  There is a growing relationship between academic libraries and cloud
computing. Therefore, understanding the beginnings and the current use of cloud
base services in libraries is important. This will help understand the factors
that libraries should consider in the future. The purpose of this paper is to
better understand the future implementation of the cloud based software in
academic settings. Using cloud based, web based, and other remote services may
bring both advantages and disadvantages, some of which this paper will bring
out. First, a brief literature review of the academic literature, and a review
of available general-purpose cloud-based library products are conducted. Next,
a real-life scenario for a mid-sized New Zealand institution of higher
education is evaluated. This case involves moving from a locally hosted version
of EZproxy to a cloud based version with support from the vendor. As this
information system decision is an important one, this paper makes a
contribution to the available literature and can be informative for librarians.
In conclusion, academic libraries will gradually involve more pervasive use of
cloud based systems. The examples of important factors to be considered in
future decisions include timing and staffing.
