Integrated library system

An integrated library system, or ILS, is an enterprise resource planning system for a library. Most sizable First World libraries have an ILS system installed. They are sometimes referred to as Library Management Systems in the United Kingdom. An ILS is designed to coordinate and automate such library functions as the online catalog, reference interview, the circulation system, and the acquisitions system.

Libraries use ILSes to order and acquire, receive and invoice, catalog, circulate, track and shelve materials. Most ILSes separate software functions into discrete programs called modules, which are then integrated into a unified interface. Examples of modules include: acquisitions (ordering, receiving, and invoicing materials), cataloging (classifying and indexing materials), circulation (loaning materials to patrons and receiving them back), serials (tracking magazine and newspaper holdings), and the OPAC (public interface for users to look up materials).

History

ILSes were known as automation systems or automated systems in the 1970s and early 1980s. Before the advent of computers, libraries frequently used a card catalog to index its holdings. Computers were used to automate the card catalog, thus the term automation system.

Since the late 1980s, windows and multi-tasking modules allowed business functions to be integrated. Instead of having to open up separate applications, library staff could now use a single application with multiple functional modules.

As the Internet grew, ILS vendors offered more functionality related to the Internet. Major ILS systems now offer web-based portals where library users can log in to view their account, renew their books, and be authenticated to use online databases.

References

Rubin, Richard E.. Foundations of Library and Information Science. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2004.

Examples

Commercial

Open-Source

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