Library Technology Guides

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Volume 14 Number 06 (June 1994)

Phoenix Public Library's electronic bus

Many public libraries are developing community information networks, but the one at Phoenix Public Library (PPL) is particularly worthy of attention. PPL has been developing a community-wide information network that has come to be known as “PhoenixNet,” more commonly referred to as the “Electronic Bus.” PhoenixNet is at the heart of the city's strategic plan for public computer services. Most city services will be available through workstations in 42 convenient library, park, and recreational facilities throughout Phoenix. Decentralizing city services will enhance the public's awareness of what these services are and will provide convenient access points to meet the needs of individual citizens. Computer workstations with voice output will be used to meet ADA requirements for services to people with disabilities.

PhoenixNet accommodates a wide range of information activities. Besides full access to PPL collections, databases and the Internet, users will be able to apply for and receive a building permit, check on available public jobs and contracts, analyze areas of Phoenix using U.S. census data, determine the zoning of a particular piece of real estate, access images of art owned and/or commissioned by the city, pay water bills, reserve sports fields, sign up and pay for classes and programs.

As the network's hub, Phoenix Public Library will achieve a prominent public role. PhoenixNet services are being developed in partnership with the city's art commissions, museums, and business organizations.

Phoenix Public Library, with its Central and branch libraries, currently supports 300 concurrent users on a Dynix automated library system, including 160 PAC terminals in libraries and 16 dial-in ports. It plans to grow to over 500 concurrent users during the next five years. Phoenix will offer journal citation databases, CD-ROM products, and image databases in the near future.

[Contact: Ross McLadlan, Technical Services Administrator, Phoenix Public Library, 12 E. McDowell Road, Phoenix, AZ 85004.]

Carl selected by Bibliomation

Bibliomation, Inc., a consortium of 43 public and academic libraries located in Western and Northeastern sections of Connecticut, has selected the CARL System for its integrated library system. Bibliomation's new system will support 450 online terminals. The system will be installed in August, 1994. Bibliomation is the second Connecticut network to migrate to the CARL System. The Capitol Region Library Council (CRLC) installed its 500 terminal “CONNECT” CARL System in 1993.

When the Bibliomation system become operational both the Bibliomation and Capitol Region databases will be easily accessible through any terminal on either system. Together the two systems will Se -a total of 75 libraries, including 10 of the 12 community colleges in the state. Almost 50 percent of the total population of Connecticut of more than 1.5 million people are served by the public libraries; of the two combines networks.

[Contact: Mike Simonds, CEO, BibliomationL Inc., (203) 378-8700.]

Data Research seeking to acquire MuitiLIS library automation system

Data Research Associates, Inc., and Sobeco Ernst & Young, Inc., have been in negotiation for several months for DRA to acquire certain assets of multiLlS' distributors, including MultiLIS Corporation,, Avec Technical Services, Inc., Multicore Library Systems, Inc., and multiLlS Europe S.A. Data Research intends to purchase the assets for an undisclosed cash amount, subject to the execution of a definitive asset purchase agreement.

The proposed assets to be purchased include multiLlS' integrated library automation software; all rights for the sales, licensing and distribution of multiLlS products worldwide; all rights and obligations under each of multiLIS' support agre ments; and certain intellectual property rights.

MultiLIS is headquartered in Montréal Quebec, Canada. Its automated library system, which simultaneously supports English French and Spanish, is currently installed at more than 310 customer sites in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

While multiLlS' revenues for 1993 were a third of DRA's $25 million, it sold 120 new-name systems against DRA's 40.

[Contact: Data Research Associates, 1276 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132; (800) 325-0888; Fax (314) 993-8927.]

Dynix and NOTIS announce single sales channel

Dynix and NOTIS have announced the creation of a single sales channel for Dynix and NOTIS Systems products. Rather than sales forces separated by a product or company, all Ameritech Library Services products will be available to all customers and prospective customers through channels dedicated to various types of libraries. Those products include Dynix, Scholar, and Marquis from Dynix; NOTIS LMS and Horizon from NOTIS Systems.

