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An integrated library system, or ILS, is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed.

An ILS is usually comprised of a relational database, software to act on that database, and two graphical user interfaces (one for patrons, one for staff). Most ILSes separate software functions into discrete programs called modules, which are then integrated into a unified interface. Examples of modules include: acquisitions (ordering, receiving, and invoicing materials), cataloging (classifying and indexing materials), circulation (lending materials to patrons and receiving them back), serials (tracking magazine and newspaper holdings), and the OPAC (public interface for users). Each patron and item has a unique ID in the database that allows the ILS to track its activity.

In the United Kingdom, ILSes are sometimes referred to as "library management systems".

Last year only 9 percent of respondents said their budgets had shrunk. This year it was a whopping 46 percent. Staff reductions have also become the norm, with 57 percent of firms paring their library payroll, up from 18 percent in 2008.

are being asked to become detectives of a sort, tracking, graphing, and reporting on their firm's use of every research tool.

Perhaps it's no wonder, then, that we noticed an uptick in librarian dissatisfaction.