1999 Annual Meeting Minutes
Members present:
Eveline Yang,
Univ. of Colorado at Denver
eyang@carbon.cudenver.edu
Lars Leon,
Univ. of Kansas
lleon@ukans.edu
Joanne Halgren,
Univ. of Oregon
jhalgren@oregon.uoregon.edu
Keiko Horton,
Univ. of Houston
khorton@uh.edu
Rebecca Gomez,
Duke Univ.
rebecca.gomez@duke.edu
Angela Wright,
Univ.of Alabama
ajwright@bama.ua.edu
Nada Vaughn,
Washington Univ., St. Louis
nvaughn@library.wustl.edu
Rick Uttich,
City College of New York
rmucc@cunyvm.cuny.edu
Naomi Krym,
CISTI
naomi.krym@nrc.ca
Charlotte Dugan,
Southwest Missouri State Univ.
cad315f@mail.smsu.edu
Wayne Mullin,
Univ. of California, Santa Cruz
wmullin@cats.ucsc.edu
Liaisons present:
Dennis Massie, rep. RLG
bl.dxm@rlg.org
Margaret Ellingson, Emory Univ., rep. the ACRL Copyright Committee
libmgw@emory.edu
Mary Jackson, rep. ARL
mary@arl.org
Carol Smale, rep. the National Library of Canada
carol.smale@nlc.bnc.ca
Chris Wright, rep. the Library of Congress
cwri@loc.gov
Tony Melvyn, rep. OCLC
tony_melvyn@oclc.org
Guests present:
Douglas Hasty, Florida Int'l. Univ.
hastyd@fiu.edu
Gary Ives, Texas A&M Med. Sci. Libr.
gives@medlib.tamu.edu
John de La Fontaine, Occidental College
delafo@oxy.edu
Marilyn Grush, Univ. of Delaware
mgrush@udel.edu
Susan Morris, Univ. of Georgia
smorris@arches.uga.edu
Beverly Gresehover, Univ. of Maryland
bgreseho@hshsl.umaryland.edu
Lynn Wiley, Univ. of Illinois
l.wiley@uiuc.edu
Mary Williamson, WILS-Univ. of Wisconsin
william@doit.wisc.edu
Franca C. Rosen, Jefferson County(CO) PL
frosen@jefferson.lib.co.us
Kathleen Smalldon, Northern Arizona Univ.
Kathleen.Smaldon@nau.edu
Mary Hollerich, Northwestern Univ.
hollerich@nwu.edu
Sunnie Kim, NLM
sunnie_kim@nlm.nih.gov
Lorna Newman, Loyola Univ. of Chicago
lnewman@luc.edu
Candy Bogar Zemon, Pigasus Software
candy@pigasus.com
Tanner Wray, Univ. of Wisconsin
stwray@facstaff.wisc.edu
Naheed Zaheer, Stanford Univ.
NRZ@stanford.edu
Tom Delaney, Colorado State Univ.
tgd@lamar.colostate.edu
June DeWeese, Univ. of Missouri-Columbia
deweesej@missouri.edu
Roblyn W. Schwehm, State Library of Louisiana
rschwehm@pelican.state.lib.la.us
At the request of the chair all present introduced themselves.
Responding to a question regarding an incident that prompted the ILL committee to look at privacy issues at the last meeting, Eveline Yang indicated that there has been no further communication with the complainant. (As reported at the previous Committee meeting, the initial communication was between RUSA nd Complainant. RUSA has since responded according to the ILL Committee's recommendations.)
The agenda for the meeting was approved with some modifications on the order of items to accommodate competing scheduling needs of some members.
Minutes of the midwinter meeting of February 1, 1999 were reviewed and approved with one correction. Item number three should read that the ALA Virginia Boucher OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award will be awarded for the first time in the year 2000 at ALA in Chicago, not San Francisco.
Announcements
Leslie Morris, editor of The Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply, indicated that he is interested in receiving submissions of articles. Leslie can be contacted at morrislr@niagara.edu. Eveline Yang announced that the ILL Committee has its first virtual member, Naomi Sutherland from Purdue Univ. Naomi begins her term at the conclusion of this years meeting. Virtual members are not required to attend meetings in person but will participate in all committee work and decisions through email and other means of communication.
In addition to Naomi, three other new members will begin their terms at the end of this yearâs meeting. These are: Tom Delaney from Colorado State Univ., Doug Hasty from Florida International University, and Kay Vyhnanek from Washington State University.
Three members terms will expire and the end of this years meeting. These members are: Eveline Yang, Nada Vaughn, and Joanne Halgren.