For public libraries the single sales channel will be Dynix; for academic libraries, NOTIS Systems. Dynix has had a sales team working with academic and special libraries. A portion of that team will join the NOTIS sales force for academic libraries, with the remainder of that team forming the nucleus of the sales channel for special libraries. As in the past, Dynix Scholar will focus exclusively on K-12 school libraries. Libraries outside the United States will work with Dynix international offices.

In a conference call to CODI, the Dynix users group, President Paul Sybrowski and Vice President Keith Wilson of Dynix stressed that the change only affects sales of initial systems; it does not affect service or add-on sales, such as new CPUs, new modules, or even changes in software products. The purpose of the change is to eliminate head-to-head competition between the Dynix and NOTIS sales forces.

In response to a question sent via the Internet: “Will Dynix no longer be working with academic libraries?” Keith Wilson responded: “This is most definitely not the direction we are heading, nor the message we intended to send. From a customer support and development standpoint, Dynix continues to value and to dedicate resources to our academic customers. Support for clients using Dynix software (either existing or future customers) [will] continue to come from Provo. We have over 400 academic customers (twice the number that NOTIS has) and these customers continue to shape enhancements and new product development. Release 142 (out in June) and Release 143 (out in September) have primary emphasis on enhancements to the Reserve Book Module as suggested by CODI. We certainly wouldn't be spending the bulk of our enhancement efforts in this area if we were planning to de-emphasize the role of academic libraries.”

From the contributing editor's perspective, the decision makes sense. There were too many cases when Dynix and NOTIS appeared to be competitors and confused libraries as to which product was most appropriate for them. Is there room for both Dynix and NOTIS products in the academic library market? It would seem so. Dynix has sold well in the academic library market without weakening NOTIS. If there is any conflict at all, it is a potential future conflict between Dynix Marquis and NOTIS Horizon—both client/server products in a market that is only now beginning to develop. If market growth is slow, there will be some tough times ahead; but if it is rapid, as the contributing editor expects, there will be room for both. The key will be successfully differentiating the Marquis and Horizon products.

[Contact: Ameritech, Inc., 400 Dynix Drive, Provo, UT 84604; (801) 223-5200 or (800) 288-8020; Fax (801) 223-5202.]

Dynix Marquis clients established in Hungary and Poland

The German office of Dynix, Inc., has announced library clients in Hungary and Poland for Marquis, the client/server automated library system from Dynix. Funding for the purchase of the system was supplied by World Bank.

The new Dynix clients in Hungary are three large university libraries located in and around Budapest. The largest of the three, the Eotvos Lorand University, consists of 111 libraries with a total of 3.5 million volumes and more than 20,000 faculty and students. The other new Marquis clients are the Semmelweiss Medical University one main library and four networked libraries with 380,000 volumes) and the Miskolc University (one main library and sixty department reference libraries with 600,000 volumes). Installations are scheduled for completion during 1994.

The first Marquis client in Poland is the Nicholas Copernicus Library, located in Torun in northwest Poland. The library has a total of 2 million volumes.

Because of these installations, translation of the system into Hungarian and Polish has been undertaken in cooperation with the libraries. Support of the UNIMARC standard with all of its various national dialects will also be completed soon. Located in Berlin, the Dynix office has responsibility for Germany and neighboring countries in Europe, especially for libraries in Eastern Europe.

[Contact: Sharon McKay, Marquis Products Manager, (801) 522-5663, Dynix, Inc., 400 Dynix Drive, Provo, UT 84604; (801) 223-5200 or (800) 288-8020; Fax (801) 223-5202.]

Geac emphasizes EDI X.12

Geac Computers, Inc., and the Faxon Company have announced an agreement to jointly implement standard electronic data interchange (EDI) of publication data for U.S. clients of Faxon's serials subscription services and Geac's ADVANCE integrated library system. The agreement is the first in the industry to also provide for the electronic transmission of publisher dispatch data. A library can now be advised electronically that something has been shipped.

