What’s in a Name?
By Andrew K. Pace
American Libraries Columnist
andrew_pace@ncsu.edu
Head of Systems, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh.
Column for June/July 2005
There’s a whole lot of naming going on, and I am one of those humanities-trained folk for whom names really mean something. I know I am not the only one. Usually, I’m complaining about names, and I’ll do some of that this month; but the point is that our profession is having loads of fun naming technology and services.
Misnomers
I’ve said this in several settings, but it bears repeating: Virtual reference is a horrible name for library reference work that is done via e-mail, the Web, or instant messaging. There is nothing virtual about it—it’s real work done by real people. Many times, it is the same work done in a new medium. Virtuous, not virtual.
That one sounds like picking nits, but I think our choice of words can have a long-lasting or unintended effect. In the systems world, there are a lot of non-technical people who describe the hard work that goes into software development as “magic.” People doing all that hard work should resent the implication that a magic wand would suffice. In information technology, there are plenty of accidents, but very little magic.
Marketing departments
Though the marketing department generally catches a lot of flak, there’s something to be said when they do a good job. In my former life as a product manager, I did not have enough respect for marketing. Being so myopically close to the life cycle of a product, there is pride to be had in giving a name to the eventual offspring, or product. I worked very closely with a graphic designer creating a children’s interface to an online catalog. Our opening graphic had a picture of a large yak with the label “Youth Access Katalog” below it. But to quote one of my favorite movies, it’s a fine line between clever and stupid.
I’ve often complained that most open source software projects are in desperate need of some open source marketing. I have found few exceptions to the generally bad names given to good open source software. I won’t name names, but given the rather personal nature of open source software development, it’s common for the name the software is branded with only to have meaning to the one person (or few people) who created it. Branding is an excellent term, because—as when branding cattle—these monikers are difficult to eradicate, even when change is needed.
New names to watch
When Gaylord spun off its furniture division, the ILS side of the house changed its name to GIS (Gaylord Information Systems) to differentiate itself from Gaylord Brothers. Yours truly sent a message to their marketing department informing them that GIS means geospatial information systems to most librarians. I did not think it was the wisest name change. With two years of independence under its belt, GIS has changed its name to Polaris Library Systems. As when Epixtech became Dynix, Polaris’s choice was the name recognized by the market. Thumbs up on both changes.
Dynix has released Corinthian, a new ILS designed specifically for academic and research libraries. Leveraging a suite of enterprise technologies, Dynix hopes to raise the bar on legacy integrated systems currently on the market. Horizon 8.0 is the basic underpinning of this new branding for the academic market. This release indicates that Dynix is shifting to a proactive approach toward the academic market. Dynix has also named industry veteran Marc Roberson as the company’s new vice president of academic solutions. Roberson was previously a sales manager for the eastern region and came to Dynix in 2002 from Innovative Interfaces.
“Institutional repository” is a product category desperate for new branding, and Innovative Interfaces has done just that with the release of Symposia, supporting library efforts to manage and promote local assets in a robust repository system. Innovative has been partnering with Northeastern University in Boston since 2004 to allow web-based submission of materials that the library can store with OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) compliant metadata. Innovative joins a growing market in branded institutional repository software—VTLS’s Arrow, Ebrary’s Isaac, DigiTool from Ex Libris, Luna Insight, ContentDM, and many others.
Two new names are also emerging in the growing metasearch environment. As if there wasn’t enough trouble distinguishing between federated search and metasearch already, Amazon’s A9 engine has added OpenSearch to the repertoire of web searching. If you haven’t seen A9.com, put down this magazine, go look, then come back . . . . Now that you’re back, you’ve seen something rather remarkable in the field of web searches. Not only does A9 have everything you might expect from a web search engine, but by using what Amazon calls “vertical search” it attempts to break up disparate search targets into channels. RLG has added RedLightGreen to the A9 list, as well as the images from Trove.net. PubMed is there, too, and a host of low-barrier content providers that libraries are familiar with are sure to follow.
NISO’s Metasearch Initiative is also speeding toward results and working on a name for its draft standard (disclosure: I am co-chair of this initiative). Three committees met in the spring to prepare a rollout of the “NISO Best Practices for Metasearch” document, scheduled for a June release. It will include guidance on authentication and authorization; collection and service description recommendataions; and details of the newly named NISO Metasearch XML Gateway (NISO MXG), a new draft standard for trial use.
Look carefully
The above are just a few of the names and brands that you might find in the exhibit hall of the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Just as a good librarian should not judge a book by its cover, a good technologist should never be seduced by a nice-sounding name, press release, or marketing packet. The proof of the pudding is still in the taste. So despite all this fun I have had talking about names, it’s functionality that matters at the end of the day. Virtual reference desk software is a good thing, and open source software can shift markets despite a name chosen from the Kling-on dictionary. Jot down the interesting names when you see them and then use one of those well-branded web search engines to find out more later. What’s in a name? Not everything, but a lot.
Contracts and Agreements
Charleston (S.C.) School of Law.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (a.k.a. Virginia Tech), including ERM, replacing VTLS; City College of San Francisco, Sunnyvale (Calif.) Public Library, and Yolo County (Calif.) Library, from Dynix and Sirsi INLEX.
Lawrence Technical University in Southfield, Michigan, replacing Sirsi DRA Classic; South Africa’s eastern seaboard Association of Libraries (esAL), replacing Urica.
Announcements
Auto-Graphics has released Agent LibaryCard, which allows patrons to apply for library privileges online, get a temporary library card number, and receive instant gratification with immediate access to online resources. Libraries can then extend permanent patron credentials based on local policies.
EBSCO Information Services is ramping up both its A-to-Z journal list service and LinkSource, its OpenURL-compliant link resolver—more evidence of the growing importance of electronic resources management (ERM) systems. Serials Solutions, part of ProQuest Information and Learning, has also entered the ERM product market with its new Electronic Resources Management System (ERMS). A hosted solution, ERMS is tightly integrated with Serials Solutions’ other A–Z e-journal offerings.
Acquisitions and Alliances
Jumping on the radio frequency identifier bandwagon, Dynix has launched Dynix RFID and Self-Check as part of its alliance with Tagsys, a leading supplier of RFID hardware.
The Library Corporation (TLC) has acquired majority stock shares of Tech Logic Corporation. Tech Logic manufactures materials handling systems—everything from book drops and conveyors to RFID and self-check systems. Tech Logic will continue independent operation; TLC’s Gary Kirk has been appointed executive director.
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