Library Technology Guides

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Volume 9 Number 03 (March 1989)

PC-based software packages for libraries

Despite the fact that the editors of LSN sent survey forms and follow-up letters to more than 30 vendors of library applications packages for PCs, we did not receive sufficient response to devote an entire issue to the topic. Therefore, we are reporting only on the companies that returned the survey forms or sent product literature. Some of the companies offer software for machines larger than PCs. If PC sales accounted for more than half of all sales, the company description for all products is included in this article, rather than splitting the information into two articles.

Caspr offers software packages only for Apple Macintosh. Both single and multiuser options are available. The programming language is C. The main product, known as MIS, was introduced in 1988. MIS is an integrated system with acquisitions, cataloging/online catalog, and circulation modules. No sales figures were provided, nor did the company quote the number of persons devoted to software development and maintenance. The company did report that its earlier product, Maccards, a library catalog card and label production system introduced in 1986, has been installed by 200 libraries.

[Contact: Caspr, 10311 South De Anza Blvd., Suite 4, Cupertino, CA 95014; (408) 446-3075.]

Data Trek, Inc. offers both turnkey systems and software packages. The hardware runs on IBM PCs, and can be run on a local area network. A VAX version also has been introduced. The operating systems are MS-DOS, Novell and VMS, and the programming languages are C, Dbase III/Clipper and Assembler. The vendor sold 225 systems in 1988--almost all PC-based. The total of all installed and accepted systems being supported by the end of 1988 was 835, with 790 of them in North America. There were 10 systems awaiting installation and/or acceptance by the end of the year. Gross sales were around $2.5 million to $5 million, and the company realized an after-tax profit for 1988. All sites were using the LAN interface, 539 were using remote data base searching interface, and 148 sites were usig BiblioFile and OCLC interfaces. Also, 539 of the sites were using local cataloging, authority control, and online patron access catalog, 500 sites word processing, 407 sites circulation and inventorying, 363 sites serials control, 264 sites acquisitions, and 22 sites materials booking. None had interlibrary loan, report generator, journal citations files, and community information. Five of the sites had from 16 to 29 terminals, 30 had from 8 to 15 terminals, 120 had from 2 to 7 terminals, and 676 had one terminal. There are five staff members committed to software maintenance and development.

[Contact: Data Trek, Inc., 167 Saxony Rd. Encinitas, CA 92024.]

Follett Software Company offers mostly library software packages. The hardware used is both IBM which uses the MS-DOS operating system, and Apple which uses the PRO-DOS operating system. The program languages are C and LANG. The vendor sold 2,000 systems in 1988 and the total number of installed and accepted systems being supported was 7,000. There were 75 systems awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of 1988. The company reported sales from $5 million to $10 million and the company realized an after-tax profit for 1988. Follett declined to report the percentage of sites using each module or submodule, nor would it report the number of sites according to size (in terms of the number of terminals at each site). There were 23 people committed to software maintenance and development.

[Contact: Follett Software Company, Information Services Dept., 4506 Northwest Hwy., Crystal Lake, IL 60014.]

Gaylord Information Systems offers both turnkey systems and software packages. The hardware used for circulation is the DEC PDP/11, and for cataloging the PC, DEC, and VAX. The operating systems for cataloging are MS-DOS, C, and Assembler. No circulation systems were sold in 1988, but there were 10 cataloging system sales--two of them awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. The total number of installed and accepted systems being supported by the end of 1988 was 246, the majority of them PC-based. The company would not disclose its revenue or profitability for the 1988 year. Gaylord reported that circulation was used at 75 percent of the sites, interlibrary loan at 30 percent, local cataloging at 25 percent, and online patron access catalog at 1 percent. No type of interface was mentioned. Three of the sites had from 100 to 199 terminals, three had from 60 to 99 terminals, four had from 30 to 60 terminals, five had from 16 to 29 terminals, eight had from 8 to 15 terminals, 69 had from 2 to 7 terminals, and 154 had one terminal. Eight staff members were committed to software maintenance and development.

[Contact: Gaylord Information Systems, P.O. Box 4901, Syracuse, NY 13221-4901; (800) 634-6304.)

Library Automation Products, Inc. offers only turnkey systems which are used on a micro-based, single or multi-user 640K RAM hard disk. The operating system is MS-DOS and the programming language is C. The vendor sold 150 turnkey systems in 1988. The total number of systems awaiting installation and/or acceptance by the end of 1988 was 15. The total number of installed and accepted systems being supported was 250. The company reported sales as being under $1 million, and the company realized an after-tax profit. Using only a rough estimate, Library Automation Products reported that 65 percent used authority and serials control, 40 percent used acquisition, 35 percent used online patron access catalog, and 20 percent used circulation. Some 20 percent had an OCLC interface, and 10 percent had a RLIN interface. Six staff members were committed to software maintenance and development.

[Contact: Library Automation Products, Inc., 38 Pond St., Suite 301, Franklin, CA 02038; (508) 520-2091.]

Ringgold Management Systems, Inc., offers both turnkey systems and software packages. Their hardware environment is the PC, and the operating systems are DOS, UNIX, and XENIX. The two programming languages are COBAL and BASIC. The vendor sold eight systems in 1988. The company was supporting 25 installations at the end of 1988. There was one system awaiting installation and/or acceptance at the end of the year. The company reported sales of under $1 million, and predicts an after-tax profit for 1988. Ringgold reported that 50 percent of the sites used acquisition and circulation. An OCLC interface and BIP Plus were used at 25 percent of the sites; WLN and LAN interfaces were used at 10 percent. One of the sites had from 16 to 29 terminals, six had from 8 to 15 terminals, six had from 2 to 7 terminals, and 12 had one terminal. One staff member was responsible for software maintenance and development.

[Contact: Ringgold Management Systems, Inc., Box 368, Beaverton, OR 97075.]

Tek Data Systems Company offers both turnkey systems and software packages. The hardware environment uses a variety of 286, 386, and 68010-based machines. The operating systems are DOS, MOS, and Polyforth; and the language is Forth and Fortran 77. The vendor sold 47 systems in 1988. The total of the installed and accepted systems being supported by the end of 1988 was approximately 380 to 390. At the end of the year, eight systems were awaiting installation and/or acceptance. The company reported sales falling between $1 million and $2.5 million, and the company realized an after-tax profit in 1988. All sites were using circulation, materials booking, and inventorying, 75 percent local cataloging, 25 percent report generator, and 10 percent interlibrary loan. No type of interface was mentioned. Four sites had from 8 to 15 terminals, approximately 140 sites had from 2 to 7 terminals, and approximately 240 had one terminal. There were six staff members committed to software maintenance and development.

[Contact: Tek Data Systems Company, 1111 W. Park Ave., Liberty, IL 60048; Attn: Bert Arnold, Vice President Sales & Marketing.]

Carlyle continues merger discussions

At press time, Carlyle Systems, Inc. was still talking with three other vendors regarding a potential merger or buyout. One of Carlyle's major objectives in the discussions is to obtain the capital to accelerate its migration to the UNIX operating system. It also hopes that its new partner will have developed acquisitions and serials control modules, or will participate in their development.

[Contact: Carlyle Systems Inc., 5750 Hollis Street, Emeryville, CA 94608; (415) 654-2600.]

Fairfax County and Tempe Public select Inlex

The Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Library System has selected INLEX to replace its current DataPhase system. The installation will be INLEX's largest to date, with a projected size of more than 500 terminals. Located in northern Virginia, the County Libraries serve a population of 725,000. The 22 branch network includes six regional libraries, nine community libraries, and seven mini libraries. Together the libraries have a collection of more than 2 million items. In the latest fiscal year, the system had a circulation of over 8.2 million. The computer system initially will be configured around a single HP 950, but will be upgraded to two HP 955's when the new machines become available in August 1989.

INLEX also recently converted the Tempe (Arizona) Public Library from the Virginia Tech automated system (VTLS) to the INLEX/3 000 automated system. Tempe Public, one of VTLS's first sites, had used the VTLS system for eight years. The complete project, from converting records to the required format to loading them into the data base, took just six weeks, from mid-october to early December 1988. Over 130,000 MARC, 211,000 item, and 67,000 patron records were converted.