Six members of the committee have their terms expire at the conclusion of the annual meeting in Chicago in 2000. These are Rick Uttich, Naomi Krym, Charlotte Dugan, Keiko Horton, Wayne Mullin, and Rebecca Gomez.
Review of Action Items
The Virginia Boucher OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award has been officially established. This is a RUSA award, and a description of the award, the deadline for nominations, and procedures for submitting nominations can be found at the ALA/RUSA web site at http://ala8.ala.org/rusa/awardnom.html#14.
Thanks to Tony Melvyn for his work on behalf of OCLC and their support for this award. The award committee is chaired by Mary Hollerich and includes Margaret Ellingson and Mary Williamson.
Lars Leon and Tony Melvyn are continuing to work on gathering data on delivery issues. Local and regional courier services facilitate rapid turnaround time in some areas. There is a strong interest in establishing discount agreements with a variety of courier services on a national and international level. The goal is to facilitate faster turnaround and more secure delivery at a discounted rate that all can participate in.
Work is continuing on obtaining a release of the copyright on the ALA ILL Request Form. Board approval would be needed for this action. Revision of the form will be added to the charge of the ILL Code Revision Subcommittee. RUSA Standards and Guidelines Committee will have to approve all changes.
Barbara D'Angelo reports that there continues to be a high use of the ALA/ILL web site at http://www.west.asu.edu/bdangelo/mouss/committees/ill.html. A request was made to have the URL change in the browsersâ location box and not just at link indicator at the bottom of the screen. This would facilitate cutting and pasting the URL to email messages, text reports, etc. as well as keeping the link location present to the user.
Tony Melvyn is continuing to check and monitor how pagination is being entered into databases mounted by OCLC. There is no word yet on whether there are standards (eg. NISO) that cover pagination in bibliographic databases.
Russia/Bulgaria Projects
Tony Melvyn reported that OCLC working with OCLC Europe will launch a second ILL trial for select libraries in Bulgaria. The project will be similar in nature to the Russian ILL project conducted between OCLC and ALA. OCLC Europe is once again seeking input and direction from the RUSA MOUSS ILL Committee in identifying U.S. libraries that are willing to participate in a program to share material with select libraries in Bulgaria. The United States Information Service is sponsoring the program.
Lynn Wiley reported that the Russian project was really just getting up to speed when the time frame established for the pilot elapsed. As a pilot project most of the time frame was used in getting things lined up. Just when real trial exchanges might have been expected to begin the time frame set for the trial expired. There was no mechanism or agreement in place to follow up on the pilot project or to maintain relationships that might have developed.
A structure needs to be set in place that will facilitate both the development of new relationships and the continuation of projects beyond any pilot activities that are begun. Organizations that were suggested for assisting with maintaining ongoing relationships are the United States Information Service (USIS), the Soros Foundation, OCLC Europe, etc. Tony Melvyn will check with OCLC Europe to see what needs to happen here.
Difficulties involved with exchanging documents with Russian institutions included a lack of electrical power needed to keep fax machines and computers running, a lack of economic resources to maintain supplies such as printer paper, toner, etc. and for paying for telephone charges for faxing articles or shipping charges for sending items via mail or courier service.
Chris Wright suggested that a checklist be made of the specific support needs that will have to be addressed to maintain and ongoing exchange.
A related issue is the ability of U.S. and Canadian libraries to obtain photocopies form participating Russian institutions. Currently, without the holdings of the Russian libraries available to us, we must rely on our "best guess" as to whether a participating institution is likely to have the items we want.
Program for San Francisco 2001
A program committee was established to prepare for the annual meeting in San Francisco in the summer of 2001. The suggested topic is the establishment of international relationships exemplified by pilot projects such as OCLCs Russian and Bulgarian projects, ARLs Global Resources Program projects involving Japan and Germany, and other international networking efforts. A working title of Anybody, Anytime, Anywhere was suggested. Committee members are: Lynn Wiley, Naomi Krym, Margaret Ellingson, Dennis Massie, Charlotte Dugan, Mary Jackson, Chris Wright, Kathleen Smalldon , Doug Hasty and Rick Uttich.
Program Report for New Orleans 1999
Charlotte Dugan reported that the ILL committee program at this conference: "Going the Distance: Interlibrary Loan in the Virtual Information Environment" was very successful. Co-sponsored by the ACRL Distance Learning Section, the ACRL Copyright Committee, and the LITA Distance Learning Interest Group, the program attracted some 200 attendees. The speakers presented a wide range of experience and expertise in providing services to distance learners, and the audience responded well to their presentations with questions ranging from technology issues to policy issues.
