Library Technology Guides

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Volume 6 Number 06 (June 1986)

Performance bonds

The use of performance bonding to protect libraries from automated systems vendors who become unable to meet their obligations as specified in a contract has been a topic of interest in the library press in the past few months. While the insurance industry's practices and rates are changing, the nature of performance bonding for library automation vendors has remained essentially unchanged. The amount of a bond, its duration, and premium are each a function of the bonding agency's assessment of the vendor's ability to meet its outstanding programmatic and financial obligations. Companies with sound capital structuring, sufficient sales volume and adequate projected cash flow would be bonded at a rate lower than a company that was perceived by the bonding agency to be at greater risk. A strong vendor can usually obtain a bond for a premium that amounts to about one percent of the coverage. On the other hand, a company that is perceived to be a high risk may be quoted a premium as high as four or five percent, or may even be refused coverage.

The rating of automated system vendors by the bonding companies is not unlike that undertaken by library automation consultants on behalf of their clients. Consultants generally recommend consideration of vendor viability along with conformity to specifications and cost. Viability is usually defined in terms of the number of installed systems, rate of new installations, annual sales and profits, and number of full time analysts and programmers on staff.

There are two schools of thought in regard to the use of performance bonds to protect a library from an unviable vendor. There is general agreement that some screening of vendors should take place, but the criteria for determining viability may differ. The primary concern is not protection from companies that have good records of past performance but from companies that do not.

One school of thought holds that a performance bond is not a good idea and gives the following reasons to support this view: a library must be able to prove actual damages before any money is collected, money collected is often less than the face value of the bond itself, the time frame for receipt of money is often quite long, and the cost of the performance bond usually adds several thousands of dollars to the total cost of the system. Instead it is suggested that a variety of other remedies be incorporated into the contract, such as holding back up to 25 percent of the contract pending system acceptance and imposing specific penalties-a reduction in maintenance payments, for example.

The opposing point of view holds that the bond premium is a relatively small price to pay for the measure of security that it does provide. The argument is given that regardless of reductions in the amount paid and potential delays in payback should a vendor fail, the library still would typically recover at least several tens-of-thousands of dollars.

Whichever point of view one subscribes to, performance bonds should not take the place of adequate screening of vendors prior to signing a contract combined with rigid acceptance testing and/ or the structuring of payments contingent on satisfactory performance. Almost all remedies other than performance bonds are dependent on the continuing viability of the vendor. When the vendor fails, one looks to the bonding company. The library automation landscape is littered with companies whose intentions were good, but whose businesses have failed for a variety of reasons. In the opinion of the editors, a library should require a performance bond in its RFP but should reserve the right to waive the bond and thus save the cost of the premium. If the vendor selected is deemed a very low risk, the other remedies in the contract will probably be sufficient, If there is any question about vendor viability, a performance bond should be seriously considered, but only as the ultimate remedy when other remedies are unenforceable.

Comstow responds to sharing a computer

The President of Comstow Information Services has responded to the February 1986 article on potential problems in seeking to mount library applications software on the same computer as other applications by calling attention to her firm's software: BiblioTech. The package operates on Digital VAX computers and uses the manufacturer's standard VMS operating system. It can, therefore, be mounted on the same computer as other applications using VMS. The data base management system required is DRS. The target market of the product--which does not support the MARC format--is special libraries. While the vendor does not assume responsibility for total system performance, they do permit benchmarking in advance of purchases. The price of the applications software is $15,000 to $33,000. As of May 1986 twenty-one packages had been installed.

[Contact: Comstow Information Services, 302 Boxboro Road, Stow, MA 01775, (617) 897-7163.]

Pro-Search acquired by PBS

Personal Bibliographic Software Inc (PBS) of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has acquired Pro-Search from Menlo Corporation of Santa Clara, California. Pro-Search is a specialized communications program for searching the online data bases of Dialog and BRS information services. All marketing, development, and support for the products will be taken over by PBS.

PBS will continue to enhance the product, integrating it with the company's existing products and adapting it to other machines including the Apple Macintosh. Pro-Search together with current PBS products allow users to access several mainframe bibliographic or textual data bases, download the records, convert them into a single microcomputer format, and make them into formatted, punctuated bibliographies. The reformatted records are compatible with most word processors.

A special reduced price of $295 for Pro-Search will be available with the purchase of any other PBS product (excluding samples and demos). PBS is providing a special introductory offer of a Searcher's Tool Kit (Pro-Search, Pro-Cite, and Biblio-Links for Dialog and BRS), a $1,280 value for $995. List prices are: Pro-Search ($495), Pro-Cite ($395), and Biblio-Link ($195 each). The software is available for the IBM PC series and compatibles.

[Contact: Personal Bibliographic Software Inc., PO Box 4250, Ann Arbor, MI 48106, (313) 996-1580.]

CD demand strong

The demand for compact discs is so strong that several companies are rushing to expand disc production facilities. Sony's plant in Indiana--the only operational plant in the U.S.--pressed its 10 millionth disc in March, representing more than 5,000 audio titles. The production capacity will be doubled before the end of 1986 and doubled again in the following two years.

Several other companies are planning expansions of their European and Japanese plants and five plan to open U.S. plants within the next 18 months.

The emphasis continues to be on compact audio discs. Turnaround time for CD-ROMs is not expected to improve for at least another year. CD-ROM data base publishers will, therefore, have to continue their bimonthly and quarterly publication schedules.

National Library of Canada telefacsimile pilot project

The National Library of Canada recently completed a pilot project using telefacsimile transmission of materials in lieu of traditional document delivery services. The project, initiated by the National Library Advisory Board and recognizing the availability of appropriate technology, was designed to investigate whether or not telefacsimile transmission is a viable and cost effective alternative to priority post and truck delivery of photocopied materials. The specific focus of the pilot was document delivery, not interlibrary lending.

The pilot began with a survey of heavy library document delivery users throughout Canada. The libraries were asked whether or not they had access to telefacsimile equipment, what kind of equipment was available, which libraries had a need for speedy document delivery, which had an interest in participating in the pilot, etc. The answer to the questionnaire indicated that many libraries both had a need and were interested, but most were unable to justify the cost of participation. The National Library, therefore, decided to undertake the experiment at its own expense.

In preparation for implementation, the project staff studied a variety of equipment in terms of both capabilities and ease of procurement, and then settled on a Group III Panafax MV3000. The pilot participants included the University of Alberta, the Nova Scotia Provincial Library, and the National Library's Location and Lending Divisions. In total, there were three participating organizations using four machines in four separate locations. Installation was coordinated by staff in Ottawa. The pilot was initially to run for three months, but was subsequently extended to six.

The pilot was implemented in three phases. The first phase was the generation of a memorandum of agreement among the parties regarding respective responsibilities. Statistics were to be kept by the participants regarding related activity both before and during the pilot timetable. The second phase involved the actual installation of equipment, training of staff and development of documentation and data collection sheets. The data sought included type of request, when the fax request was sent and received, quality of transmission, number of pages, time spent on the machine, etc. The final phase involved the summary report writing and analysis of the data received. The report has now been completed; its publication is pending approval by senior management.

Results of the project indicate that 70 percent of the pages transmitted were of good quality, while 25 percent were very good, 5 percent were fair, and 1 percent were unacceptable. The participants initially transmitted in the regular mode; however, after experiencing problems with resolution, they switched to the fine mode. This experience runs counter to previous fax programs reported by LSN, which found over 90 percent of materials could be transmitted in the regular mode. One must keep in mind when comparing results that fine transmission doubles the time of transmission and therefore the cost.

The observations of the staff at the participating institutions were mostly positive. The features considered by them to be important were a multi- sheet document feeder and an automatic receive feature to avoid having to attend the equipment.

Turnaround times averaged two days from receipt of request to distribution of response. The project resulted in costs of approximately C$4.00 (U.S.$2.80) per page over the course of the six month trial, including startup costs, but not labor. With all startup costs amortized over a five year period, the assumption of a 5 percent annual inflation factor on variable costs (rental, maintenance, communications), and a projected increase in volume usage of 5 percent per year, the cost per page would be slightly more than C$2.00 (approximately U.S.$l.50). Again, this is somewhat higher than the costs previously reported in LSN. It appears that higher communications costs, (charges were for Canada Bell government WATS lines and three of the four locations linked were over a distance greater than other programs on which LSN has reported) and the use of the "fine" mode, are responsible for the higher per page cost.

[Contact: Havelin Anand, Chief, Lending Division, National Library of Canada, 395 Wellington St., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N4; (613) 996-7426.]

PC-AT tops micro market

In February 1986 IBM's PC-AT garnered 14 percent of all personal microcomputer sales. IBM's PC-XT placed second with 12 percent. Apple Macintosh scored a strong third with 11 percent. The Apple IIe and Compaq tied with 6 percent each. The only other machines to capture at least 5 percent market share were the Apple TIc, PC6300, IBM PC, and Zenith.

