INFOhio State Users Meeting
Wednesday, January 26, 2000

TODAY'S SCHOOL LIBRARY: Statewide Resource Sharing

ORCLISH
Central Ohio Special Education Regional Resource Center
470 Glenmont
Columbus, Ohio
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

SUMMARY

IMPORTANT: This is an archive document containing many time-sensitive links. INFOhio does not guarantee the reliability of links to other sites.

More than 100 participants in INFOhio -- Users, Providers, classroom teachers, administrators, Governing Advisory Board members, presenters, vendor partners, and staff -- attended the INFOhio State Users Group meeting at the ORCLISH-Central Ohio Special Education Regional Resource Center in Columbus on Wednesday, January 26, 2000. The meeting focused on the Statewide Resource Sharing effort being developed by the State Library of Ohio, The Ohio Library Council, and two of Ohio's three library networks: OPLIN (Ohio Public Library Information Network) and INFOhio (The Information Network for Ohio Schools).

The meeting was convened by INFOhio Executive Director Theresa M. Fredericka, who provided an overview of the day's agenda and thanked everyone "for braving the elements in order to show their support for INFOhio." Fredericka explained the grassroots nature of INFOhio and affirmed the importance of Users Group members in decision-making and direction-setting for the project.

State Resource Sharing Overview (Documents on OPLIN's Web site)
 

Roger Verny, Ohio Deputy State Librarian, and Carol Roddy, Executive Director of OPLIN, provided an overview of this developing statewide effort. Verny explained the three components that make up Ohio's Statewide Resource Sharing program:

• The identification of holdings in multiple types of libraries using various automation systems.

• A system to request materials that is patron-initiated.

• A statewide delivery system

To develop the Statewide Resource Sharing plan, four task forces have been established: Delivery, Funding & Management, Policies, and Technology. A Steering Committee provides oversight and coordination for the plan. All types of libraries are represented on the task forces and the steering committee.

Verny explained the policy recommendations that serve as the guidelines or vision for the Statewide Resource Sharing plan:

• Ohio libraries will share any resources with any other Ohio library's borrowers.

• Loan periods will conform to the local library's lending policies.

• The lending library will absorb the cost of any lost or damaged material; there will be no interlibrary loan (ILL) fees.

• As a library community, we will loan to libraries which choose not to loan to others.

• The electronic system chosen to handle resource sharing will have the capacity to equally distribute requests among participating libraries.

• Staff training for resource sharing will be provided by the vendor, and library staff will train patrons.

• Local libraries should make resource sharing an integral part of library service to their patrons.

Roddy explained the technical directions the plan is taking and provided an update on the project's status. Existing products have been investigated and potential vendors identified. It appears that most of the capabilities that are needed to make resource sharing a reality in Ohio's schools and public libraries are available from one or more vendors. The challenge will be selecting one vendor prepared to enhance and modify its software to more directly meet all of the functional requirements of Ohio's libraries.

Greg Byerly of Kent State University's School of Library and Information Science is writing the Request for Proposal and is coordinating the vendor selection process. A subcommittee of the Resource Sharing Task Force is helping to develop functional specifications. Jean Banks, INFOhio Technical Support, has been directly involved in this process. INFOhio will also be represented on the RFP review team.

Roddy briefly explained the system likely will be based on the Z39.50 standard and expressed the task force's hope that non-compliant systems will be brought to some level of participation. Roddy noted the system will require a very sophisticated patron authentication capability. She noted the intent is for patron files to remain with local systems; the software should be able to query systems to determine patron eligibility to participate in resource sharing. Roddy expressed the hope that the resource sharing software will also be able to authenticate patron access to various electronic resources purchased by Ohio library networks.

Verny explained the work that has been done for the delivery component of statewide resource sharing. The current plan is to provide daily weekday delivery to each site and provide a statewide rate for delivery. There will be approximately 1,100 sites on the delivery system; public library headquarters, school district headquarters, and main academic libraries. Each site will be responsible for branches within its organization. The target is 24- to 48-hour turnaround from the time of request to availability for the patron. A consultant has been hired to develop the delivery component, and a Request for Information has been sent to potential vendors. Verny explained that several Ohio Regional Library Systems (CAMLS, GCLC, MOLO, NOLA, NORWELD, OVAL, and SOLO) have delivery programs in place in their regions.

The original plan anticipated half the cost of delivery to be provided by state funds, but this request has yet to be approved by the Ohio Legislature. The State Library Board has allocated $2 million dollars from LSTA funding to implement the technology components of statewide resource sharing, so the plan will move forward. Verny estimates that institutions that choose to participate will need to pay approximately $1,100 per year for statewide delivery to the central institution point. Additional payments could allow for delivery to each institution's specific building/branch.

Roddy explained that the real work of policy development will begin around January 2001, when the technology components have been finalized. Many compromises will have to be considered at that time.

