from more than 170 libraries, organizations and businesses and organizations to bring additional expertise and feedback into the planning process.

8. Who will be involved in the build phase?

The planning group is currently identifying potential build partners and other open source projects with which OLE can collaborate to leverage experience and expertise. We anticipate naming build partners by June 2009.

9. What does it mean to say that OLE is community source?

OLE will be developed under a community source model. The developed product will then be released under an open source license.

Community source limits initial development efforts to partners who have committed financial and/or human resources for the duration of the development cycle.

When released, the open source model will allow any developer to modify the code to meet their institution’s particular functional requirements. Ideally, those changes will be funneled back to the larger OLE community and, where appropriate, incorporated into future releases.

10. What kinds of libraries can use OLE?

The initial version of OLE is targeted towards research and academic libraries. The design model also addresses the additional needs of a consortial environment.

OLE will have the flexibility to be adapted to different types and sizes of libraries over time.

11. How long will it take to build OLE?

The planning and design phase for OLE will be complete in July, 2009. We expect to begin software development in fall 2009, contingent on funding. The first deliverable will be the OLE framework and some additional functionality by fall of 2011. At that point, a larger developer community will extend the functionality.

12. What will be developed in Year 1, in Year 2?

The order in which services will be built will depend on the specific needs of the build partners but a probably plan includes

Year 1

• Data model and Dictionary
• Interoperability components for Identity and Access Management, Financial Systems
• Resource Ordering Services

Year 2

• OLE Core
• Administrative and migration tools
• Framework and data models
• Processes and workflow
• Release 2.0

13. What will be the costs of OLE?  What will it cost when released?

The total cost of the OLE Project over two years would be $5.2 million dollars. Project partners would contribute half of the OLE Project cost and seek the other half of funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In addition to OLE Project costs, local costs of participation would include staff, governance and travel funding.

Costs fall into three categories:

1. OLE Project costs. Project funds in this category provide for dedicated project staff and project meetings.  The OLE Project staff includes a project manager, business analyst, technical & data architects, enterprise programmers and other staff necessary to fulfill the development of the OLE framework. OLE Project Costs are shared between the investing partners and the Andrew W. Mellon Mellon Foundation.

Partner shares of the OLE Project costs are dependent on the number of investing partners.  Share contributions by investing partners would represent cash payments to the OLE Project.  Payments would be made at the beginning of each year.

• With seven partners, the cproject cost per partner would be approximately $185,000 a year.
• With six partners, the project cost per partner would be approximately $216,000 a year.
• With five partners, the project cost per partner would be approximately $260,000 a year.

2, Governance, travel and contingencies. These costs will vary per institution depending on cost of Kuali membership, travel and use of contingency funds, but are estimated to be approximately $53,000 per year. These costs are borne by the investing partners.

3. Staff support at the local institution. The cost to each institution will vary depending on available staff, expertise, capacity and opportunity.  We suggest that at a minimum, participation will require programming experience (most likely using Java EE) for integration & interoperation with enterprise infrastructure, domain experts to inform & test project development and local project coordination. These costs are borne by the investing partners.

OLE will have no licensing fees. It will be free to download, use and modify. Once released there will be free support options (i.e.: documentation, wikis).  Some libraries may desire fee-based, independent, third party support; this type of support is expected and typical for a thriving open source model. There will be cost components which may vary by institution. Among the cost factors to take into account are ongoing staff support and required hardware. Institutions which desire a more direct role in the governance of OLE will have associated governance costs to consider. However, unlike proprietary solutions which often require a significant financial commitment while offering limited opportunities to impact the future software enhancements, OLE’s basic tenant of community involvement will allow institutions to maximize the value of their investment.

14. How will my library transition to OLE once it’s available?

OLE is designed to be flexible and to prevent duplication of other systems used in your institution, so transition will depend on how your institution wants to use it.

The transition to OLE may involve different processes from what libraries have experienced in previous ILS migrations since it differs substantially from existing legacy library automation components.

Moving to OLE may involve transferring data from other products than the ILS and may involve relying on institution-provided components for some data and services that were previously managed or replicated within the ILS. We expect, for example, that OLE implementations will rely on institutionally provided authentication systems rather than manage its own patron file in the ILS model.

Earlier adopters of OLE may need to operate some modules of their existing ILS until the full product has been delivered.Once the full version of OLE has been completed, libraries that implement it should be able to phase out their existing ILS and ERM.

15. What will the public OLE interface look like?

OLE will not develop its own public interface.

OLE’s design aims to provide robust support for any discovery interface product that the library may choose to use. We expect OLE to work well with existing and emerging discovery interfaces such as the eXtensible Catalog, VuFind, Primo, Encore, AquaBrowser, Blacklight, and Endeca as well as future products. The need to support these interface has been given a high priority in the design of OLE.

OLE expects also its services to be delivered through non-library interfaces such as courseware systems, campus portals, and other institutional products that involve support from the library.

16. How can I be involved in OLE?

Institutions that want to play a significant decision-making and development role in OLE should consider becoming a software build partner. For more information on becoming a build partner, contact Lynne O’Brien (lynne.obrien@duke.edu).

17. Why should I contribute to OLE rather than waiting until it is ready to use?

Institutions involved in the software build phase of OLE can ensure that the OLE software reflects their core values and required functions. Institutions involved with governance gain additional influence on product development and on the growth of the community that uses and supports OLE.

The success of OLE depends on leading institutions making investments in a project aligned with its own interests that also provides benefits of the larger community.