I've been participating in the Consultants Give Back (CGB) program at ALA and PLA since we started doing it a couple of years ago. The concept is to provide a short, free consulting session for libraries that might not otherwise afford a consultant.  Or to answer some easy questions without having to get into a consulting contract.  Or maybe you want to meet a consultant to see if they're someone you'd like to hire down the line.  It's a win-win for everyone!

I try to steer clear of anything having to do with e-books.  The whole thing just makes me mad at everyone involved:  publishers, customers, libraries, everyone.  The fact of DRM and the people that support DRM by virtue of buying DRM'd stuff is just plain wrong.  I figure if I ignore it long enough it will all just go away and everyone will come to their senses. That's my strategy anyway. Well, here's someone who agrees with me.

NISO has finalized their recommendation and the U.S. Data Profile is finally resolved.  They've settled on ISO 28560-2 which was the same recommendation in the version they released for public comment.  I haven't had a chance to see if there are any changes but will keep you posted.

Having a U.S. Data Profile for Library RFID is fantastic for libraries.  Now...all you have to do is put pressure on your vendors to transition your library to the new standard.  Interoperability here we come!

News from the Vermont Department of Libraries Newsletter:

At their February 23 meeting, members of the Catamount Library Network, which includes the Department of Libraries (DOL), Brooks Memorial Library (Brattleboro), Springfield Town Library, Rutland Free Library, Fletcher Memorial Library (Ludlow), and Waterbury Public Library, made the unanimous decision to proceed with their project using the Evergreen Open Source software system. The DOL is participating in this project with the vision that the new Catamount Evergreen Network will develop into a statewide integrated library system that includes public, school and academic libraries and which will also support the DOL catalog and the statewide interlibrary loan network.

This decision came after months of investigation, meetings and phone calls with members of Koha and Evergreen library projects around the country (including Vermont’s VOKAL Koha group) and conversations with Vermont librarians from public, school and academic libraries. The decision was also based on documentation and recommendations from Lori Ayre, a consultant with the Galecia Group. The DOL hired Galecia Group, based in California, in 2011 to create a set of “features” for the Koha system that could be used as a comparison with a similar Evergreen “features” list. Ayre is highly regarded in the library open source world and is knowldegeable about both the Koha and Evergreen systems. Her expertise and evaluation was a critical, objective component of the investigation process. The new Koha and Evergreen features comparison list, which was an essential tool in the Catamount review and selection process, is now being reviewed by the greater Koha and Evergreen communities. A working copy is available here: http://tinyurl.com/CatamountProject

Someone recently asked me for suggestions to ask of other libraries when doing your due diligence on an AMH vendor.  I was happy to get that question because too often I think that libraries don't do an adequate job of digging into the experiences of other libraries with vendors. And even when they do, oftentimes the person providing the reference seems to have some incentive to paint a pretty picture rather than giving you the harsh truth.  I guess if they tell you about something that hasn't gone well, it suggests they did something wrong.....  

I try my best to be as honest as I can be about my assessments of vendors and libraries too!  So, if you ask me, you will get an honest answer.  I urge libraries to do the same. No vendor is perfect and no procurement, implementation, migration is either.  Don't be shy about sharing what hasn't worked well or was HAS worked well.  As my therapist used to say....it's all just information.  

Anyway, here's some questions that I recommend you ask about a libraries work with an AMH vendor: