The Gordian Knot

August 29, 2006, OZDUG (Ozarks Dynix Users Group) joins forces again with regional Unicorn users in a get-together which will be held at the Kansas City, MO Public Library, 14 W 10th Street. Among guests on the agenda are Talin Bingham, Sr. Vice President of Technology and SirsiDynix Development, Jeff Schilling, SirsiDynix Director of Sales Support, Jan Scheppard, EnvisionWare Regional Sales Manager, Gena Wilhite, SirsiDynix Senior Sales Consultant, Jim Wilson, SirsiDynix VP Senior Library Advisor, and Steven Orton, SirsiDynix Sales Consultant.

Last year’s successful meeting was the first formal “encounter” among Unicorn and Horizon/Classic customers in the Midwest. Our peers and colleagues, most of us know each other through statewide organizations, but haven’t ever really had the same intensity of collegial contact as we do with our fellow colleagues at either SuperConference or CODI. No one’s making us sit in the same room and talk to each other. We do this to understand better our region, and to offer a space for listening and learning.

Traditional OZDuggers from mostly downstate Missouri and Kansas wish to thank Donna Whitner and her colleagues of the Kansas City Public Library for hosting this forum tomorrow. One of the growing pains of joint meetings is the key reality that OZDUG Horizon/Classic people may be better equipped to travel and meet and have the regional site-hopping down to a fine art after about 15 years of doing it, but our peer Unicorn users outnumber us, largely because of their more metropolitan stance in Kansas City area. That said, we’ve never turned anyone down from St. Louis, or Omaha, or Oklahoma, or… well, if you have a car and can drive, we even welcome people who fly in from Plano and who happen to be “in the neighborhood.” But of course, since Unicorn users outnumber us, we have to find bigger venues than Joplin Public Library or Coffey County Library System.

Let’s face it, OZDUG, whether with the “S” for Sirsi, or without, is a state of mind. We meet for reality checks. We meet to understand the struggles of our peer libraries. We meet for therapy. And we meet for food. We meet to give each other a breather in a maddening world, and it just gets weirder and weirder. What is it in the passion for the product that drives us, or makes us drive three or more hours to go anywhere to discuss anything? The product? The service? What does the company provide that others do not?

This is a critical time for SirsiDynix customers. An entire year has passed since the merger. What can we as users say or do to convey the uncertainty and concern expressed by our library administrations? What can we as users say or do to help promote the health of the products we use? What can we as users say or do to assist our peers and fellow librarians? The hype of Library 2.0 must not overshadow the core product functionality. If anything, the core product functionality has to be strong enough to support a kudzu-like 2.0 behemoth of everything for everyone. Are we getting it? Are the vendors getting it? We’ll find out tomorrow, I guess.

I hope that some of our Unicorn colleagues will drop by and leave us some comments. Fundamentally, I believe we have more to share and more to learn from each other than staying apart. I hope corporate understands this. I guess we’ll know more tomorrow — stay tuned!

We can’t stop users from using Google scholar, but we can make them trip over quality content. — Stephen Abram, VP of Innovation, SirsiDynix

The influence of Google on the way libraries think, feel, search, and work was one of several topics covered by Stephen Abram at the Directors Workshop, held Sunday, November 6, 2005.

We have an imperative to aggregate our data and mine it. — Stephen Abram

SirsiDynix clients were introduced to the Normative Data Project, led by Greg Hathorn, VP of Library Products, and the Directors Workstation, led by Gen Smith, Yuma County Library District.

If you can’t measure it, you can’t control it; if you can’t control it, you can’t improve it; if you can’t improve it, you can’t compete; and if you can’t compete, you cease to exist. — Greg Hathorn

Jane Dysart provided a critical but realistic overview of reasons why libraries fail and how they can succeed. An A+ to Jane for keeping us awake after a great lunch, *and* using the word “ticketyboo” in her presentation as a bonus!

We are committed to the success of libraries… we are very committed to our success, which means we are very committed to your success. … We can’t do everything, but prioritization is the key. — Patrick C. Sommers

The afternoon continued with presentations by Patrick C. Sommers, CEO; Angus Caroll, Chief Marketing Officer, and Steve Nielsen, Senior VP of Product Management; Don McCall, COO; and Jack Blount, Acting Chief Technical Consultant.

We are trying to measure things that move, but we are trying to measure the right things. — Don McCall

We believe we can fuse these systems — Patrick C. Sommers, on the future of the two separate ILS products.

We can accomplish fusion. — Jack Blount

Many of the comments were received graciously, but an air of skepticism permeated the hallways. A useful Q&A session was held derived from select questions provided by the directors on the Directors listserv, as well as from questions taken from the floor by those present.

A reception followed at the conclusion of the day-long meeting.