The agreement details plans to develop a facility for standard EDI transmission of serials invoices, claims, claims responses and dispatch data in the EDI X.12 format between Faxon and Geac. When in place, the facility will speed up serials invoices and claims processing for Faxon and Geac clients using Geac's ADVANCE System.

While the agreement with Faxon is the first to incorporate publisher dispatch information, an earlier agreement between Geac and EBSCO has already led to implementation of EDI X.12 at Texas Woman's University Library in Denton, Texas. That library is already able to electronically receive and manipulate EBSCO subscription invoice data on their local Geac ADVANCE system. Immediate transfer of EBSCO invoice data to the Geac system is made via Internet File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The capability has been used at the Texas Woman's University since November 1993, enabling staff to replace paper invoice filing and handling with automatic financial updates in the Geac ADVANCE system. The standard ADVANCE system invoice loader is then automatically invoked to load the invoice data from the UNIX file to the online ADVANCE application file, where it may be accessed and manipulated

[Contact: Geac Computers, Inc., 320 Nevada Street, Newtonville, MA 02160; (617) 965-6310; Fax (617) 969-1928; or Geac Computer Corporation Ltd., Suite 300, 11 Allstate Parkway, Markham, Ontario L3R 9T8 Canada; (416) 475-0525; Fax (416) 475-3847.]

MuItiLIS installs its first Alpha

MultiLIS has installed its first Digital Alpha AXP computer at Farmingdale College of Technology, a SUNY campus. The Alpha, a 64-bit microprocessor with a clock speed of 160 MHz, is challenging the IBM RS/6000 as the most popular line of machines for library automation. Other library vendors that have installed it include DRA, Dynix, and Innovative Interfaces.

[Contact: MultiLIS, (514) 878-9090.]

P.S.S. Tapestry expands marketing effort

P.S.S. Tapestry, Inc., the firm which markets the TAPESTRY automated library system has set up sales offices in Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Pullman (Washington), Seattle, and Washington, D.C. The product, which celebrated Release 1.0 on November 30, 1993, runs on a variety of platforms using the IBM MVS, VSE, and VM operating systems. Plans have been made to offer a UNIX version of H-P and Sun systems by mid-1994. The systems use the ADABAS and NATURAL database management systems.

There were three sales through the end of 1993, two to academic libraries, and one to a special library. The two academic systems support over 400 concurrent users each; the special library system supports more than 30. The available modules are bibliographic and authority control, acquisitions, serials control, circulation, and online patron access catalog.

Sales revenues for 1993 were reported as falling between $1 and $2.5 million, with an after tax profit. There is a staff of 12 committed to software maintenance and development, 4 to marketing and sales, and 3 to customer support. Warrendale, Pennsylvania, the headquarters site of the company, is outside Pittsburgh; but the director of marketing is located in the Washington, D.C. area—hence the 703 area code.

[Contact: P.S.S. Tapestry, Inc., 265 Northgate Drive, Warrendale, PA 15086, (703) 391-6596; Fax (703) 391-6673.]

Sirsi Z39.50 compliant server free to customers

SIRSI Corporation has announced the release of ZSERVER, a Z39.50-compliant server used with SIRSI's UNICORN and STILAS information management systems. Release of ZSERVER means that any UNICORN or STILAS site which authorizes access can now be queried by a Z39.50 client. ZSERVER is available for SCO UNIX, IBM RISC System/6000, Hewlett-Packard, DEC (MIPS-based) and Sun host computers. ZSERVER software is being supplied to SIRSI customers as part of their software service agreement.

SIRSI ZSERVER administrators can monitor client/server interaction through standard UNICORN/STILAS administrative utilities. Parameters such as record size, time-outs, and number of simultaneous clients can be easily set and changed by the system administrator.

[Contact: SIRSI Corporation, 689 Discovery Drive, Huntsville, AL 35806; (205) 922-9825; Fax (205) 922-9818.]