Technology at the Library of Congress

The Library and Information Technology Association of ALA (LITA) sponsored an Institute May 5-7 entitled "Technology at the Library of Congress." The Institute, attended by approximately 100, enabled the participants to hear from staff and management at the Library of Congress about projects which are underway or are being planned for the future. The institute included reviews of a range of programs at LC including the MARC office, the role of the automated system department, the linked systems project, issues related to internal control, the RLG/CJK project, preservation activities including the DEZ project and much more. LITA will make detailed conference proceedings available both in its newsletter and journal, and audio tape recordings will be available in the coming month.

Two sessions were of particular interest to the editors, one on LC's overseas data entry program and the other on LC's optical disk and video-disc projects. A brief summary of each presentation is provided below.

"Overseas Data Entry"

Alice Kniskern, Program Officer for the Overseas Data Entry System of the Acquisition Department described how locations remote from LC process records for monographs in MARC format. The overseas offices are located in Cairo, Karachi, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi, Djakarta, and Nairobi. Each of the offices is responsible for acquisition and preliminary cataloging of materials from countries within their regional spheres of responsibility. Data entry is actually performed only in the New Delhi office, where worksheets, cards, and screen images for proffing are prepared before all related materials and the items themselves are dispatched to the United States via diplomatic courier. The machine-readable materials sent from India are on the LC system within a week of arrival. Over 60 percent of the material handled in India is non-Roman. It is Romanized by the local Indian staff, a boon to the LC people in Washington who otherwise would have to deal with non-Roman character input for Asian languages which are particularly difficult to handle. The other overseas offices do not currently submit information in machine-readable form, but that is a goal for the future.

Ms. Kniskern indicated that many problems exist in undertaking technical. services operations in third world countries. Operations are often troubled by poor power supplies, the lack of adequate equipment, limited equipment maintenance staff and supplies of spare parts, communications difficulties and, of course, funding problems. In the future, Ms. Kniskern hopes for new equipment and more advanced software to permit the entry of serials records outside the United States.

Optical Disk and Videodisc Projects

Robert Zich, Director of the LC Planning Development Office, reviewed the Library's optical disk and videodisc projects. Prompted by the need to enhance its ability to preserve, store, access, and provide service support for its resources, LC has embarked on evaluation of these new technologies. The optical digital disk system configuration includes a page scanner which digitalizes the information, a fiche scanner, a terminal tied to a minicomputer, the optical disk drive, a jukebox carousel, provisions for quick copying of materials from the disk, and batch copying provisions for less timely or very large files. Phase one of the project included storing articles from selected journal articles (1983-present). Phase two included loading the Congressional Record and index of the 99th Congress within a week of publication. As of January 21, 1986. public optical disk terminals have been available in four reading rooms, including science, newspaper, law and main. Response time for the user has run between 45 seconds and 1 minute. A survey of users is underway to determine response, attitudes, suggestions, etc. The survey form appears on the terminal screen, with questions asked both before and after the patron has used the system.

The analog videodiscs with which LC is working have the capability of storing 54,000 images on each side of a disc. This project consists of taking photos from several of the photo and moving picture collections, converting to videotape and subsequently to the disc. This material includes both still image of prints and photographs as well as motion images from films and the CBS Evening News. Like the digital disk application, this is also available to users on a limited basis and is also undergoing testing and evaluation. A similar pre and post use questionnaire is tied to the system. Response to either system thus far has been limited due to the novelty of the application and its brief availability. Research on the public's response will include not only the online users survey, but also a paper questionnaire, analysis of the complete transactional log, and interviewing of users by both telephonic and user group survey techniques. Lab testing is underway to determine longevity, impact of use on equipment, etc. A program analysis is also underway focusing on management and policy issues, technical considerations and copyright questions.

Tandem joins the OSI software ranks

Tandem Computer Inc. of Cupertino, California, the maker of transaction processors and related computer equipment, is unveiling its first Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) product. OSI, the seven layer network standard by which dissimilar computers will be able to link with one another, was developed by the International Standards Organization. Products conforming to the OSI standards can work with other OSI products without any customized software. The Tandem product, OSI4AN, consists of software that handles end-to-end error checking and flow control functions outlined in OSI level #4. The new equipment will enable Tandem system users to communicate more reliably with other manufacturers' OSI standard equipment. Tandem claims to have satisfactorily tested its OSI4AM in-house with Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) equipment, a company which has previously announced OSI level #4 software. Tandem and DEC equipment are two of the most popular choices for automated library systems.

