Library technology has traditionally centered on monolithic systems that lack key platform attributes: the ability to create value for all participants, leveraging resources they don’t own in order to grow faster, and changing the traditional focus from inward to outward.

The question now is one of disruption in the library industry: are libraries ripe for fundamental change that will bring about a new paradigm in library technology? And what would this change look like? The key point may well be that a platform derives its value from the community. In concrete terms, this means that no single product dominates the technology environment. Instead, a loosely coupled ecosystem of applications arise, built on the platform, to deliver ever-increasing value to the community, by many community participants.

Join us for a webinar on Thursday, January 12 at 2:00 pm EST that will discuss FOLIO, a community collaboration to develop an open source library platform built for innovation. Presenters will explore what FOLIO can mean for libraries: the ability to leverage the open source platform and the growing community to spur innovation and offer new services; reimagining resource management centered on a central knowledgebase; rethinking workflows and traditional ILS functions to allow for more efficiencies and better ways to serve our users; the means by which vendors and libraries alike can contribute to the building of FOLIO. Participants will also hear an overview of the growing FOLIO community, its infrastructure and how to become involved.

Speakers:

Harry Kaplanian is the Senior Director, Product Management at EBSCO Information Services
Peter Murray is the Open Source Community Advocate at Index Data