Sirsi announces new installations

SIRSI Corporation announced that its STILAS (Scientific and Technical Information Library System) has been installed at the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Center; the U.S. Army Research Institute; the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (U.S. Army ARDEC); the Strughold Aeromedical Library, Naval Undersea Museum Library; and, the Naval Postgraduate School. Most of the systems will be installed on IBM RISC System/6000 platforms, but the Development and Engineering Center (U.S. Army ARDEC), located at Picantinny Arsenal, New Jersey, will be running STILAS on a SUN 4/490 host computer. In addition to the core modules, most of the libraries will also be obtaining intelligent interfaces to DTIC DROLS and other STILAS sites. Most will also be able to download DTIC COSATI records into their databases.

All of the libraries made their purchases under GSA Contract GSOOK-94AGS 5695.

[Contact: SIRSI Corporation, 689 Discovery Drive, Huntsville, AL 35806; (205) 922-9825; Fax (205) 922-9818.]

Library automation with Unix on PCs

One of the advantages of the UNIX operating systems is that it can be mounted on a wide range of machines from PCs to mainframes. The power of the new 486 and Pentium machines makes it possible to support 20 or more users on a high-end PC and realize the benefits of a powerful multi-function, multi-user software package. Among the vendors which are selling powerful PC-based systems running under UNIX to small public, academic, special, and school libraries are Dynix, Geac, IME, MultiLIS, Sirsi, and VTLS.

Internet accessibility

There are now over 700 OPACs accessible through the Internet. Details about all of them can be found in a new publication, OPAC DIRECTORY 1994, available for $70.00 from MecklerMedia.

Contact: MecklerMedi, 11 Ferry Lane West, Westport, CT 06880; (203) 226-6967; Fax (203) 454-5840.]

Vista announces free trial offer and links with UnCover

Vista, Dynix's database service, is available for a one-month free trial by dial-up or the Internet. All libraries are eligible, regardless of whether or not they are automated with a Dynix system. While telecommunications will be th responsibility of the library accessing Vista, during the one-month trial the access charges to the databases are waived.

The UnCover document delivery service is now available through a gateway between Dynix's Vista database service and the UnCover system. This means that document delivery by fax can be requested from UnCover after obtaining a citation from Vista.

[Contact: Vista at (800) 97-VISTA.]

ISM offers gateway to RLG

ISM Library Information Services (formerly UTLAS) and RLG (The Research Library Group) have announced a Z39.50 service: ISM customers worldwide will have direct access to RLG's Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) and CitaDel databases.

RLIN contains entries for over 22 million titles and the CitaDel citation and the document delivery service provides 18 general and special-interest databases. RLG's Z39.50 service, Zephyr, is fully developed and in production while ISM's Z39.50 client is in Beta testing, with implementation scheduled for early summer. Then, ISM customers will be able to search and retrieve records from RLG simply by using the Catalogue Support System (CATSS) commands that they already know.

In the future RLG will establish a reciprocal Z39.50 link so that its customers will have access to ISM's CATSS, Canada's foremost source of bibliographic and authority data.

[Contact: ISM Library Information Services, West Tower, 16th Floor, 3300 Bloor Street West, Etobicoke, Ontario M8X 2X2 Canada; (416) 236-7171; Fax (416) 236-7541.]

BLDSC expands in North America

The British Library Document Supply Centre (BLDSC) is expanding its presence in the North American document delivery market by seeking agreements with commercial firms, the two latest of which are the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and EBSCO.

The BLDSC and ISI will work together to expand the latter's document delivery service. The Genuine Article (TGA), by adding approximately 3,500 journal titles available from the BLDSC to the TGA database (an expansion of 50 percent) effective July 1, 1994.

All royalty payments will be made directly to the primary publishers in cases where ISI has a copyright agreement, or alternately, to the Copyright Clearance Center in the United States.