National ILL Code Revision Committee
Tom Delaney, chairing the ILL Code Revision committee reported that the work of the committee is on target for meeting the seven year review of guidelines and codes mandated by ALA. The committee has done preliminary work on revising the different sections of the code, focusing on how technological developments need to be addressed, privacy concerns, and how user needs need to be addressed as well as institutional interests in policies and procedures. The target is to have a final draft ready for midwinter in San Antonio in January 2000. The committee will continue to work via electronic communication between now and then and will be meeting for two days prior to midwinter to put together the final draft. It is generally agreed that any requirement for public debate can be met by including our activities on the ILL-L discussion list.
ACRL Copyright Committee Liaison Report
Margaret Ellingson,, a member of the ACRL Copyright Committee and ILL Liaison to that committee presented an update on the activity of that committee. Tammie Dearie was acting chair in the absence of Julia Blixrud who was out for medical reasons. Tammie is also the incoming chair of the Copyright Committee. Adam Eisgrau resigned March 5th and has joined Handgun Control, Inc., an organization chaired by Sarah and Jim Brady.
Prue Adler of ARL was present to give a legislative update. Prue indicated that the issues facing the library community in terms of legislation are twofold. First there are the issues relating to the implementation of the DMCA. The law mandates that the library community engage in appropriate copyright education. The education of our staffs and user communities about what their rights and obligations are under the DMCA is one of the steps that our institutions should be taking to comply with the law. The teleconference of May 21, 1999 sponsored by the five library organizations represented by the Shared Legal Capabilities, is one of the ways in which this educational process is being implemented. Additional specialized teleconferences are anticipated. A videotape and supporting documentation of the videoconference are being made available through ARL (see their web site at: http://www.arl.org/dmca/video.html#tape).
A second issue focuses on the status of fair use with respect to "technological protective measures" (TPMs). The DMCA establishes severe penalties for those circumventing technological protective measures such as encryption. One aspect that is left unclear in the law is whether such penalties would apply to situations where fair use would apply. Congress has placed a two year moratorium on the implementation of this part of the DMCA. During this time the Library of Congress is to establish rules and procedures for applying for waivers from the prohibitions on circumvention for various classes of works. The library community is urged to prepare to participate in the processes that the LC will establish to draw up these regulations. The law mandates that these regulations be reviewed every three years after they go into effect in Nov. 2000.
While database legislation was deliberately excluded from the DMCA, it has re-emerged in new proposed Congressional legislation. Rep. Coble (R-NC), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, has introduced H.R.354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act. This proposed piece of legislation would provide broad protections to collections of information and databases. This bill would allow for exceptions to the law on a case-by-case basis. This "law by exception" bill is rejected by the library community. Another bill, H.R.1858, the Access to Information Act of 1999 has been introduced by Rep. Bliley (R-VA), Chair of the House Committee on Commerce. This bill provides far more narrowly described protections for collections of information and databases and preserves the right of access for libraries and educational institutions. HR1858 is supported by the library community. No Senate bill has yet emerged, and Senator Orin Hatchâs anticipated run for the presidency may affect how the Senate Judiciary Committee deals with this issue.
On a related issue of interest and concern are the developments regarding the Uniform Commercial Code article 2B (UCC2B). The National Council of Commissioners on Uniform State Law (NCCUSL) proposed a draft revision of UCC2B. The American Lawyers Institute (ALI), which reviews proposed changes in UCC reported back to NCCUSL that the proposed changes were seriously flawed and that the proposed changes as they are currently drafted are not ready for the members of ALI to vote on. This would normally have led th NCCUSL and ALI negotiating their differences to arrive at a mutually acceptable proposal for inclusion in the UCC. However, NCCUSL has taken the unusual step of removing the proposal from the UCC process and proposing the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA) that would be brought directly to individual states for approval. The uniformity of the law in this case would likely be nominal. Still, the possibility that a variety of state laws could be enacted based on the restrictive language of the NCCUSL draft could have serious consequences. Laurel Jamgarten, formerly a legislative policy intern with ARL, has been commissioned to draft a letter about UCITA on behalf of the Shared Legal Capability. Libraries are urged to work with their state library associations to monitor and respond to NCCUSL efforts to introduce UCITA in their states.
Recent Supreme Court Decisions regarding Stateâs rights have apparently led to a situation where public institutions and their employees cannot be sued for copyright infringement. This would not seem to apply to a libraryâs patrons however, such as a public universityâs students. This also does not affect libraries and institutions that are not public institutions. The Shared Legal Capability has asked Arnie Lutzker to prepare an analysis of these rulings. Watch the ILL Electronic Discussion List for this analysis.
Revised wording of the DMCA now requires that any copies made by libraries, for ILL, Reserves, preservation, etc. must include a copy of THE copyright notice that covers the work reproduced if it can be found, or a legend (the stamp that we have been using seems to be acceptable as a legend) when the copyright notice is not found.
