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1986 ALA midwinter reports
Conference Reports
1986 ALA Midwinter Reports Susan Davis
LITA/RTSD Application of Computers To Serials Control Interest Group
This group can usually be counted on to have an interesting and informative program, and this meeting was no exception. "The Transition to Automated Serials Control: The Vendor's Perspective" featured speakers Becky Lenzini (of Faxon), Steve Silberstein (of Innovative Interfaces), Dea Szatkowski (of OCLC), Peggy Steele (of NOTIS), and Mona Couts (of Blackwell Library Systems). All of the speakers stressed that libraries should make full use of their vendor's resources and expertise. They also agreed that vendors simply cannot afford to withdraw their support after a system has been installed, because all have a vested interest in seeing that their offerings perform well. All the speakers suggested that each library have one contact person in charge of coordinating automation. The following recommendations were also made: Do not just convert manual operations to automated operations; re-evaluate the workflow and procedures in your library. Think very seriously about how much historical data needs to be loaded into the system; this can be a very time-consuming task. Check the financial stability of the vendor before the final decision about buying a system is made.
Davis is head of the Serial Records Section in Central Technical Services at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Steve Silberstein advised libraries to start automating and not go back. Peggy Steele said that it is important to pick the right system in the first place, although this is not always easy. More and more libraries are looking at systems as investments for the next five or ten years; if, at the end of that time, a system does not work out, or if significant changes in technology occur, they can start all over again with a new system. If computer centers can overhaul and upgrade their equipment frequently, why not the library? The final comments by Mona Couts nicely summed up the correct attitude to adopt toward the transition to automation. She proposed the use of two buttons: one would say "DON'T PANIC" and the other "ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?"
OCLC Serials Control Users Group
The OCLC Serials Users Group sponsored a program at ALA Midwinter on "Links Between LS2000 and SC350." The featured speaker, Jean Swanson, Director of Acquisitions at Texas Medical Center Library, has been testing these links for about one hundred titles. Jean reported that the links generally worked well, although LS2000 and SC350 are very different systems: they use different terminals, different programming languages, different commands, different menus, and different back-up systems. Texas Medical Center will purchase both systems. SERIALS REVIEW
WINTER 1985
75
Based on the results o f the test, Swanson made the following recommendations to OCLC: 1) Develop the ability to download vendor tapes. 2) Develop the ability to add u n b o u n d holdings to the c h e c k - i n screen. 3) Establish a way to link routing to a specific issue so that it could be tracked t h r o u g h o u t the routing sequence. 4) Develop the capability to handle alphanumeric check-in. 5) Implement a faster deletion sequence. 6) Revise the user manual. Charlotte Custis and Dea Szatkowski (both
from OCLC) o f f e r e d an update on developments of the company's serials products. They announced that a written evaluation f r o m the SC350 test libraries and a demonstration diskette will be available soon. Tests of the SC350 m u l t i - u s e r network are scheduled for a t h r e e - m o n t h period in the spring, and the capability should be available as early as May 1986. T h e y also told the group that the current online serials control subsystem would not be supported by OCLC after 1 July 1987.
hI-lIBtech RARY LHT Monographs No.l:
Automation In Libraries, 1978--1982; A L I T A Bibliography.
The sixth consecutive bibliography of library automation and number one in the LHT Monographs Series. Contains 2500 citations retrieved through the search of manual bibliographies, databases, the professional literature, and bibliographies in other works. 1983 192 pages $29.50 "...carefully prepared, clearly presented, and thorough....an important, inexpensive resource... " --RQ
No.2:
Retrospective Conversion.
