Concurrent session presented with Meg Brown-Sica and Niraj Chaudhary at the Colorado Academic Library Consortium (CALC) Summit 2010

1. Working with IT:
Become a Partner, Not a Client
Meg Brown-Sica, Niraj Chaudhary & Nina McHale
University of Colorado Denver
CALC Summit 2010

2. #calc2010
#workingwithit

3. Our Agenda
• Background
– Auraria Library and Auraria Campus
– Systems at Auraria
– Relationship with UCD campus IT
• Projects
– Web server migration/virtualization (Nina)
– Network server virtualization (Niraj)
– Thin Client (Niraj)
– Technology Strategic Planning (Meg)
• Tips for becoming a partner

4. Background
• Auraria Library and Auraria Campus
• Systems Department at Auraria
• Relationship with University of Colorado
Denver Information Technology Services
(UCD ITS)

5. Auraria Library and the Auraria Campus
• Auraria Library serves:
– University of Colorado Denver (includes both
Auraria Campus and Anschutz Medical
Campus)
– Metropolitan State College of Denver (MSCD)
– Community College of Denver (CCD)
• All Library faculty and staff are University
of Colorado Denver employees

6. Systems at Auraria
• Systems librarian positions and
department date to the early 1990s
• Initial reporting for the department was
directly to Library Administration
• In the late 1990s, Technical Services
became a full-blown division
• Systems reporting line then went through
Assistant Dean for Technical Services

7. Systems at Auraria, cont’d
• In 2008, the Library undertook a major
reorganization of staff
• Like many other academic libraries, the
top-level divisions have now been split into
three:
– Public Services
– Technical Services
– Systems/IT Services
• An Assistant Director heads each

8. Systems at Auraria, cont’d
• No staff turnover for fifteen years
• Main IT technician and network
administrator retired
– Positions filled (more or less) internally
• Hiring Freeze
• New University Librarian/Library Director
• New UCD ITS Director

9. Systems at Auraria, cont’d
AD for Technology Strategy and
Learning Spaces (Meg)
IT Manager (Niraj)
Helpdesk
Manager
IT
Student
IT
Student
IT
Student
Web Librarian (Nina)

10. Relationship with UCD Campus IT
• Auraria Library Systems staff provides:
– Desktop support to librarians and staff
– In-house web development for the Library
• UCD Campus ITS provides:
– Network accounts and email
– Campus wireless networks
– Storage space and shared drive access

11. The Projects
• Web server virtualization (Nina)
• Server virtualization (Niraj)
• Thin client (Niraj)
• Strategic planning (Meg)

12. Outline for Each Project
• Basic concepts
• Project background & goals
• Process
• Outcomes
• Lessons learned
• Future plans

13. Web Server Virtualization:
Basic Concepts
• “Server virtualization is the masking of server
resources, including the number and identity
of individual physical servers, processors,
and operating systems, from server users.
The server administrator uses a software
application to divide one physical server into
multiple isolated virtual environments. The
virtual environments are sometimes called
virtual private servers, but they are also
known as guests, instances, containers or
emulations.”
–techtarget.com

14. Web Server Virtualization:
Basic Concepts, cont’d
Catalog Electronic Reserves Web Site
Virtualized Server

15. Web Server Virtualization:
Basic Concepts, cont’d
• Analogies: virtualization is like:
– A school bus
– A car pool
– A group house for college students
• In short: a more efficient use of computing
and staff resources

16. Web Server Virtualization:
Basic Concepts, cont’d
• Benefits:
– UCD ITS performs server maintenance and
backups, giving Library Systems staff more
time to focus on web development
– UCD ITS houses server in suitable
environment; the Library does not have an
appropriate climate-controlled environment for
servers

17. Web Server Virtualization:
Project Background & Goals
• Library web site had been developed on a
UCD server that hosted all UCD web sites
(main university site, departmental sites,
etc.) as well as faculty and staff email and
other applications
• Library URL was
carbon.cudenver.edu/public/library
– Cumbersome and not intuitive
– library.cudenver.edu was alias
– Better, but still not tri-institutional

18. Web Server Virtualization:
Project Background & Goals, cont’d
• New (and only the second) Web Librarian
arrived in February 2006
• Only five members of the library staff had
publishing rights to the web server
• This created an editorial bottleneck for
content developers
• When asked why, response from UCD ITS
was that it was a “security issue”

19. Web Server Virtualization:
Project Background & Goals, cont’d
• When asked for clarification, the UCD ITS
server support person explained that there
was “too much personal information” on the
web server
• Web Librarian explained that patron data is
stored in-house on the Library’s Innovative
Interfaces’ ILS
• From then on, the Web Librarian was
free to assign web server accounts as
desired, but UCD ITS had to do the
work

