LC cuts retrospective conversion pricesAt ALA's annual conference in Chicago, two vendors were promoting networking products to link standalone automated library systems from different vendors. Minicomputer Systems Incorporated (MSI), the software house which developed the Irving Library Network product for the Denver-area Irving Group, was advertising the commercial availability of the product for other libraries.
The Irving Library Network product consists of hardware and software that make it possible for library staff and patrons to access the files mounted on computer systems from different vendors. The network consists of small computers called nodal processors, a switching box, and software.
A nodal processor--a DEC MICRO VAX II--is installed between each library's main computer and its terminals. Software running on the nodal processor works as a message translator and router. It speaks both the language of the local system's processor and the common network language. Depending on a patron's request, the network will direct the inquiry either to the local system or to any other library on the network. The translating and routing is virtually invisible to a user. If not satisfied with the results of a search at one library, the patron can make the same inquiry of another library system. The user needs to be familiar with only two sets of screen formats and commands: those of the local system and those of the network.
The Irving Library Network can be installed with no changes to the proprietary software, hardware or data bases of a local library system. It is modular in design; a group of libraries can begin linking with just two participants and other libraries can join as funds become available. The Network is compatible with the OSI model architecture.
MSI has quoted a price of under $50,000 per nodal processor and accompanying X.25 switch (one of which is required for each eight host systems linked to the network). This price includes the hardware and the software for bibliographic searching and electronic mail. At present, the Irving Library Network supports the CL Systems Inc. LIBS 100 system and the Sperry/UNIVAC-based Pueblo Library System. MST estimates the cost of developing the network to accommodate other automated library systems to be $40,000 per computer system type.
Library Systems & Services Inc. (LSSI) used the ALA Conference as a showcase for the Standard Network Interconnection--which it developed for libraries in Massachusetts. Like the Irving Network, it too operates to link local library systems from different vendors for the electronic sharing of library data. Designed for use by staff rather than patrons, SNI is used to locate wanted materials and to determine their availability for loan. The network operation is transparent to the user the Terminal Access Library Network (TALN) and Host Access Library Network (HALN) to allow the use of the command language and search strategies) of the local system to access and search foreign systems. The network uses a hierarchical structure for implementing searches of other libraries' systems--the user library defines which systems are to be accessed and in which order.
The TALN performs terminal emulation and operates on a terminal to terminal level; the HALN is a packet switched network which enables communication among the host computers. The system is currently installed on CL Systems Inc. and DataPhase automated library systems. Current capabilities are data base access, search and determination of the availability of the item(s) sought. Other capabilities to be developed include: hold/reserve, interlibrary loan, reciprocal borrowing, patron inquiry, and acquisitions.
The network is mounted on AT&T micros. The interface uses design elements of the OSI model. The cost per host computer linked to the system is $12,000 for hardware and software.
[Contact: MSI (Minicomputer Systems Incorporated), 2037 Sixteenth Street, Boulder, CO 80302, (303) 443-3347 and Library Systems & Services, Inc., 1395 Piccard Drive, Suite 100, Rockville, MD 20850, (301) 258-0200.]
New option for RLIN-based conversionsThe Library of Congress has announced a dramatic change in pricing for its Select MARC Retrospective Conversion service described in LSN Vol. IV, No. 8 (August 1984). The service provides libraries with IC MARC records for books, serials, audiovisual materials, maps and music selected by ISSN/ISSN or LCCN from the library's file of 2.3 million records. The pricing change will provide some libraries undertaking large conversion projects with the least expensive option available from any vendor.
The service carries a basic charge of $300.00 per order to which is added a per record charge which varies according to the form in which search requests are submitted. Hits for requests submitted on magnetic tape are charged at $.01 per record, requests submitted on floppy disk are charged at $.02 per hit, those typed on select MARC order forms at $.03 per record, and requests submitted on "other hard copy input"-- defined as any eye-readable hard copy, including photocopies of shelf list cards--are charged at $.08 per hit.