The Library of Congress study on exemptions for Distance Education should be released shortly. (The report is now available from the LC web site at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/disted/. The report itself (353 pages) can downloaded in PDF format at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/cpypub/de_rprt.pdf.
ILL librarians are urged to maintain lines of communication with those in their institutions who sign license agreements to keep the interest in maintaining fair use rights secured under copyright law alive in a licensing situation.
Rick Weingarten indicated that the rules and procedures that the Library of Congress adopts for hearings relating to the anti-circumvention clauses of the DMCA could range from the informal to formal, rigid, courtroom rules. This could have significant impact on rules of evidence and could result in a need for significant legal resources.
Carrie Russell, formerly of the Univ. of Arizona, has been hired by ALAs Office of Intellectual Technology Policy (ALA-OITP) to head their education projects. Carrie will be starting immediately following the annual conference. Carrie will be needing representatives from ALA Divisions to work on these projects.
The ACRL Copyright Committee will be cosponsoring two programs in Chicago in 2000 and sponsoring its own program as well. The committee will cosponsor with the Government Relations Committee a program on legislative leadership. It will also cosponsor with LAMA a program on risk management. The committee will sponsor its own program on Sunday morning on implementation of the DMCA.
Elections of Vice-chair/chair elect
The ILL Committee voted to approve the procedure of electing a vice-chair/chair elect to facilitate continuity in the committeeâs work. Concern that this procedure would pre-empt the RUSA chairâs power of appointment were allayed by stating that the committees election represents its recommendation to the RUSA chair and that the RUSA chair is free to reject that person and appoint a chair, but that this is not likely to happen in practice.
Naomi Krym was elected as new committee chair serving from the conclusion of this meeting through the conclusion of the annual meeting in Chicago 2000. Lars Leon was elected vice-chair/chair elect and will become chair at the conclusion of the annual in Chicago and serve as chair until the conclusion of the annual meeting in San Francisco 2001.
The following written reports from liaisons were also received.
OCLC Liaison Report
OCLC/ALA Update
Reasons for Responding No, was implemented on June 20, 1999. This new enhancement to the OCLC ILL service will allow borrowing libraries to easily determine why individual lenders were unable to supply the item they requested. The Lending library will be able to update incoming request to No with a reason both on the Online ILL service and via the ILL MicroEnhancer Version 2.0 which is scheduled for release later this summer. For more information please review Technical Bulletin 233 on the OCLC Web Site at the following URL: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/menu/tb.htm.
The US/Bulgaria ILL project
OCLC working with OCLC Europe will launch a second ILL trial for select libraries in Bulgaria. The project will be similar in nature to the Russian ILL project conducted between OCLC and ALA. OCLC Europe is once again seeking input and direction from the RUSA MOUSS ILL Committee in identifying U.S. libraries that are willing to participate in a program to share material with select libraries in Bulgaria. The United States Information Service is sponsoring the program.
OCLC and ISO ILL
On April 29, 1999 OCLC made available its ISO ILL test bed server. This test bed is intended to allow other library ILL system to interoperability test with the OCLC ILL server. Discussion at IPIG (ISO Protocol Implementers Group) has focused on extensions to the ISO Protocol that OCLC has requested be implemented by other ISO based ILL systems. OCLC believes that these extensions will provide its users with the best possible options for maintaining an efficient and seamless workflow. These extensions allow libraries the choice of updating and maintaining their ILL activity with both their local ILL system or using the OCLC ILL service. A special task force chaired by Shirley Baker, Dean of Libraries at Washington University, St. Louis will investigate all the issues surrounding this issue and will make a final recommendation to OCLC on the best course of action we should take in meeting the needs of our users.
Submitted by Tony Melvyn
ARL/NAILDD Report
Association of Research Libraries
North American Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery (NAILDD) Project
Status Report
June 1999
1. Implementing the ISO ILL Protocol: the IPIG Profile
An ongoing priority of the NAILDD Project is to support the development and vendor use of the international standard for interlibrary loan (ILL) communication, the ISO ILL Protocol, 10160/61. Established in late 1995, the Interlibrary Loan Protocol Implementors Group (IPIG) is composed of institutions, organizations, and service providers that have committed to work toward interoperability of interlibrary loan messaging systems.The IPIG meets quarterly, and in the past six months reached a significant milestone the completion and first official vote on the IPIG Profile.
The IPIG Profile outlines the common set of decisions, options, and values included in the ILL Protocol agreed upon by IPIG members. For example, the ILL Protocol defines a series of messages to be exchange during the course of an ILL transaction and notes that many of the messages are optional. However, the IPIG Profile records the consensus decision to require the transmission of the optional message. It is possible that two fully Protocol-compliant systems will not be able to interoperate as one is not able to send a Shipped Message and the other requires the partner to send the Shipped Message, both of which are permitted by the Protocol.