20. Web Server Virtualization:
Project Background & Goals, cont’d
• “Carbon” server ran Tru64 UNIX with
Apache for the web server
• The campus web group had begun
migrating web content to Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server (MOSS)
• Since 2002, Library had developed
dynamic applications using PHP and
MySQL

21. Web Server Virtualization:
Project Background & Goals, cont’d
• As the Carbon server aged, UCD ITS
began planning its retirement
• Performance issues arose for the Library
site as fewer departments used it for their
web sites
• The Library did not “fit” into MOSS:
– Branding issues: Metro and CCD students are
often not sure that we are really their library
– Running PHP/MySQL on an IIS server is
possible, but it introduces complexity

22. Web Server Virtualization:
Process
• In February 2007, Library Systems staff (Web
and Distance Support Librarians and Network
Administrator) met with UCD ITS to discuss
the Library’s web needs
• Desired a LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP)
environment in which to continue developing
• Required an environment free from any
branding restrictions, including URL
• Began using library.auraria.edu as main
URL

23. Web Server Virtualization:
Process, cont’d
• UCD ITS designated a new employee to
be a support contact and create the virtual
environment and assist the Web Librarian
during the migration and beyond
• PHP and MySQL applications needed to
be upgraded prior to the migration to the
new environment

24. Web Server Virtualization:
Outcomes
• In April 2008, the Library’s main web site
went live on new virtualized server
• Excellent performance: 2 outages in 2 years
• Web Librarian has complete control over
account creation and file management
• Virtual hosts have been established, i.e.,
more URLS:
– intranet.auraria.edu
– coloradowest.auraria.edu

25. Web Server Virtualization:
Outcomes, cont’d
• UCD ITS support contact trained Web
Librarian in Linux to create and manage
accounts and permissions on web files
• UCD ITS support contact continued to
provide support in installing applications
and upgrading server software
• Installed open source software, including
MediaWiki for our intranet and Bugzilla for IT
ticket creating and workflow tracking and
Drupal for next iteration of the web site

26. Web Server Virtualization:
Lessons Learned
• Ad hoc arrangements between individuals,
no matter how well-intentioned, can create
dangerous points of failure
• Development has occurred so rapidly that
one librarian can’t manage it all
• More skills—especially programming and
server management—are needed in-
house

27. Web Server Virtualization:
Future Plans
• IT Manager will take over more server
maintenance needs
– The Library can be even more autonomous
– Web Librarian can focus on development instead
of maintenance
– UCD ITS support contact has changed focus
• Systems staff developing more skills in-house
• Possibility of migrating to another supported
non-MOSS environment
• The Library has hired a programmer on a
four-month contract

28. Server Virtualization:
Background & Goals
• In 2008, six physical servers in the Library
hosted various library applications
(printing, electronic reserves, hosted
specific software etc.)
• The hardware warranty on four of the
servers had expired in 2004
• The Library lacked a proper environment
(i.e., a datacenter) in which to host servers
(climate control, etc.)

29. Server Virtualization:
Project Background & Goals
• UCD ITS had the virtual environment
infrastructure (VMware)
• UCD ITS had a better physical
environment to host servers and 24 hour
support in case of critical outages
• Library Systems staff worked with ITS to
determine applications compatibility with
the virtual environment

30. Server Virtualization:
Process
• Timeline: June 8, 2009 – August 31, 2009
• IT Services hosted 4 virtual servers
• Library Systems migrated all the
applications from physical servers to the
new virtual servers

31. Server Virtualization:
Outcomes
• System administrative functions like
security, patching, and backups on the
servers are performed by UCD ITS
• This allows Library Systems staff to focus
on other support issues
• The Library saves electricity, space, and
staff time

32. Thin Client:
Basic Concepts

33. Thin Client:
Basic Concepts, cont’d
• Thin clients are smaller, cheaper, and easy
to manage
• Based on the studies, thin-client devices
are more energy-efficient than desktop
computers, with some models using 85%
less power than their PC rivals in real
world environments.