By mid-year the Library had processed some 300,000 retrospective conversion records through the service for a state university, a community college, and two public libraries. Overall, the hit rate was between 60 and 75 percent. However, for searches of post-1967 materials, the hit rate averaged 97 percent.
[Contact: Customer Services Section, Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20541, (202) 287-6171.]
Automation inventory of research librariesThe Research Libraries Group and Infour, a Los Altos (California) information business development firm, have announced an exclusive licencing agreement under which Infour will undertake batch searching of the RLIN data base for monograph titles in support of retrospective conversion for RLIN users. The service, PACfile, is expected to become available in the last quarter of 1985.
PACfile services will include the contract keying of search keys and cata-log records, an approach which provides a complete contract conversion to those libraries which require it. Libraries using the service will receive their con-verted records in the RLIN format, and copies of the converted records will also be added to the RLIN online data base.
[Contact: Research Libraries Group, Jordan Quadrangle, Stanford, CA 94305, (415) 328-0920, Infour, 885 North San Antonio Road, Los Altos, CA 94022; or CLASS, 1415 Koll Circle, Suite 101, San Jose, CA 95112, (408) 289-1756.]
More library automation options for microsThe Association of Research Libraries' Office of Management Studies has released the results of a detailed inventory of operational and planned library automation in 92 ARL member libraries. The publication, The Automation Inventory of Research Libraries, 1985, contains charts of each library's use of automated systems for acquisitions, serials check-in/claiming, serials union listing, utility cataloging, local cataloging, circulation, reserve room, COM catalog, online catalog, data base searching, bibliographic instruction, collection development, interlibrary loan, telefacsimile, public computer workstations, administrative systems, and data base conversion methodology. The data presented in the charts has been manipulated to produce additional listings by function.
The data is maintained in machine- readable form and OMB will undertake custom searches of the file on demand. The minimum charge for a search is $15 for ARt members, and $30 for non-members. The hard copy inventory is priced at $20 for members and $40 for non-members. It is available from:
Office of Management Studies
Association of Research Libraries
1527 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 232-8656
Dynix hardware maintenance credit programBCA of Blame, Washington, has developed a cataloging and circulation system for the IBM PC XT and AT. "The Library System" (TLS) uses bar codes to register the charge and discharge of library materials, and borrower identification. TLS is designed for libraries with collections of between 25,000 and 75,000 volumes.
TLS will accommodate holds, borrower restrictions, the issuance of overdue notices, and fine calculations. It provides an inquiry function for searching the data base of brief bibliographic records by author, title, call number and subject. Entry of the search key results in the display of the title file arranged in the order of the element upon which the search was conducted. The user then scrolls through the index to locate the required item. The system accommodates different loan periods and borrower types and produces a variety of reports and statistics, including: titles in the data base arranged by author, call number, title or subject; overdue and hold notices and lists; and lists of items in circulation.
In addition to an IBM PC or compatible computer with 512 KB of memory and a hard disk of at least 10 MB, the system requires a printer and a bar code label scanner. The library must also purchase the bar code labels to affix to items in its collection and to patron cards. The TLS software for data base creation and circulation lists for $4,000, but was available during the ALA conference for $3,000.
BCA's publicity material indicates that the company intends to develop additional software for other applications. Modules under development include: acquisitions, media booking, inventory, OCLC conversion, and laser disc conversion and data entry.
ETT Library Automations Inc. of Evanston, Illinois, is marketing the ETTACQ automated acquisitions system software for the Apple lie micro; a version for the Macintosh is under development. The system checks for duplicate orders, generates printed order forms, and issues claims or cancellations for materials not received within a library-specified time frame. Outstanding orders may be searched by author, title, ISBN, order date and order number. The system can store tip to 5,000 active orders. ETTACQ provides a continuations component for standing orders and periodical subscriptions which can handle 5,000 active records. A periodicals file lists holdings which can be accessed online or used to generate alphabetized listings for distribution to staff and patrons. This component will accommodate 5,000 records. The ETTACQ software is priced at $3,500.