The IPIG Profile is nearing completion. This spring IPIG members cast their first vote on the IPIG Profile 15 IPIG members voted: 12 to approve (some with comments) and 3 to disapprove. All the comments were reviewed at the early June meeting in St. Louis, and the vast majority of the substantive comments were resolved. The document will be revised to reflect those agreements, and the IPIG members will be asked to case another vote prior to the August IPIG meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.
Approval of the IPIG Profile will signify an ending and a beginning the end of nearly three years of active discussions, lively debates, and growing understandings of a very complex standard, and the beginning of real intersystem interoperability.
Additional information on the IPIG may be found at: http://www.arl.org/newsltr/203/moving.html.
2. Implementing the ISO ILL Protocol: the Status of Testing
During the spring, testing by IPIG members reached a record level of activity. The combination of a nearly finished IPIG Profile and ILL products in their final stages of testing or recently introduced to the market provided the impetus to an increased level of testing among IPIG members. Testing does not ensure interoperability, but it does indicate which IPIG members have tested with whom, and the number and types of messages they have tested.
The Protocol permits two types of communication: TCP/IP and SMTP, or direct connect and store-and-forward. The IPIG Profile requires use of SMPT to be Profile-compliant, but many vendors also offer TCP/IP. The charts indicate which communication option(s) have been tested. The chart also reflects use of the Transponder to exchange version 1, EDIFACT encoded messages and version 2, BER encoded messages
Copies of the Status of Testing Chart will be available at the ARL booth (#1767) at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. A number of the IPIG members will also have copies of the chart for distribution.
3. Implementing the ISO ILL Protocol: Understanding ILL Standards
10160, 10161-1, 10161-2, ISO, ILL Protocol, the IPIG Profile, interconnectivity, interoperability, compliant, conformant, APDUs, direct-connect, store-and-forward, messages, and services are terms used to describe and define the process of interlibrary loan using the international communications standard. To help librarians understand these new terms, one of the IPIG members, Pigasus Software, Inc., has developed a brochure that guides librarians thought the maze of understanding ILL standards. The NAILDD Project and other IPIG members supported the product and distribution expenses. Copies of the brochure will be available at the ALA Annual Conference.
4. Improving Global Resource Sharing: ILL/DD
Activities in the AAU/ARL Global Resources Program The need to send and receive ILL requests easily and cost-effectively across national borders has surfaced in two of the AAU/ARL Global Resources Program projects: the Japan Journal Access Project and the German Resources Project.
The Japan Journal Access Project, in collaboration with the National Coordinating Committee on Japanese Library Resources (NCC), has agreed to undertake a nine-month pilot project with representatives of the Association of National University Libraries (ANUL). The pilot will focus on non-returnables (journal articles and book chapters) and will explore bibliographic verification, how requests are transmitted, copyright issue relating to electronic transmission of articles, financial payments and currency conversion, and scalability. Ten (10) North American libraries will be asked to participate in the project, which is scheduled to begin on July 1, 1999.
The German Resources Project is collaborating with German libraries, particularly Goettingen University, on the development of the GBVdirekt/North America service. Project participants will be able to search large databases supported by the Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund (GBV) and order via the GBVdirekt system. Documents are sent electronically from German libraries to the North American requesting libraries. Discussions at the Project meeting in March in Goettingen confirmed interest in expanding the test to include returnables (book loans), and to test German library ordering materials from North American libraries.
Use of the GBVdirekt is currently limited to German Resources Project participants, but libraries are encouraged to join to Project.
For additional information contact Deborah Jakubs, Director of Global Resources Program, deborah.jakubs@duke.edu.
For additional information on the AAU/ARL Global Resources Program as well as the specific projects see: http://www.arl.org/collect/grp/index.html.
5. ILL Volume Continues to Grow
The recently published ARL Statistics, 1997-98 reports continued growth in the volume of borrowing and lending by research libraries. ILL borrowing has increased 151% from 1986-98, or an average annual percentage increase of 8%. Lending has increased 69% over that same time, or 4.5% per year. University research libraries spent only 1.9% of their total library expenditures for lending, and 2.3% for borrowing. This total of 4.2% includes personnel expenses, unlike the 37% spent on library materials that exclude processing personnel expenditures.
For additional information see: http://www.arl.org/stats/arlstat/.