34. Thin Client:
Project Background & Goals
• 90 aging desktop computers in public area
for students, staff, faculty, and public
patrons
• Estimated hardware cost was $70,000 to
replace those computers
• Systems started looking for a cheaper,
greener option

35. Thin Client:
Process
• Virtual desktops can be delivered to any
device (desktop, laptops, Mac, thin clients,
and even mobile devices such as the
iPhone); only requires is Citrix plug-ins
• We decided to evaluate Citrix’s
XenDesktop to deliver virtual desktops
• Hired a Citrix Consultant
• They set up a pilot with 10 Virtual machine
• We decided to implement XenDesktop

36. Thin Client:
Process, cont’d
• Remote Computing Initiative (RCI) project
launched by UCD ITS
– Response to campus planning for H1N1
– Enabled UCD faculty and staff to work from
home more effectively
• UCD ITS delivered virtual desktops
through a web browser
• The Library was delivering virtual
desktops through thin clients

37. Thin Client:
Process, cont’d
• UCD ITS decided to expand their Citrix
Infrastructure, and they needed a beta
tester
• Library systems began collaborating with
them
• This helped UCD ITS determine hardware
needs
• UCD ITS will offer XenDesktop to other
departments

38. Thin Client:
Outcomes
• Associated Costs:
– XenDesktop Licensing = $15,000
– Hardware (servers) = $15,000
– Thin Clients = $35,000
• ROI analysis (from Citrix consultants):
– Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings of
$265,080 over 5 years (compared to replacing
desktop PCs)

39. Thin Client:
Future Plans
• Library has purchased 90 thin clients
• Library Systems staff will be working with
UCD ITS to deploy them
• Library Systems staff are looking to
replace other desktops in the library with
thin clients (i.e., Computer Commons)
• Increase number of computers in public
area because of improved use of
resources (electricity, money, etc.)

40. Technology Strategy Planning:
Basic Concepts
• Technology issues change too fast to be
adequately handled in multi-year strategic
plan
• Helps identify the best use of skills, time
and money
• Look for the most impact for library users
• Prioritize technology projects

41. Technology Strategy Planning:
Project Background & Goals
• Ensure inclusion of UCD ITS so that they
are partners, not gatekeepers
• Develop personal relationships with UCD
ITS

42. Technology Strategy Planning:
Process
• Library wide survey of potential projects
• Evaluation of skills, time, money and
personnel needed
• Evaluation of what portions of projects are
outsourced and which should be completed
in house
• Analysis how projects could be coordinated
with UCD ITS
• Impact of each project is evaluated,
specifically the impact on students

44. Technology Strategy Planning:
Process, cont’d
• Library Technology Strategy Committee-
UCD ITS member/liaison
• Informal weekly technology meetings
• Specific task forces-UCD ITS member on
Mobile Device task force
• Library is represented on the Thin Client
Group at UCD ITS
• Library is represented on the ITS policy
committee, and ITS search committees

45. Technology Strategy Planning:
Outcomes
• UCD ITS is at the table when we are doing
our strategic planning
• The library and UCD ITS both know about
upcoming projects
• The library and UCD ITS can coordinate
purchases and training
• Everyone in the library is on the same page
regarding technology
• Library systems staff develop and acquire
the skills needed to support projects

46. Technology Strategy Planning:
Outcomes, cont’d
• Greatly improved support for projects from
UCD ITS and across the Library
• High-impact projects are actually
completed
• Coordinated training, purchasing and
testing with UCD ITS on thin client, server
virtualization, mobile technology, etc.
• Greater trust and more personal
relationships

47. Technology Strategy Planning:
Lessons Learned
• Concentrate on fewer, higher impact
projects
• Base decisions on evidence
• Document, document, document
• Project management is a work in progress
• Try things to see how they work
• Don’t get discouraged
• Meet with people face-to-face

48. Technology Strategy Planning:
Lessons Learned, cont’d
• A re-evaluation: what things that we do are
best done in-house or by people with a
knowledge of libraries?
Yes No
Library Applications Network Administration
Desktop Maintenance Training/Enterprise
Applications
Web development Server Virtualization

49. Technology Strategy Planning:
Future Plans
• Reach out to MSCD and CCD technology
groups, especially on authentication
• Work more closely with UCD Health
Sciences Library systems staff
• Re-evaluate technology needs after web
migration to Drupal and program review
• Continue to investigate training options
(lynda.com, etc.)

50. Tips for Becoming a Partner
• Be an advocate: library IT is different
– Campus IT may not understand your needs,
especially when it comes to ILSs and library-
specific applications
• Communicate your library’s needs clearly
– When you get no for an answer, ask why
– Ask campus IT provide alternatives

51. Tips for Becoming a Partner, cont’d
• Build trust
– Don’t underestimate the value of face-to-face
communication
– Show that you are willing to take on new
duties and learn new things
– Offer to be a test environment
• Formalize agreements with MOUs

52. Questions? Comments?
• Margaret Brown-Sica
– Assistant Director for Technology Strategy and
Learning Spaces
– margaret.brown-sica@ucdenver.edu
• Niraj Chaudhary
– IT Manager
– niraj.chaudhary@ucdenver.edu
• Nina McHale
– Web Librarian
– nina.mchale@ucdenver.edu

53. http://slideshare.net/ninermac