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Dynix Turns 20: A Q&A with President Jack Blount

Mike Rogers - InfoTech
Published in: Library Journal, September 29, 2003

Those who have watched the library automation industry in the last two decades have seen numerous changes as once powerful players disappeared, either through business failure or, more often, buyouts. Even the last few years have seen titans like DRA absorbed and the brand name retired. Dynix is among the handful of vendors that not only have managed to stay alive but on top. LJ caught up with current president Jack Blount to discuss Dynix's past, present, and, most important, its future.

LJ: The library automation industry seems to go through cycles, expanding with new vendors, shrinking with buyouts. How do you see the ebb and flow?

JB: The ebb and flow are healthy for the industry. Each time a new company enters the market, it brings new ideas and new technology. There was a point when a library automation vendor was expected to provide all the services and technology a library uses, but that, too, is evolving. Now, there is a core group of vendors like Dynix who provide the central ILS systems, while smaller companies focus on specific problems and rapidly develop solutions to meet evolving needs.

LJ: You have a solid business background. Where do you see Dynix and the industry heading in the next five to ten years?

JB: We strongly believe that in the next ten years, most libraries will be members of a consortium. The benefits of the consortium model are clear-and those benefits are only amplified in times of economic recession. The trend toward collaborative resource sharing, however, requires an automation system that recognizes the unique nuances guiding each individual library. As such, over the next five years, you can expect to see Dynix leverage its expertise across market segments to better serve library consortia that include a mix of academic, public, special, and school libraries. We also see the adoption of new technology. For example, many libraries will consider adding support for wireless networking within their libraries for their users. Many laptops, wireless PDAs, and new wireless devices will be introduced over the next few years and will become commonplace with library users. Users will want to have access to the library's portal from anywhere in the library.

LJ: What impact will Web Services have on libraries?

JB: [For example], today, many library systems can talk to book jobbers through various flavors of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), but there are a lot of manual steps involved for the librarians. Web Services, based on XML, provides for application-to-application communication, eliminating manual steps. We use Web Services with our new Vendor Integration Protocol (VIP), through which acquisitions librarians can check book pricing and availability within a matter of seconds with their book jobber. Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Book Wholesalers, Inc., and Brodart all support the VIP protocol. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Literally any transaction between an acquisitions system and a book jobber, for example, can be performed through Web Services. We even see Web Services replacing Z39.50 as the protocol of choice between library portals and online electronic databases. EBSCO recently introduced its Web Services interface to EBSCOhost. Web Services will form the basis of real-time communications among library systems, portals, and all other systems in the future.