TGA offers ordering through the Internet, and through DIALOG, DATA-STAR, OCLC's PRISM and FirstSearch, DIMDI, STN, and ISM. Other ordering options include fax, phone, and mail. Current delivery options include fax and standard or express mail. ISI is developing an image-based system to also provide electronic delivery of article images. Availability of this option is scheduled for 1995.

The BLDSC has contracted with EBSCO for the latter to produce Current Citations, a CD-ROM which contains the 900,000 citations from 10,000 journals maintained by the BLDSC. The database will grow by approximately one million citations a year. Each citation will contain author, title, source, publication date, and ISSN.

[Contact: The Genuine Article, ISI, 3501 Market Street1 Philadelphia, PA 19104-3389; (800) 336-4474, ex. 1145; Fax (215) 222-0840;--EBSCO Publishing, (800) 653-2726.]

ARL to manage cooperative project for NRMM serials records

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) will manage a cooperative project for creating online serials records for the National Register of Microform Masters (NRMM). The three major research libraries which will cooperate with ARL in the project are Harvard University Library, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library. Together these institutions hold close to 50 percent of the estimated 60,000 serials in the NRMM Master File. The project is funded by a newly awarded grant of $395,865 from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The participant institutions are contributing substantial additional funding. On behalf of research libraries, OCLC is making an in-kind contribution of $63,472.

The three participant institutions will be responsible for preparing their reports and validating their holdings to allow inclusion of exact holdings information. The Library of Congress also will be responsible for the quality assurance program. Under contract with the OCLC Retrospective Conversion Services, 290,522 serials records will be input into the CONSER database and in the OCLC Online Union Catalog.

This is the next phase of a complex, multi-year effort to provide online access to more than half a million bibliographic records for preservation microform masters. In January 1994, API completed the project for the retrospective conversion of the approximately 529,000 monographic reports in the NRMM Master File. With the exception of reports in non-Roman alphabets and records with insufficient information, all monograph reports are now available in the national bibliographic utilities.

[Contact: Association of Research Libraries, 21 Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. 20036; (202) 296-2296; Fax (202) 872-0884.]

EBSCO acquires dynamic information corporation

EBSCO is adding document delivery to its services as the result of acquiring Dynamic Information Corporation of Burlingame, California. Dynamic Information has been delivering all types of documents to academic, corporate and public libraries worldwide for 14 years.

[Contact: EBSCO Industries, Inc., P.O. Box 1953, Birmingham, AL 35201; (205) 991-6600; (800) 653-2726; Fax (508) 535-8545.]

One hundred million CD-ROMS manufactured in 1993

Approximately 100 million CD-ROM disks were manufactured worldwide in 1993 according to surveys conducted by the Optical Publishing Association (OPA). The Association estimates market share by region as 70 percent North America, 25 percent Europe, and 5 percent Asia and the rest of the world. The total retail value of CD-ROM titles sold in 1993 is estimated at $1.5 billion. Prices for consumer products have come down dramatically, but prices for database products are holding steady.

OPA estimates that there are now 7.5 million CD-ROM drives in North America, with 4.5 million purchased in 1993.

Random house unabridged dictionary on CD-ROM

Random House Reference and Electronic Publishing and Word Perfect Corporation have teamed to provide the Random House Unabridged Dictionary on CD-ROM, the first unabridged dictionary on CD-ROM. The product includes 315,000 entries, including biographical and geographical names, foreign terms, and abbreviations. In addition to retrieval by a variety of simple search commands, there is a wildcard” command which allows the keying in of one or more syllables to retrieve all words which contain them. The searcher can also summon all definitions that include a certain word or words. In addition to definitions, there are over 75,000 phrases and sentences showing how words are used in context, and over 10,000 synonym lists.

The minimum system requirements include a 286 DOS-based PC with 2 MB or more of RAM, at least 1 MB free on the hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, and Windows 3.1 or higher. A mouse is recommended.

The retail price is $59.00.

[Contact: Random House Electronic Publishing; (800) 345-8112; Fax (215) 586-3232.]

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