Making the Most of Your ILS: A User’s Guide to Evaluating and Optimizing Library Systems. By Lynn E. Gates and Joel D. Tonyan. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2023. 148p. $55.00 softcover (ISBN 978-1-4408-7637-0); $49.50 ebook (ISBN 978-1-4408-7638-7).

The integrated library system (ILS) is the backbone of the modern library. It maintains and manages the collection’s inventory and facilitates discovery and lending of materials. With time, even well designed and configured systems can develop pain points that frustrate both the workers and patrons using these programs. Libraries may not be able to consider a new solution like a newer library services platform (LSP), so an ILS needs to be analyzed over time to ensure that it continues to perform in a reliable and efficient manner.

Lynn E. Gates and Joel D. Tonyan, both currently serving at the University of Colorado as the director of collections and content and the director of user experience respectively, intend their book “for anyone who is frustrated with their ILS (or a portion of it) but isn’t ready or willing to migrate” (viii). The authors were recent hires at the Kraemer Family Library who had limited experience with their inherited ILS—in this case, Innovative Interfaces Inc.’s Sierra. They were trying to understand how the new to them system worked and capture how it had been configured in the past to identify potential areas for improvement and enhancement to support the implementation of new policies. The goal was not migration, but rather how to fine tune and optimize an existing system. This work became the basis of their book which shares the authors’ approach via seven chapters covering the planning and gathering of support for an ILS improvement project, the ILS structure, system security and its importance, working with field values, updating workflows, and documentation. The book positions itself as a practical guide in assessing and identifying opportunities for improvement. The authors supplement their discussion with case studies based on their work at the Kraemer Family Library, providing concrete examples of concepts explained throughout the chapters. These illustrative case studies contextualize the work involved in each step of the ILS optimization process for the readers following along. Those reading the book will see how the earlier stages of work and analysis impact later decisions and system changes as they progress through the book. The concluding chapter is a capstone case study for eliminating overdue fees at Kraemer Library, which was the impetus that launched the ILS improvement project. Even though this work can be read in its entirety, the chapters can be reviewed individually.

The approach is ILS-agnostic. While the authors do share their library specific examples and case studies, the discussion and process are broad enough to be transferable to other institutions and systems. Not only does the book discuss the essentials of dealing with the systems and workflows, but it also acknowledges the soft skills necessary for getting the requisite buy-in at all levels. The chapter on system security provides a straightforward overview of the concerns and issues involved in protecting an ILS configuration as well as patron privacy. It lays out the differences between locally versus remotely hosted systems and the different security options available. Additionally, the authors present the principles of system security and staff permissions. This chapter provides an excellent summary on the system security, which is something most librarians are aware of, but may not have an idea of all the underlying mechanisms and processes. Another area of note is the approach used to document information about the ILS and its configurations. It proposes options on how to preserve this crucial institutional knowledge that is often held by colleagues and is at risk of being lost should they decide to move on or retire from their positions. The authors shared what information they found most important to document and shared what types of documentation are least helpful. They laid out useful best practices for documentation review as well as ongoing maintenance strategy and recommended tools and solutions that can be used to manage this work.

The authors also provided various appendices, which include glossaries and worksheet templates. These worksheets were used to review various aspects of the ILS, like diagramming ILS inputs and outputs, system security audits, secure password policies, workflow mapping, and MARC field values analysis. These supplemental sections would be useful to anyone interested in undertaking an ILS improvement project or who want to document their ILS configuration and would like a guide to start their own work.

Overall, this book would be good introduction to the basics of the ILS—understanding all the internal and external relationships and services that are required to maintain this crucial piece of technology working at its best. The text illustrates how the systems work together in an uncomplicated way. While it does not delve deep into all the mechanics of an ILS and does not directly cover issues related to LSPs and discovery layers, it does highlight the key aspects and connections that would be ideal candidates for optimization. This book can guide those who would like to plan a similar ILS improvement project and are not sure where to start. It offers a practical common-sense approach to identifying and potentially resolving ILS issues. It helps readers define the problem and lays out the necessary considerations that should be reviewed. While not exhaustive, even experienced librarians may benefit from the process methodology and documentation practices. It would be a good starting point for any ILS analysis project.—Elisa Nascimento (elisa.nascimento@yale.edu), Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut