Page 155 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.45, 2019

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154 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.11, 2019

The third generation library services platform: New requirements and new
breakthroughs
〇a ∗
XIE Rong , LIU Wei & ZHU Wenjing
Today’s libraries are entering the third generation, featured by smart libraries mainly. The
traditional Integrated Library System (ILS) is no longer able to cover all the services of a library.
The Next Generation Library Service Platform (LSP), which appeared almost a decade ago, is
also unable to meet all the new needs of a library. This paper reviews the R&D history of the
library system, integrates the evolution of the library’s needs as well as the progress of technology
application, and summarizes relevant research findings both at home and abroad. In this paper,
the concept of “The Third Generation Library Service Platform (LSP)” is proposed for the first
time. And an in-depth analysis of its content, features and adaptability is conducted. It analyzes
the needs, functions, characteristics and possible forms of the “Third Generation Library”. From
three aspects of function evolution, problems of the next-generation platform, and the significance
of transition to the Third-generation Platform, this paper points out the possible direction of the
development of the Third-generation Platform, and the strategies helping achieve the vision of a
Third-generation Library.
The Third Generation Library Service Platform (LSP) is a brand new modular application
system. Its basic features include an open micro-service architecture, API-based data exchange
support, and community-driven agile development model. It is not a product of any company,
but an industrial ecology composed of multiple platform providers, system developers, software
service providers, technology service companies and libraries. It not only supports the basic
needs of the current hybrid library in terms of all media management, life cycle management
and web-scale discovery. It can also flexibly support various services, both known and unknown
ones, of current and future libraries. It can help libraries to achieve diversified and differentiated
development, support various cooperation between libraries, such as the development of branch
library systems or library consortium, promote the formation of innovative ecological environment
with relevant industries, and finally achieve the prosperity and revival of the library in the digital
age via the construction of smart libraries.
The FOLIO platform as a “Third Generation LSP” contains an explicit structure of four layers.
Lying on the bottom is the underlying system layer responsible for the storage, index, and log of
data. On top of it is a message layer. The third layer is the application layer. The last one is the UI
toolkit layer. The “Third Generation LSP” represented by FOLIO has advantages over the “Next
Generation LSP”: 1) It has changed their relationship among service providers, libraries and
users, truly fulfilling the library-driven model. 2) It is designed for the future, with the capacity
to support unknown type of collections or metadata formats, and easy access to new knowledge
bases. 3) It supports smart library expansions. Any third-party application can interoperate by
* Correspondence should be addressed to XIE Rong, Email: xr@suibe.edu.cn, ORCID: 0000-0002-2243-2125