Nichols Advanced Technologies Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta, is marketing the Micro Online Library Information--MOLLI--software which supports data base creation and searching, and also offers limited circulation control and acquisitions capabilities. Separate modules are being developed for these functions and are expected to be available by the end of the year.
MOLLI allows the design of records with up to seven fields, including: title; subject; author; source code--classification number, for instance; accession number; publication date; and user defined fields. Data entered in the author, title and subject fields can be searched by keywords, and the keyword indices for each of these fields are available for browsing during search formulation.
The software is produced in two versions--PC-DOS for IBM PCs and compatible machines, and MS-DOS for a variety of computers including the DEC Rainbow and Wang systems. The system requires 192 KB of memory, a disk drive and a hard disk, a printer and the PC-DOS or MS-DOS operating system. Storage requirements vary with the nature and size of the data base developed.
The MOLLI software is priced at $1,000. This includes a year of software support. The circulation and acquisitions software under development are expected to cost $500 and $1,000, respectively.
Scarecrow Press is marketing software to support catalog card and label production. The Librarian's Helper is available for the IBM PC and the Apple lIe. The software for card and label production costs $195 for the PC, and $295 for the Apple. This basic software package, however, does not include the ability to save the input keyed--software for this function increases the price to $225 for the PC and $325 for the Apple.
[Contact: BCA Bar Code Applications, 240 H Street, #113, Blame, WA 98230, (604) 926-7222, ETT Library Automations Inc., 9201 Drake Avenue, Suite 103, Evanston, IL, (312) 677-7704; Nichols Advanced Technologies Inc., 400 Bentall Building, 10180 102 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 0W5, (403) 424-0091; Scarecrow Press, 52 Liberty Street, P.O. Box 656, Metuchen, NJ 08840, (201) 548-8600.]
URICA goes to marketDynix, the Provo-based turnkey library system vendor, has begun to negotiate innovative hardware maintenance contracts with its customers. To date, industry practice has been to charge a flat annual hardware maintenance fee which is usually equivalent to one percent per month of the total hardware purchase price. The library pays the fee irrespective of the amount of maintenance required and receives no refunds for unused credits. Under Dynix's "60 Percent" hardware maintenance plan the standard charges apply. However, the actual maintenance expenditures incurred by a library are tracked, and up to 60 percent of the balance unused in any year is credited to an account against which the library may draw for future purchases of hardware from Dynix. Credits may accumulate indefinitely, and credits carried over from year to year attract interest at the rate of six percent per annum.
[Contact: Dynix, Inc., 1455 West 820 North, Provo, UT 84601, (801) 375-2770.]
Sails site announcedMcDonnell Douglas Computer Systems has begun marketing its URICA turnkey automated library system in North America. URICA utilizes Microdata hardware and the REALITY data base management system. Modules for acquisitions, cataloging and authority control, circulation, inquiry, and serials control have been developed and compatible commercial software is available from Disc International for electronic mail and videotext systems. Software prices vary according to The size of the CPU on which the system is to be mounted. Current prices for all URICA modules for the Microdata 6000 series machine is $50,000 and for the 9000 series, $75,000.
McDonnell Douglas is making a "special introductory offer" of hardware and software for the superceded 4000 series machine. A package of the Microdata R4755 CPU with 125 KB of memory and eight ports, one 128 MB disk, a streaming tape drive, operating system and the URICA software for the basic catalog, inquiry and authority control functions plus the circulation control module is being offered for $40,560, discounted from a list price of $67,600. Monthly maintenance payments on this system are $778. While the company publicizes this offer as providing a powerful computer that can support a collection of approximately 80,000 titles and 200,000 circulations per year for less than $50,000, the offer does not include terminals, scanners, or printers. Many libraries would also need to add extra memory and disk storage. The acquisitions and serials control software for the series 4000 each cost an additional $15,000.
The Editors urge libraries that pursue the McDonnell Douglas offer for the 4000 series hardware to get written commitments of hardware and software maintenance for the machine, and software enhancement for five years. There should be a commitment that the software will be maintained and enhanced on the same release schedule as that available for other machines. The company should also agree to an "escalator clause" for maintenance--typically limiting annual increases to ten percent.