Tempe's Data Processing Department used VTLS software tools to extract MARC and item data from the VTLS system. INLEX converted MARC and item records into the INLEX format in a week. Smart barcodes were added to item records during the conversion. INLEX converted patron data in less than 24 hours.

The library went online with the INLEX circulation system on January 3, 1989. public access terminals were made available to the public in February.

[Contact: INLEX, P.O. Box 1349, Monterey, CA 93942; (408) 646-9666.]

National Library of Malaysia selects VTLS

The National Library of Malaysia has chosen VTLS software to automate its operations. The VTLS online, integrated library management system will run on Hewlett-Packard 3000 Series/Model 950 computer. The official agent for VTLS in Malaysia is SOLSIS (M) SDN BHD. The National Library of Malaysia will use the VTLS system for the acquisition of library material, cataloging, managing series material, registration of members, circulation management, loans, interlibrary loans, and an online public access terminal. Other subsystems may be implemented later along with a National Bibliographic Networking System.

The National Library of Malaysia is the fifth national library to automate with VTLS software. The others are the National Library of Scotland, the National Bibliographic (Resource) of Finland, the National Gallery of Art Library (U.S.), and the National Agriculture Library (U.S.).

[Contact: VTLS, Inc., 1800 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060; (703) 953-3605.]

EBSCO invoice data to be loaded to ACQ350

OCLC has announced a development program to enable loading of EBSCO invoice data to Acquisitions Control 350 (ACQ350), OCLC's micro-based acquisitions control system. The project will allow ACQ350 users to load payment information from an EBSCO invoice on diskette received by users as a part of EBSCO's standard subscription service offerings. The EBSCO invoice interface software, as an ACQ350 enhancement, is scheduled to be available in late Spring 1989.

[Contact: OCLC, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017-0702; (614) 764-6000.]

RLG reports on 1988

The Research Libraries Group, a not-for-profit consortium of major universities and research institutions, reported revenues of over $16 million for 1988. There was an operating surplus of $1 million, allowing the organization to reduce its accumulated fund deficit to less than $600,000.

During 1988, RLG's membership grew to 36 governing institutions, 7 associate members, and 53 special members. A change in the membership policies in September made it possible for the Harvard University Libraries to become an associate member.

RLIN, the Research Libraries Information Network, continued to be RLG's largest program in terms of revenue--accounting for over 70 percent of income.

RLIN rates are no longer based on data processing transactions. While RLG membership fee of $2,100 to $12,200 per year is still required, searching the RLIN data base is now the only chargeable online activity. Searches can be purchased individually or in blocks of 5,000 to 500,000.

[Contact: The Research Libraries Group, Inc., 1200 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041-1110; (415) 962-9951.]

RLG signs agreement with The Computer Company

The Research Libraries Group, Inc. (RLG) and The Computer Company (TCC) have announced the completion of a license agreement in which RLG will send records from the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) data base to The Computer Company in exchange for discounted TCC services for RLIN users.

Under the agreement, RIG will send TCC all the machine-readable bibliographic records in RLIN that represent materials in micro format. This addition to The Computer Company's files will increase its hit rate for converting the records in the National Register of Microform Masters (NRMM) to machine-readable form, a project contracted for by the Association of Research Libraries (Aim). As part of the agreement, TCC will provide certain of its services, such as authority control, at discounted rates under special arrangements to users of RLIN.

[Contact: The Computer Company, 1905 Westmoreland Street, Richmond, VA 23230; (800) 446-2612.]

Government records project

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) has awarded $385,697 to the Research Libraries Group to enable six state and two municipal archives to participate in a two-year, online government records project. It is the largest single grant ever awarded by NHPRC.

The eight archives--all of which have been accepted for Special membership in RLG--are the state archives of Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Virginia, the District of Columbia archives, and the Georgia Historical Society (the official archives of the city of Savannah). They will add to the RLIN data base a total of some 30,000 entries--principally descriptions of government and other organizational records.

The NHPRC previously funded the "Seven States Project." The earlier project, which ended in the Spring of 1988, involved the state archives of Alabama, California, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin. They added more than 27,000 records to RLIN. All seven, who are also RIG members, will continue their participation in the new project.

