The duke university library automated acquisitions system

Library Acquisitions: Practiceand Theory, Vol. 5, pp. 185-191 ( 1981) Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

0364-6408/ 81/ 030185-07502.00/0 Copyright © 1981 Pergamon Press Ltd

A U T O M A TED A C Q U I S I T I O N S S Y S T E M S : USE A N A L ]ISIS

THE D U K E UNIVERSITY LIBRARY A U T O M A T E D ACQUISITIONS SYSTEM T H O M A S W. L E O N H A R D T Head, Acquisitions Department Duke University Library Durham, North Carolina 27706

ABSTRACT

The Duke University Library automated acquisitions system provides online ordering, receiving, accounting, and in-process control. Remote terminals provide access to order and processing records to branch libraries and other public services points.

This article will emphasize the acquisitions system as used in the Perkins Library ( m a i n library) of D u k e University where centralized technical processing is d o n e for the m a i n library, seven b r a n c h libraries, a n d the Duke University Divinity School Library. The Technical Services Division of the Duke University Library comprises the Acquisitions, M o n o g r a p h i c Cataloging, a n d Serials D e p a r t m e n t s and the Office of Rare Book Cataloging. EDITOR'S NOTE: Cincinnati Electronics has obtained exclusive marketing rights to the acquisitions system described by Mr. Leonhardt. The CLASSIC acquisitions system, as it is called by Cincinnati Electronics, can be purchased either separately or as part of an overall CLASSIC automation package.

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THOMAS W. LEONHARDT BACKGROUND

The online acquisitions system used by the Duke University l,ibrary was designed at Duke in 1973 and 1974 and implemented on July I, 1974. The system, known locally as the TSDB (Technical Services Data Base), was originally designed for ordering and paying for books and serials. Its use was gradually expanded to include orders for all library materials and for creating processing records for blanket orders, gifts, depository items, and exchanges. In 1978 the Cataloging Department began using the system for in-process control. In 1981 a program was written to allow librarians and patrons in branch libraries and other public service areas access to the database. Also in 1981 the Duke University Law School Library began using the TSDB for ordering library materials and paying for them online. The Duke U niversity Medical Center Library is an offline user of the accounting segment of the TSDB.

DATABASE Duke's TS D B contains more than 200,000 records created at the time of order or at the time of receipt for approval books, blanket and standing orders, gifts, and exchanges. Cancellations and cataloged materials remain in the database. Separate records must be created if additional copies of a title have not been ordered at the same time, for the same location, and on the same fund.

SEARCHING There are two separate search and display programs for the TSDB, one for technical services users and one for searching by the general public. A record can be created and updated only in the former search program, access to which is controlled through the log-on authorization. The search program for technical processing allows retrieval of records through five search keys: order number, a u t h o r - short form, author--specific form, title- short form, and titlespecific form. The specific forms tend to produce fewer hits but the short forms are preferred when an exact name or title is not known. The wrong form, searched specifically, may produce no hits when in fact, there are items in the database. This is because headings in this database are not authority controlled. For example, an author search from Goshen, P.J. might produce no hits, but a search on Goshen, Paul James might produce several hits. Except for the order number search, the other keys search up to four significant words (excluding articles in English and some prepositions) and from four to seven letters within each word. The specific key searches more letters per word than the short-form key. Within this retrieval program, certain fields may be updated. In addition to the five search keys above, the public access search program allows partial Boolean searching of keywords in the title using "and" (the default value when more than one keyword is used), and "or" (indicated by .,'). ]'his allows flexibility and versatility when thc exact title of a work is not known. Further strengthening of the search program is planned. Technical services staff may use the public access search program.

SEARCH DISPLAYS The technical processing display gives minimal bibliographic information: author, title,

The Duke University l.ibrary Automated Acquisitions Systems

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Figure 1. Input/Display Screen.

imprint, edition, series, number of volumes, LC card number, and ISBN. It shows the user the status of a record: on order, in-process, cancelled, or cataloged. If the item is on order, the user can see the date when the item was ordered, the vendor, the number of claims, the date of last claim, and the number of copies ordered on one purchase order, if received but not yet cataloged, the in-process location is displayed. If cataloged, the location, call number, and date the item was cataloged are displayed. See Figure I (a blank input screen) for all of the fields on the display screen. The display screens for public access are formatted differently from the processing display screen but largely contain the same information for funds, prices, and vendor names. See Figures, 2, 3, and 4 for examples of public displays showing an item on order, an item that has been received but not yet cataloged, and an item that has been received and cataloged.

ORDERING Bibliographic and order information is keyed directly into the system via a video display terminal (see Figure i). Although order requests have been searched in the database, duplicates are occasionally registered during the ordering process. Using another program, the suspect

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W. I . E O N H A R D ' I

f STRYER, LUBERT i OF 1 BIOCHEMISTRY SAN FRANCISCO : t,'REE?DkN 1 9 8 1 2D EDITION O1 COPIES ORDER N O . : 290422 FUND: CHE.H BOOKS REQUESTOR: PORTER: : : TYPE: MONOGRAPH ORDERED: 0 7 - 0 6 - 8 1 BY PERKINS SYSTEH FOR CHE.~I NOT YET RECEIVED, **~*END OF SEARCtt. YOU CAN bUkKE ANOTItER INOUIRY OR ESTER "END" TO END 'rile RUN.