For additional information contact:
Mary E. Jackson
Senior Program Officer for Access Services
Association of Research Libraries
mary@arl.org www.arl.org/access/
Canadian Library Association Liaison Report
1. Canadian Library Association (CLA)
Election results
Stan Skrzeszewski, Principle of ASM Advanced Strategic Management Consultants, London, Ontario, has been elected President of the Canadian Library Association for the 2000-2001 term. Skrzeszewski will serve as Vice-President/President-elect for 1999-2000, and will assume the presidency in June of 2000 at the end of the CLA conference in Edmonton. He will serve a one year term as president.
Kathryn Arbuckle, Law Librarian at the John A. Weir Memorial Law Library, University of Alberta, has been elected Treasurer for a term of two years.
Linda Cook, Director of the Edmonton Public Library and Adjunct Professor, School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta, was elected for a three-year term to the position of Councillor- at-Large.
Conference
The CLA annual conference will be held in Toronto, Ontario this year from June 16th to the 20th. The theme of this year's conference is "Facing the challenges: a practical survival guide". CLA's 1999 conference will be held adjacent to the Annual Conference of the Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA) which is the largest book industry event in Canada.
This year's celebrity speaker is the internationally famous author P.D. James. Described as "one of the finest and most successful mystery writers in the world" for her "keen, cunning mind and a positively bloody imagination," James will address the Conference in one of the few public speaking engagements on her promotional tour of Canada.
For more information on the Canadian Library Association Conference, visit the Web site at http://www.yonahs.com/cla99/.
2. National Library of Canada
National Resource Sharing Strategy
In January 1999, the National Library sent a survey to 353 Canadian libraries and consortia as part of the process to update the national resource sharing strategy. Factual information is being gathered from the 173 questionnaires which were returned as well as suggestions about issues where national coordination would be beneficial. The results of the survey will be discussed by the Resource Sharing Review Working Group in June. In addition, a number of focus group sessions are being arranged to continue the discussion and provide further input into the Working Group's deliberations.
A-G Canada Files
The National Library continues the loading of A-G Canada files into AMICUS. As of April 30, 1999, 5.5 million (or 68%) of the total of 8.1 million records acquired have been added. The remainder are scheduled to be loaded by October 1999.
Interlibrary Loan and Location Service
The interlibrary loan and location services of the National Library of Canada remain free of charge to all libraries. Requests can now be sent using a web-based request form which is available to libraries who have registered for Interlibrary Loan services with the National Library of Canada. In order to use this form, you will need a valid library symbol as well as a user name and password. The one-time registration process is done by electronic mail only. Check it out at http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ill/einstruc.htm.
If you prefer, you can, of course, continue to send requests to the National Library of Canada using OCLC (NLD), fax (613-996-4424), or mail (395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1A 0N4). Our service standards are available for you to see at http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/about/eservst.htm.
Canadian Library Directories
Looking for information on a Canadian library? Take a look at Symbols and Interlibrary Loan Policies of Canadian Libraries, available on the Web. The directory contains addressing and messaging information for all Canadian libraries listed in NAVIS, the National Library's automated interlibrary loan system, as well as Canadian library symbols, equivalent symbols such as WHO Codes and OCLC symbols, and policy and charging information.
Or browse through Canadian Libraries and Library Catalogues (http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/canlib/eindex.htm). This directory provides links to Canadian library websites and catalogues accessible on the Internet. If you are looking for information on a particular subject, you will probably find the Directory of Special Collections of Research Value in Canadian Libraries to be very useful. The directory provides information on special collections held in Canadian libraries which are recognized by their own library, and by others, as an important resource at the regional and/or national level. You can find the directory at http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/collectionsp/spcol_e.htm.
Access AMICUS on the Web AMICUS (formerly the DOBIS Search Service) is the automated national union catalogue offered by the National Library since 1983. In 1997, the Library introduced resAnet, which provides free access on the Web to the National Library's own records in the AMICUS database. We are very pleased to announce that a project to enhance resAnet and to provide fee-based access to the entire AMICUS database over the Web is slated for release in July 1999. Access AMICUS on the Web will allow clients to access the complete AMICUS database on the Web (AMICUS contains over 13 million bibliographic and authority records and the union catalogue holdings of over 500 Canadian libraries); to search and scan a wide range of indexes, display and download full MARC bibliographic and authority data, locate and update items in union catalogue libraries, send ILL requests, check the ILL directory for address and policy information, and link to electronic collections and Web sites.
Preview audiences for Access AMICUS on the Web have been extremely pleased with the simplicity and power of the new interface. A micro-site giving more details is available at http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/amicus/.
Canadian Library Gateway
The National Library of Canada is nearing completion of a Canadian library gateway which will enable clients to find and link to Internet-accessible Canadian library resources. The gateway, as part of the National Library's web service, will provide a single window to the holdings of Canadian libraries and will provide links to Canadian library websites, Canadian library directory-type information (such as ILL policies, database access policies, special collections, etc.), and to Canadian library catalogues through appropriate means of access (Web OPACs, Telnet, Z39.50 Web gateway, etc.). The service is scheduled to be launched this summer.