The eight new memberships will bring the number of participants in RLG's Archives, Manuscripts, and Special Collections (MISC) Program to 60, including research libraries, museums, state archives, and state historical societies. Tjte National Archives and Records Administration became an RLG Special member in March 1988.

[Contact: The Research Libraries Group, Inc., 1200 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041-1110; (415) 962-9951.]

WLN to offer record conversion service

The Western Library Network (WLN) has announced plans for a new MARC Record Conversion Service that libraries can utilize to upgrade existing machine-readable records or to convert their shelflists to machine-readable form.

The new service accepts records from a variety of sources: tapes or floppy disks from local systems in MARC or non-MARC format; OCLC archival tapes; or hardcopy such as shelflist cards, catalog cards, worksheets, or physical items. Records may come from one or more institutions and may be in mixed formats. The service also features the ability to extract individual libraries records from multiple institution sources.

The MARC Record Conversion Service includes: checking and correction of tags, indicators, and subfields; deduplication and merging of records from multiple institutions and multiple sources (tapes, floppies, etc.) according to library-defined criteria; upgrading of bibliographic records into current LC standards; and conversion of headings to current LC subject or name authority headings using the NAF/SAF. (Optionally, the library can use WLN's or its own authority file.) Conversion includes changing abbreviations and initialisms to full forms; changing or deleting obsolete headings and subdivisions; and flipping headings or parts of headings from invalid to valid forms.

WLN also offers manual review and problem resolution for exception records. The components of the new service are available individually or as a full-service package. Libraries can receive processed records back in one or more formats: CD-ROM using WLN's LaserCat software; magnetic tape in USMARC communications format; or microforms. The new service will begin operation in early 1990 and will be competitively priced.

[Contact: Washington State Library, Mail Stop AJ-11W, Olympia, WA 98504-01111; (206) 459-6518.]

SISAC symbol promoted at ALA

The Serials Industry Standards Advisory Committee (SISAC), a committee of the Book Industry Study Group, Inc., held an open meeting at the American Library Association Midwinter Conference on January 10, 1989, to promote the SISAC symbol. The symbol encodes the Serial Issue Identifier (SIID) in a machine-readable barcode symbology known as Code 128 on the cover of each serials issue. The SIID includes both the ISSN and specific issue information (chronology and enumeration).

Widespread use of the barcode symbol on journals and the capability of automated systems to read and interpret the data stored in it will simplify and speed the processing of serials in libraries. For example, at time of check-in a library staff member would use a laser to read the barcode and retrieve the appropriate record in the data base and up-date it.

The SISAC code is becoming an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard, and simultaneously, an ISO (International Standards Organization) standard. A library which wishes to specify the standard in its RFPs can reference it as the SISAC Barcode Symbol for journals. Vendor responding to such an RFP needs to write an interface program to convert the SISAC code sequence to the sequence needed by its system.

SISAC, which is charged with the promotion of standards, apparently is encountering some indifference on the part of publishers. Therefore, it hopes to better document the symbol's value. The meeting was to discuss various uses of the SISAC symbol in the hope of getting more ideas, and to get more librarians active in promoting the symbol.

The 50 or so attendees identified potential uses of the SISAC symbol as not only electronic check-in, but also circulation, capture of reshelving data, bindery control, inventorying, photocopy control, and interlibrary loan. The most common reservation expressed--almost entirely over coffee, rather than in the formal meeting--was the choice of Code 128. It means that libraries will have to attach two scanners to each terminal at which they wish to scan the SISAC symbol because virtually no local library systems use Code 128 as its scanning symbology. Other concerns expressed were that the standards for the article/issue and article level identifiers are not yet completed. One attendee noted that such standards development needs to address the unique problems of pocket parts, loose-leaf releases, and microforms. In other items of business, it was reported that SISAC has requested that the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) develop a standard for invoice format. It also was reported that the U.S. Postal Service's position that second class rates do not apply when orders for serials are created electronically appears to be moderating. A resolution favorable to libraries and publishers is now expected.

[Contact: SISAC, 160 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010; (212) 929-1393.]