J Figure 2. Public Access On-order Display.

r 1. OF 1 ORf;,MNOMETALLIC COMPOUNDS **VOL. 1 AND FUTURE V O L S . AS PUBI.ISHED NEW YORK : W[I.EY 1 9 7 9 4TII EDITION Ol COPIES ORDER N O . : 279089 FUND: CHE>!ISrRY REQI!ESTOR: W E L L S : : : STANDING ORDER TYPE: HONOGRAPII ORDERED: 08-22-80 BY P E R K I N S SYSTEH FOR CHEH RECEIVED: 03-20-81 NOT YET CATALOGED. BACKLOG LOCATION: 0 1 0 0 0 2

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Figure 3. Public Access In-process Display.

title can be e x a m i n e d . If it turns out to be an actual duplicate and not just a similar title or a different edition, a new record is assigned to that order number. After each group of 50 orders has been keyed in, the orders are e x a m i n e d in numerical sequence for typographical errors, especially in the vendor and fund fields where long numbers must be entered. It is in this "revise" program that suspect titles are e x a m i n e d and where substitute orders are entered if unwanted duplication is found. At the end of each w o r k day, a j o b card is keypunched with the run of order numbers to be printed overnight. When the job is run, the database is updated and funds are automatically encumbered for each order.

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f i OF i BOND, A M (ALAN MAXWELL); 1946MODERN POLAROGRAPHIC METHODS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY NEW YORK : DEKKER C1980 Ol COPIES ORDER NO.: 284644 FUND: CIIEM BOOKS REQUESTOR: ANDERSON::: TYPE: MONOGRAPH ORDERED: 02-17-81 BY PERKINS SYSTEM FOR CHEM RECEIVED: 06-19-81 CATALOGED: 06-23-81 CHEMISTRY CHEM. 543.0872 B711 1980

Figure 4. Public Access Received and Cataloged Display.

The order sheets are delivered the next day. Before they can be used they must be cut into 3" x 5" cards and collated. In addition to two copies of the purchase order, there are six other cards:

accounting record, report, order file, received record, temporary card, and shelflist. With the exception of the accounting record, the other copies are not necessarily used for the purposes for which they were originally intended. These copies of the purchase order are filed numerically, with available OCLC copy, as order packets to await receipt of the material. For blanket orders, approval books, gifts, exchanges, or any other records created without the need for a purchase order, the process is the same as above except for the disposition of the purchase orders and accounting records which are discarded. These records are created to allow for use of the system as an in-process file.

CLAIMING Claim forms are not generated automatically. A range of numbers must be submitted on a job card and claims are printed for all outstanding orders within that range. When claims are printed, the process record is updated to show the number of claims produced to date for each order and the date of the last claim printed.

RECEIVING When an order is received, its order packet is pulled and the accounting record, with accompanying invoice, is sent to the accounting clerk. Any necessary corrections (title, for example) are made to the database record before the item is sent to the Monographic Cataloging Department. Once a book truck of material is ready for cataloging, the order number for each title is typed onto an update screen. An overnight batch program will update the processing records to show the date the items were sent to the Monographic Cataloging

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THOMAS W. LEONHARDT

Department. This same program is used for approval books, gifts, standing orders, and exchanges.

ACCOUNTING As mentioned earlier, funds are encumbered automatically when purchase orders are produced. The system can also accommodate prepayments and purchases made without purchase orders and therefore without encumbrances. Such purchases include approval books and material acquired on buying trips.

MANAGEMENT REPORTS The TSDB provides data for several management reports including weekly budget reports, monthly listings of outstanding orders by vendor, fund, and purchase number, and annual vendor utilization reports. Within the accounting segment there is a check register, machinereadable audit trail, and a vendor address file.

HARDWARE The Duke University TSDB is run on an IBM 370/! 65 for online processing using TSO and an Amdahl 470/V7 for batch processing. Both are owned and operated by the Triangle Universities Computation Center (TUCC), mainly supported by Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The TUCC computers (including another IBM 370/165) are scheduled to be replaced by one IBM 3081 sometime in late 1981. Software and data for the TSDB are stored on three 3350 disc packs with additional storage offline. An IBM 3270 information display system supports ten IBM 3278 terminals (VDTs) with extended keyboards and twelve program-function keys, an IBM 3274 control unit, and Pin-reel 24 48 96 19.2 (9,600 BAUD). The Law Library runs on an IBM 3276 terminal control unit. Telephone and microwave lines are leased through Duke University's telephone company, Tel-Com. The TUCC system is being updated from an IBM MVT operating system to the IBM OS/VS2 MVS operating system.

STRENGTHS The strength of the TSDB is the remote, distributed access it provides to its database and its in-process control. A professor in the Physics Department can look at titles housed in the Engineering Library or Perkins without having to go to either location. A reference librarian can tell a user that a certain title is on order but not yet in the library or that it is in the cataloging backlog waiting for LC copy. When copy is found (LC or member) for an item, its backlog location changes and the TSDB is updated to reflect the change in status and location. For cataloged items there is, however, no circulation information to indicate that the item desired is actually on the shelf, but many steps still may be saved.

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WEAKNESSES The major weakness of the TSDB is that it does not interface with OCLC, Duke's cataloging system. The TSDB is not in a M A R C format and rekeying of all data would be required to input the OCLC bibliographic information into the TSDB. The TSDB is not capable of automatic claiming and it sorts purchase orders by order number instead of by vendor. Further sorting must be done manually with notification cards, accounting records, catalog work sheets, etc., all produced when an order is created, not when needed. Although intended as an automated system, the ordering process (including claiming, receiving and payment) is still labor intensive.

CONCLUSION Despite the reliability problems of an administrative system being run from an academic processing center (TUCC) and the weaknesses mentioned above, the TSDB at Duke has met some real needs and has paved the way for new advances in automated systems at Duke. The staff has learned to work within the confines of an automated system, has grown philosophical about the problems, and has adapted it to their own needs, too, in order to optimize benefits. The planning for the next generation of library systems at Duke, built on the experiences with the current system, has already benefited from what has been learned from the use of the TSDB.