3. CISTI
2-Hour Turnaround Time on Urgent Orders Effective April 1, 1999, CISTI announced a guaranteed 2-hour turnaround time (TAT) for Urgent Orders from our Direct Supply Service (the CISTI collection). This time frame was reduced from our previous 4-hour TAT. Copies of urgent documents are faxed or sent by Ariel within 2 hours. Overnight courier ships longer documents and loans. Specify Urgent on your document orders to Custom services when using any of our electronic ordering methods. For OCLC (CAI) or Docline (CISTI's LIBID is F00575 and SERHOLD code is CIS) specify "CISTIURGENT" in the Borrowing Notes or Comments Field.
Reduced TAT for Link Supply Service
Improved efficiencies at CISTI have enabled OCLC users to list our symbol only once when ordering material from BLDSC through CISTI. Through special arrangements with BLDSC, CISTI can supply documents of all types in all subject areas at a fixed price, plus BLDSC's additional copyright fee for copies.
Night Shift Extends Scanning Operations in Document Delivery
A six-month pilot project began on June 1,1999 which extends to 10:30 p.m. the scanning of documents from the CISTI collection to fulfill Document Delivery orders. This step enables even more orders to be processed the same day.
CISTI Source
CISTI is undergoing an evolution in its Current Awareness service. It has integrated three of its products into one service called CISTI Source. CISTI Source is a fully integrated current awareness and document ordering service. The client does searches, by the system or with the help of CISTI staff. The Tables of contents database (the former SwetScan) provides unlimited access to 10 million articles derived from the tables of contents of more than 14,000 journals. The Select tables of contents (the former SwetScan Alert) sends you automatically, the tables of contents of titles you select. The Customized search profiles (the former InfoAlert) has CISTI's information specialists help you create a customized search profile that delivers regular updates from your selection of specialized databases. Besides the new interface and look, CISTI Source has enhanced Boolean syntax (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR) and enhanced Quick search using Boolean syntax. Also there is a new List Orders format with added information.
BiblioNet adds Computer Select Web
BiblioNet, the one-stop source of worldwide information on Information Technology and Telecommunications (IT&T), includes databases, standards, publications, industry news and Internet sites. The recently added database Computer Select Web provides information from a variety of sources such as trade and business journals, newsletters, newspapers, manufacturer's specification sheets and book publishers.
Nortel (Ottawa site) Conference Collection Acquired by CISTI
Users searching the CISTI Catalogue will notice more conference proceedings including many second copies thanks to this addition by Nortel.
Gateways: OVID and SilverPlatter
Contact your local Ovid sales representative for information on setting preferences to link to CISTI. Look for CISTI on release WebSpirs 4.1 from SilverPlatter.
NRC Research Press Introduces Pay-per-View
The 14 international science and engineering journals published by NRC Research Press will be available on a pay-per-view basis for $20/article. The current tables of contents and abstracts are free on the CISTI Web Site.
Price Freeze
The price of CISTI services remains the same in 1999 (to March 31, 2000) as in 1998.
Submitted by
Carol Smale
Director, Resource-Sharing Services
National Library of Canada
The Research Libraries Group Liaison Report
RSVP for ILL Manager session at ALA
ALA attendees are invited to RSVP for an up-close session with ILL Manager, RLG's new distributed interlibrary loan system. The demonstrations will take place in the RLG Suite at the Embassy Suites, 315 Julia Street, near the New Orleans convention center. There is a sign-up form at http://www.rlg.org/cgi-bin/illdemoreg.pl.
Two sessions have been scheduled specifically for staff from non-RLG member institutions. But space is limited. We have room for a maximum of eight people per session, so sign up early:
Friday, June 25. 6-7:30pm
Sunday, June 27. 10-11:30am
This is an ideal chance to try ILL Manager out for yourself and hear more about RLG's vision of the distributed ILL environment.
For background information on ILL Manager, see the FAQ at http://www.rlg.org/illmanfaq.html.
Z39.50 Gateway to National Library of Australia Catalogue
RLG is conducting final tests on a new Z39.50 Gateway to the National Library of Australia's catalogue. Starting this summer RLIN users will be able to select the NLA's catalogue as if it were a bibliographic file in RLIN and search its 5 million records using the familiar RLIN commands. Retrieved records are in US MARC format and may be used for cataloging purposes or transferred into an RLIN ILL workform.