AVIAC meeting notes

AVIAC (Automation Vendor Interface Advisory Committee), the loosely organized trade group for the library automation industry, held its semi-annual luncheon on January 9, 1989. The group reaffirmed its support for the MARC format and expressed its displeasure with MicroLIF (Microcomputer Library Interchange Format). MicroLIF is a format adopted by several vendors of software packages for PCs to facilitate handling of bibliographic records. In the words of one discussion: "If it isn't MARC, it isn't standard." Strong exception also was taken to the claim that MicroLIF "stands on the shoulders of MARC," because it changes, rather than augments the standard. Mentioning MARC may confuse some by implying that MARC output is possible from a MicroLIF data base. One vendor with considerable experience with PCs disputed the claim that PCs cannot accommodate MARC records. It was decided that there should be increased dialogue between the vendors committed to MARC and those supporting MicroLIF to promote a migration to MARC support.

The contributing editors believe that there is no reason why IBM-PCs and clones cannot accommodate MARC records, but that the Apple MAC environment does pose a problem. Therefore, libraries which have IBM-PCs and clones can and should insist on MARC.

The group also enacted an I & R (Information and Referral) Subcommittee to pursue the development of a standard for the inclusion of additional data fields in MARC records for such information.

LC name authorities on CD-ROM

CDMARC Names, the entire name authority file of the Library of Congress, will be available soon in the CD-ROM format, according to an LC press release, but phone calls through March 1st have elicited neither the availability date nor the price.

CDMARC Names will include nearly 2.5 million personal, corporate, series, and title authority records and will be published on just three CD-ROM discs. Users will have the option of installing the product to operate on either a three- drive or a single-drive CD-ROM work station. It will require IBM or compatible PCs with a minimum of 640K RAM and DOS 3.1 or higher. It also will require a CD-ROM reader conforming to the High Sierra standard and a CD-ROM driver which makes use of Microsoft extensions.

CDMARC Names will provide three different display formats, instead of the two provided in CDMARC Subjects. These include a simple, easy-to-read English language card display (which may be especially useful for reference), a more detailed technical cataloging display using English language descriptions, and a technical MARC-tagged record display.

[Contact: Library of Congress Cataloging Distribution Service, Customer Services Section, Washington, DC 20541; (202) 707-6100.]

West announces CD-ROM products

West Publishing Company has introduced several CD-ROM products: Federal Civil Practice Library, Federal Tax Library, Government Contracts Library, Bankruptcy Library, and BNA's Tax Management Portfolios Library. The product will be interactive with WESTLAW, West's online legal research service, and also with an "Update Book" on West's mainframe computer. The disks will run on an IBM AT or compatible or an IBM PS/2 Model 50 or higher with 640K RAM, hard disk storage, a modem, and a CD-ROM player. Toshiba or Sony players are recommended.

The products will be priced at $1,250 to $1,500 for a one-time license fee (including software and one training session) for the first subscription and $425 to $500 for each additional subscription in the same location, plus a $150 to $175/mo. fee per subscription that covers all use of information on the disk and in the computer "Update Book." Each product will be on two or three disks.

The West products use Premise, CD-ROM software developed by West and Wang Laboratories, Inc. Other leading legal publishers which are committed to using Premise include The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Shephard's/McGraw Hill, Inc., NILS Publishing Company, and Mead Data Central. Their end-users will have the benefit of one consistent interface for presentation and retrieval of legal, information on CD-ROM.

[Contact: West Publishing Company, 50 W. Kellogg Blvd., P.O. Box 64526, St. Paul, MN 55164; (612) 228-2500.]

Word processing packages evaluated

InfoWorld, a tabloid devoted to commercial software products, recently evaluated 3M office/professional word process-ing packages. The packages not only were evaluated in the company's test center, but users were surveyed. The criteria used were performance, documentation, ease of learning, ease of use, error han-dling, support, and value (price versus performance).

WordPerfect 5.0 was top-rated, with a score of 8.3 out of 10.0. Other highly rated packages were: Wordstar 2000 Plus (7.7), Lotus Manuscript (7.1), Microsoft Word (7.0), and Sprint (6.8). The only product to rate lower than 5.7 was IBM's Displaywrite 4 (4.4). The extensive evauation report was published in the January 23, 1989, issue of InfoWorld, pages 47-68.

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