Fourteen case studies of retrospective conversions of card catalogs to machine-readable form. Covers time and budget constraints; mistakes to avoid; and coming to terms with money, administration, and personnel. 1984. 324pages. $39.50 "'..read this book....a good beginning p o i n t for delineating a variety o f options as well as pointing out many o f the pitfalls. " -Journal of Academic
Librarianship No.3: From Tape to Product: S o m e Practical Considerations on t h e Use o f O C L C - - M A R C Tapes. Examines problems and offers some solutions to the development of products from machine-readable data on tape. Topics addressed include: tape uses and format; tape processing; products (problems and solutions); and maintenance considerations. A selected bibliography and an index are included to further aid the reader. 1985. 136 pages. $29.50
PIERIAN PRESS P.O. BOX 1808 ANN ARBOR, MI 48106
76
SERIALS REVIEW
W I N T E R 1985
1986 ALA Midwinter Reports Susan Davis
LITA/RTSD Application of Computers To Serials Control Interest Group
This group can usually be counted on to have an interesting and informative program, and this meeting was no exception. "The Transition to Automated Serials Control: The Vendor's Perspective" featured speakers Becky Lenzini (of Faxon), Steve Silberstein (of Innovative Interfaces), Dea Szatkowski (of OCLC), Peggy Steele (of NOTIS), and Mona Couts (of Blackwell Library Systems). All of the speakers stressed that libraries should make full use of their vendor's resources and expertise. They also agreed that vendors simply cannot afford to withdraw their support after a system has been installed, because all have a vested interest in seeing that their offerings perform well. All the speakers suggested that each library have one contact person in charge of coordinating automation. The following recommendations were also made: Do not just convert manual operations to automated operations; re-evaluate the workflow and procedures in your library. Think very seriously about how much historical data needs to be loaded into the system; this can be a very time-consuming task. Check the financial stability of the vendor before the final decision about buying a system is made.
Davis is head of the Serial Records Section in Central Technical Services at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Steve Silberstein advised libraries to start automating and not go back. Peggy Steele said that it is important to pick the right system in the first place, although this is not always easy. More and more libraries are looking at systems as investments for the next five or ten years; if, at the end of that time, a system does not work out, or if significant changes in technology occur, they can start all over again with a new system. If computer centers can overhaul and upgrade their equipment frequently, why not the library? The final comments by Mona Couts nicely summed up the correct attitude to adopt toward the transition to automation. She proposed the use of two buttons: one would say "DON'T PANIC" and the other "ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?"
OCLC Serials Control Users Group
The OCLC Serials Users Group sponsored a program at ALA Midwinter on "Links Between LS2000 and SC350." The featured speaker, Jean Swanson, Director of Acquisitions at Texas Medical Center Library, has been testing these links for about one hundred titles. Jean reported that the links generally worked well, although LS2000 and SC350 are very different systems: they use different terminals, different programming languages, different commands, different menus, and different back-up systems. Texas Medical Center will purchase both systems. SERIALS REVIEW
WINTER 1985
75
Based on the results o f the test, Swanson made the following recommendations to OCLC: 1) Develop the ability to download vendor tapes. 2) Develop the ability to add u n b o u n d holdings to the c h e c k - i n screen. 3) Establish a way to link routing to a specific issue so that it could be tracked t h r o u g h o u t the routing sequence. 4) Develop the capability to handle alphanumeric check-in. 5) Implement a faster deletion sequence. 6) Revise the user manual. Charlotte Custis and Dea Szatkowski (both
from OCLC) o f f e r e d an update on developments of the company's serials products. They announced that a written evaluation f r o m the SC350 test libraries and a demonstration diskette will be available soon. Tests of the SC350 m u l t i - u s e r network are scheduled for a t h r e e - m o n t h period in the spring, and the capability should be available as early as May 1986. T h e y also told the group that the current online serials control subsystem would not be supported by OCLC after 1 July 1987.
hI-lIBtech RARY LHT Monographs No.l:
Automation In Libraries, 1978--1982; A L I T A Bibliography.
The sixth consecutive bibliography of library automation and number one in the LHT Monographs Series. Contains 2500 citations retrieved through the search of manual bibliographies, databases, the professional literature, and bibliographies in other works. 1983 192 pages $29.50 "...carefully prepared, clearly presented, and thorough....an important, inexpensive resource... " --RQ
No.2:
Retrospective Conversion.
Fourteen case studies of retrospective conversions of card catalogs to machine-readable form. Covers time and budget constraints; mistakes to avoid; and coming to terms with money, administration, and personnel. 1984. 324pages. $39.50 "'..read this book....a good beginning p o i n t for delineating a variety o f options as well as pointing out many o f the pitfalls. " -Journal of Academic
Librarianship No.3: From Tape to Product: S o m e Practical Considerations on t h e Use o f O C L C - - M A R C Tapes. Examines problems and offers some solutions to the development of products from machine-readable data on tape. Topics addressed include: tape uses and format; tape processing; products (problems and solutions); and maintenance considerations. A selected bibliography and an index are included to further aid the reader. 1985. 136 pages. $29.50
PIERIAN PRESS P.O. BOX 1808 ANN ARBOR, MI 48106
76
SERIALS REVIEW
W I N T E R 1985