[Contact: McDonnell Douglas Computer Systems Company, P.O. Box 19501, Irvine, CA 92713, (714) 250-1000.]
Helpful hints from LS/2000An announcement by the Oklahoma State University indicates that the Edmond Low Library will serve as a test and development site for Swets and Zeitlinger's SAILS automated library system. The Library is receiving the software at no cost and Swets will undertake a significant amount of retrospective conversion as part of its commitment.
[Contact: Edmon Low Library, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74071, (405) 624-6313 and Swets North America Inc., P.O. Box 517, Berwyn, PA 19312, (215) 644-4944.]
More on laser scannersLibraries planning to install an automated library system may find a recent OCLC Local Systems publication helpful in identifying the issues to be addressed in system implementation. Although the LS/2000 Planning Considerations brochure discusses profiling, data base loading, barcoding, training, and site preparation in the context of the LS/2000 automated library system, much of the content is applicable to planning for minicomputer-based turnkey systems in general. The publication provides a useful overview when used in association with other materials such as the LSN article on "Physical Planning Guidelines for Housing Library Systems" published in Vol. IV, No. 1 in January 1984. When a library moves out of the planning phase into the installation of its selected system, the guidelines of its chosen system vendor should, of course, be followed.
[Contact: OCLC Local Systems, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017-0702.]
OCLC at ALAThe Editors were recently taken to task for their article on laser scanners and light pens in the May 1985 issue of LSN. The writer said that his library plans to use laser scanners because "lasers have the distinct advantage of allowing a wider range of employees to operate the system with only a small potential for operator frustration."
The Editors concede that a laser is easier to operate without training, but restate their principle points:
- In practice, lasers are not really faster than light pens because throughput is more a factor of the handling of books and interchange between patrons and staff than the speed of the data collection device.
- Laser scanners cost more.
- Laser scanners have higher average downtime than light pens.
- Many turnkey vendors do not support laser technology.
There is nothing wrong with laser technology, but given minimum level training the staff of a library can charge out just as many books with the less expensive light pens.
UTLAS at ALAOCLC presented an upbeat image at several meetings during the ALA conference. The spotlight luncheon session was almost embarrassingly over-attended. Major OCLC announcements focused on linkages with Britain: agreement for the addition of UKMARC records created by the British Library to the Online Union Catalog, and direct linkage between the OCLC Interlibrary Loan subsystem and the British Library Lending Division. Among the snippets of interest to utility watchers were:
- a resolution of the utility's tax problems in Ohio with the passage of legislation exempting OCLC from all Ohio taxes.
- the achievement, during one week in June, of 100 percent online system uptime in contrast to the usual level of 99.6 percent.
- statistics showing that 25 percent of records in the Online Union Catalog are for foreign language materials, and that the data base now contains more than 1.5 million records for materials with pre-1900 imprints.
- the sales performance of OCLC's LS/ 2000 local automated library system capped by its selection by libraries at Oxford University in England.
As consultants in the field of local library automation, the Editors note that in contrast with other local system suppliers, OCLC's Local Systems Division is far more cautious in its responses to libraries' RFPs for automated systems, preferring to take a much more cautious approach with regard to its future developments and system performance than some other vendors. Also, concerned not to overcommit itself, LS/2000 appears to respond to fewer RFPs than do other vendors and to obtain a greater proportion of contracts as sole bidders. The majority of its contracts are with libraries that are established users of the OCLC Online System. However, even established OCLC member libraries sometimes need to go to some lengths to ensure that the Local Systems Division bids on their local library system RFPs.
[Contact: OCLC, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017-0702, (614) 764-6000.]
Protection of softwareAlthough the annual meeting of the American Library Association in Chicago in July took place very soon after announcements of UTLAS's acquisition of the Tandem-based ALIS III local library system software and the integration of Carrollton Press operations, UTLAS staff presented a unified and enthusiastic picture throughout the meeting. Among the UTLAS developments reported recently are:
- the successful completion of the upgrade of the CATTS II online cataloging system to Tandem hardware.