The Compaq Portable II

Compaq has introduced a new IBM look-alike, the Compaq Portable II personal computer. It is said to be 30 percent smaller, 17 percent lighter and 400 percent faster than its 8088-based Compaq Portable and Compaq Plus. The machine weighs 23.6 pounds and is 7.5 inches high by 13.9 inches deep by 17.7 inches wide. The Portable II features a full 84-key keyboard with a modified IBM PC/AT layout and top mounted function keys, a 9 inch dual-mode monitor, a real-time clock, and interfaces for a parallel printer, asynchronous communications, ROB color monitor, and composite video monitor. Also included is capability for up to two mass storage devices: either two 360KB diskette drives or one 360KB drive and one 10MB hard disk drive. All configurations also include two available expansion slots and can accommodate a maximum of 4.1MB of RAM. The portable II comes in three models, ranging in price from $3,499 to $4,799.

Stalking the smaller CRT

The amount by which manufacturers are able to reduce terminal dimensions is at present a function of the size of the cathode ray tube itself. The screen and electronic gun behind it that creates the image on the screen, determine the shape of the CRT. The gun must be a certain distance from the screen in order to create the image, a distance currently 9 to 10 inches for a 12 inch screen. Clinton Electronics Corp., of Rockford, Illinois, has developed a new CRT design that shortens the distance from the gun to the screen by two to three inches, but apparently the technology of the screen itself limits further improvements. For terminals to get any smaller, a new type of display technology is necessary. The company is experimenting with a gas plasma technology because it allows for smaller terminals and flatter screens. The process is currently not widely used because it is more expensive than that used in existing terminals. Terminals are, therefore, likely to remain their present size for the foreseeable future.

Corporation for Open Systems welcomes new members

The Corporation for Open Systems (COS) has announced the addition of General Motors Corp., CitiCorp, Dow Chemical Co., and Bridge Communications, Inc., to its roster of member companies. These additions bring the non-profit organization's membership to 45 equipment manufacturers and user firms. C0S was created to speed the development of products supporting network communications among dissimilar equipment compliant with international standards such as the International Standards Organization's Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model. It is hoped that the addition of such large and powerful corporations joining the effort to promote intersystems communications will speed the development of workable solutions.

Biblio-Techniques rumors denied

There have been widespread rumors that Biblio-Techniques, the library automation vendor which uses WLN's software as the nucleus for a turnkey system, went bankrupt in late April. These rumors are simply incorrect says the company's Joe Ford. He declared that "while the company is not financially robust, we have excellent technical capability and a strong commitment to customer service. We are busily engaged in installations and data base loads. We have a number of large academic library customers for whom we intend to deliver a first rate product. We look forward to continued service and acceptance of our product. Biblio-Techniques has embarked on a financial plan which has already begun improving the financial position and future prospects of the company."

CD-ROM books

Two new books on CD ROM have recently been published. The first, CD ROM: the New Papyrus, edited by Steve Lambert and Suzanne Ropiequet, and published by Microsoft Press, was published in conjunction with the Microsoft Corporation's recent First International Conference on CD ROM--to date the most extensive and important meeting on the subject. Contributions to the nearly 600 page volume were made by a number of leading CD ROM authorities. The volume is divided into seven sections. The introduction provides an historical overview and summary of challenges ahead. The second section is a review of the CD system itself, including consideration of hardware, system software, and retrieval software. The third section on producing CD ROM considers data preparation and multimedia possibilities. The fourth reviews elements of design including the human factor, authoring and development and project management. The fifth undertakes a review of CD ROM publishing. The sixth-the largest section--deals with specific CD ROM applications including market considerations. Library applications are discussed. The final section includes a' list of contributors and a description of CD ROM resources. The book is quite substantial and is important for libraries or individuals who are interested in keeping up with the current and future state of the art.

The second book, Essential Guide to CD-ROM, edited by Judith Paris Roth and and published by Meckler Publishing, is a much smaller volume and is written more for the beginner. It 4.s divided into eight chapters including: an introduction to CD-ROM technology, the basics of CD-ROM technology, data preparation for CD-ROM, a discussion of drives and interfaces, one on software, a chapter on integrated CD-ROM information management, applications using CD-ROM and personal computers, and a final chapter of summary and conclusions which surveys existing impediments to market acceptance and future developments and applications of the technology. Several appendices are included: a glossary of terms; a directory of firms, organizations and groups working with CD-ROM technology; a summary of standards setting activities; and a list of relevant standard setting groups; one on CD-ROM disc mastering and manufacturing; and a bibliography of recommended readings. Also included in the book is a CD-ROM disc containing 8,800 files of executable programs, source codes and respective documentation of which all are either in the public domain or released by the author with the understanding that use will be paid for under an honor system. The Essential Guide appears to be a good place to begin a search for basic information on CD-ROM and a jumping off place for additional related information.

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