Cloud-Based Services for Your Library: A LITA Guide (Lita Guides)

Based on his first-hand experiences migrating the IT infrastructure of Wake Forest University's Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Mitchell's book bridges the gap between organizational and technical issues in decision making for cloud computing in libraries. The guidance he provides will help librarians select the cloud computing solution that is right for their library while matching staff expertise to the customization involved. Written for both librarians and IT staff, this book includes:

• Specific information about the technical requirements, capabilities, and limitations of different cloud approaches
• Coverage of organizational factors, institutional capacity, cost, and other important considerations
• An examination of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions that are relevant to library information systems
• Discussions about legal and policy issues

By exploring specific examples of cloud computing and virtualization, this book allows libraries considering cloud computing to start their exploration of these systems with a more informed perspective.