- the decision to integrate the major Carrollton Press product--the data base of pre-1968 Library of Congress cataloging, REMARC--into the CATTS II online file.
- the establishment of UTLAS Corp. to handle the utility's U.S. business and the appointment of Susan Severetson as Vice President of Marketing for the U.S. and Richard Newman as Vice President of Operations for the U.S.
- the availability of some 420,000 Japan/MARC records for Japanese post-1969 imprints online and off-line through UTLAS.
[Contact: UTLAS Inc., 80 Bloor Street, 2nd Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2Vl, (416) 923-0890 and UTLAS Corp., 701 Westchester Avenue, Suite 308W, White Plains, NY 10604, (914) 997-1495.]
Per terminal cost of multi-function systemsIt should come as no surprise that ADAPSO, the trade association for the microcomputer software industry, is pursu-ing several legal actions to protect its members' copyrights. It is estimated that fully half of all software in use on personal micros is pirated. The lost revenue is well in excess of $1 billion per year. While the industry trade association is currently focusing its attention on the "copy mills" which reproduce and sell software packages in quantity, future targets include unauthorized copying by employees of large corporations, rentals by commercial firms, and loans by libraries. A recent increase in piracy is only partially responsible for the industry's vigorous efforts; another influence is the fact that the industry is changing from one involving hundreds of small firms to one dominated by a half dozen giant companies accustomed to retaining legal counsel and lobbyists.
The industry is hoping that Senator Charles Mathias, Jr. of Maryland will reintroduce the Computer Software Protection Act in the 99th Congress. The Act, which did not reach the floor in the 98th Congress, would prohibit the rental of software.
Other protective efforts being pursued include the development of devices which would make it very difficult to make usable copies of software; multi- user licensing agreements which would allow large corporations and educational institutions to make copies; and demonstration disks which would make it possible for prospective buyers to evaluate software without having access to a complete program.
The library community will need to be represented in the courts and in Congress as the industry pursues its campaign to protect its products. Libraries will have to speak up to retain the right to lend software as library materials, and wijl also have to press for the right to copy software for back-up purposes or to have the industry provide for rapid, low-cost replacement of damaged software. It may have to support licensing agreements which restrict the right to copy for other than back-up. Interested librarians should contact The ALA Washington Office, Senator Mathias, and their own Congressional delegation.
Automation is expensive! The Editors have had the opportunity to review a number of recent proposals for supplying turnkey multi-function automated library systems required to support from 10 to 50 terminals. Providing that a system is configured to permit expansion, an analysis of these responses indicates that vendors quote an average of $10,000 to $12,000 per terminal for systems capable of providing for the automation of circulation control, local cataloging, online patron access catalog, acquisitions, and serials control. The cost elements included in the analysis were: hardware, software, shipping and installation, training, data base loading and profiling, and labels and other supplies. Additional one-time costs involving other contractors would include: retrospective conversion of bibliographic and patron records, item labeling, site preparation, telecommunications connections, salary of the C' interim project coordinator, and legal and consulting fees. Taken together, these costs can add as much as $4,000 to $6,000 per terminal to the start-up cost.
The ongoing costs payable to a system vendor appear to have stabilized at one percent of the total hardware and software purchase price per month (with these costs being subject to an increase of up to ten percent per annum). Other ongoing costs to be considered in the determination of total annual cost include: telecommunications, site maintenance, salaries of the system manager and operators, supplies, COM back-up, and possibly, a reserve fund for system enhancement and/or replacement. On a per- terminal basis, these costs can quickly reach $3,000 per annum.
Although these costs are substantial, the service benefits are also substantial, especially if a patron access catalog is included allowing library users to have access to on-order and availability information. The point is that librarians should be aware of the costs in advance.
Publisher | Library Systems Newsletter was published by the American Library Association. |
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Editor-in-Chief: | Howard S. White |
Contributing Editor: | Richard W. Boss |
ISSN: | 0277-0288 |
Publication Period | 1981-2000 |
Business model | Available on Library Technology Guides with permission of the American Library Association. |
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