The library's collection is rich and deep in Australiana, as NLA is charged to preserve a comprehensive collection of documentary material relating to Australia and Australians. NLA has many other distinguished collections, including one of the best collections of Indonesian material anywhere in the world. They are also particularly strong in South and Southeast Asia materials.
Ariel Users Group
The Ariel Users Group meeting is on Sunday, June 27, 6:00-8:00pm, in room 227 of the Ernest Morial Convention Center. A main topic of discussion will be various independent efforts to change Ariel TIFF files into PDF. Speakers include Frank Walker of the National Library of Medicine, who will discuss DocMorph, and Daniel Chudnov of the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, who will describe his work with a group called oss4lib (open source software for libraries) -- especially a project to create freeware which will convert Ariel TIFF files to PDF, mount the files at a hidden URL, notify patrons, provide PINs for access, and delete the files after two weeks or five viewings.
--Dennis Massie
Library Of Congress Liaison Report
ILL News from the Library of Congress:
For the last few months we have been totally preoccupied with converting circulation and inventory data and planning for transition to the Library's new Endeavor/Voyager integrated library system, scheduled for August 16.
Distracted by the details of circulation system configuration, we almost failed to notice that, after six years of regularly increasing ILL requests, our popularity seems to be taking a breather. While overall loan requests appear to be keeping pace with last year, requests from US academic libraries have dropped almost 10 percent. The difference has been made up by modest increases in requests from special libraries and foreign institutions. We hope this is a temporary aberration.
We are pleased to report that almost immediately the new library system will provide potential ILL patrons with a more accurate view of LC's holdings. The catalog will be available on the World Wide Web and will include some holdings information from the start, though a full online inventory of the 12 million titles in our card shelflist is still years away. More important, misleading information about items that were cataloged but not retained will no longer be represented. We hope this will begin to reduce the requests for material we don't own and increase our fill rate, which has remained at 43% forever.
If all goes well, there will be much more to report at Midwinter 2000!
Chris Wright Chief,
Loan Division
The British Library Document Service Centre Liaison Report
1. In February we changed the pricing structure for copies of articles supplied to our US customers. Instead of charging $9.00 for each ten pages copied we introduced a $12.00 flat rate price for copies of all articles supplied regardless of length. This change seems to have been welcomed and we are considering introducing it in some other countries during 1999.
2. Although still only a small percentage (about 1.4%) of total documents supplied from BLDSC, Ariel delivery has grown considerably in the past year: from 7596 documents April 1997 to March 1998 to 41,617 documents April 1998 to March 1999. Growth is expected to continue during 1999.
3. Following an agreement with Elsevier Science, the British Library is able to store all the titles published in Elsevier's ScienceDirect Onsite system. The agreement provides access to over 800 Elsevier Science titles by readers in the Library's reading rooms and allows the Document Supply Centre to use the electronic store to print copies of individual articles. Requests received electronically are routed automatically to the store and printed in a matter of minutes after the requests are received, thereby speeding up considerably the turn round time.
4. In May we released a new version of our current awareness and document delivery service, Inside Web. In addition to a completely new interface with more powerful searching options, enhancements include regular emailing of diary searches and table of contents data from specified journal titles. Customers can view Inside Web or request a free trial through the BL Web site: http://www.bl.uk/inside/.
5. While we try to provide as comprehensive a service as possible, it is becoming increasingly clear that for most of our customers the most important considerations are price, speed and uncomplicated ordering and messaging systems. We are, therefore, currently reviewing our portfolio of services and the pricing structure. The aim is to provide an easy to use basic service at a competitive price with additional charges for options such as fax delivery, loans or rush orders. The review should be completed by the Autumn with any changes being implemented early in 2000.
6. The British Library had been trying to raise investment funds for its Digital Library Programme through the British Government's Private Finance Initiative. Unfortunately it did not prove possible to reach a satisfactory agreement with the private sector organisations which expressed an interest in working with us. However, we are still committed to implementing as much of that Digital Library Programme as possible in other ways.
As far as document delivery is concerned, we are looking to develop a Web gateway into our services. In addition to the present choice of requesting options, this will provide access to a range of bibliographic databases pointing to what is available from the BL and elsewhere. At the heart of this will be an enhanced OPAC and possibly table of contents data. The documents themselves will come not only from paper copies on library shelves but also from full-text electronic stores whether held by the BL or in other locations. Other types of material such as patents, manuscripts and pictures will also be held and accessed electronically. A variety of delivery options will be available, including where possible online viewing.
Work is well underway to specify the new system. Although we have plenty of ideas ourselves, we will be looking for opportunities to consult our customers for their views on the types of services we should be developing to take the BLDSC into the millenium.
Mick Osborne of BLDSC.
Minutes submitted by
Richard Uttich
Thursday, July 15, 1999