No, I didn’t just remember that I actually do have a blog. Sometimes you just need to take a break from things to gain new perspective.

So I’m late to the party to do my bit for the promotion of Information Tomorrow. I was very pleased to be asked by Rachel Singer Gordon to write a chapter on my thoughts about the ILS.

I think it’s an incredibly useful book for those people who are insterested in getting a sense of what the relationship between libraries and technology looks like today. Of course, a quick glance at the list of contributors should be enough to convince you to grab a copy.

Having contributed the chapter over a year ago, I have to say that I’ve revised my thinking somewhat since then. I stand by what I wrote, mind you. The library-vendor relationship is, in far too many cases, an unhealthy and unbalanced one. I now temper that conviction with a more pragmatic approach to the problem and feel that while it’s important to let your vendor know that you’re unhappy with aspects of their business model, developing good working relationships with them provides a vital symmetry to that loop.

Of course, the market will sort it all out in the end. With the rise of the open source ILS, that playing field is about to tilt drastically in favor of libraries.