Terri Fredericka noted that statewide resource sharing will be a voluntary project. INFOhio representatives will continue to be active in all aspects of the project to represent the interests of the K-12 community. The State Library plans to publish a resource sharing newsletter; INFOhio, in cooperation with OELMA, will assure such information is widely distributed to schools.

Resource Sharing - Examples from the Field

Brief presentations were made to help illustrate resource sharing efforts that are already in place in some parts of the state. Cathy Burwell, Technology Media Consultant for SPARCC, and Janet Kell, Jackson Local Library Media Specialist, explained the Stark/Portage School Library Inter-District Loan program and distributed loan guidelines now in use. Susan H. Kendall, Director of the Preble County District Library, and Katie Kelly-Green, Twin Valley Schools Library Media Specialist, reviewed the Preble County cooperative program where the public library and school libraries share materials through common use of DRA/MultiLIS automation software. Sally Norton, Library Media Specialist for Warren Local Schools, presented results of an LSTA grant that fosters resource sharing amount Washington County school libraries.

Following lunch, several brief reports were presented by INFOhio participants, staff, and vendor partners:

• Mary Binion, Co-Chair of the INFOhio Governing Advisory Board, brought greetings from the board and offered thanks to the INFOhio task force chairs and members for their efforts to improve all aspects of INFOhio.

• SarahJane Holzhauer, President of the Ohio Educational Library/Media Association, reviewed OELMA's role in INFOhio's development. She reminded the Users Group that OELMA MidWinter will be held March 11, 2000, and everyone is welcome to attend and participate in OELMA's future. Holzhauer announced that program proposals are being sought for OELMA's Great Ohio Technology Conference to be held in Columbus October 25-27, 2000; submission deadline is April 5, 2000. Gayle Geitgey is GOTEC Conference Chair.

• Diane Deibel, Co-Chair of the Library Automation Task Force, reminded users of DRA/MultiLIS library automation software that the deadline to complete the online evaluation form is February 11, 2000. DASite Providers have the URL needed to access the survey server.

• Betty Wolford, Chair of the Media Booking Task Force, updated the Users Group about INFOhio's booking software for special collections, Dymaxion/Medianet. The software is in use at 36 sites, with five agencies in the process of being loaded. At least five more sites have expressed interest. The 1999-2000 user survey has been completed, with results now being tabulated. Wolford also announced that MARC import procedures from the INFOhio Union Catalog are now working.

• Tony Marshalek, Chair of the Instructional Development Task Force, announced that ten locations have been finalized for the next series of Information Literacy workshops to be held during the spring of 2000. The workshops will be conducted by KSU's Carolyn Brodie and Greg Byerly, and will focus on Science and Mathematics. Marshalek reminded the Users Group that development of OH! Teach continues.

• Lois Lequyea, Co-Chair of the Union Catalog Task Force, explained that Medianet sites' MARC records are located in Bank 3 of the INFOhio Union Catalog; many of these records contain live links that can be used to book materials. Lequyea listed improvements being made to the Union Catalog, through the efforts of INFOhio Technical Support: additional de-dupping, the creation of "SuperMARC" records, and the continued record enhancements.

• Sue Hall, OCLC Services Representative from OHIONET, reviewed the CatExpress program that is now available for all Ohio schools who wish to acquire MARC records directly from the OCLC database. Hall explained ways those interested can get more information from the INFOhio Web site; DASite representatives were reminded that Hall is available to provide CatExpress demos at regional meetings. Hall also reminded the Users Group that OCLC/OHIONET is participating in INFOhio's Preview 2000 with OCLC FirstSearch.

• Jennifer Schwelik, Co-Chair of the Electronic Resources Task Force, summarized Preview 2000, INFOhio's program to preview Web-based electronic resources available for purchase - often with INFOhio discounts - by individual buildings and districts. More than 140 products from 27 vendors are available for preview through March 15, 2000, on the INFOhio Web site. Schwelik announced that an online evaluation of Preview 2000 will be ready in late March; all previewers are encouraged to complete the survey. An evaluation form to use when previewing online databases was distributed.

• Rhonda L. Harris, regional representative for SIRS Mandarin, Inc., announced improvements to SIRS Discoverer Deluxe, one of the electronic resources INFOhio provides without charge to every K-12 building in Ohio. She noted that "Current Events" is a new selection to the main menu. Harris also reminded the Users Group that SIRS Mandarin is participating in INFOhio's Preview 2000 with SIRS Knowledge Source.

• Chris Sakelaris, senior account executive for bigchalk.com, announced the formation of the new company, a combination of Bell & Howell Information and Learning and Infonautics. bigchalk.com will continue to market ProQuest and Electric Library to Ohio Schools. (A ProQuest database of 161 titles is available without charge to every K-12 building in Ohio through INFOhio.) Sakelaris explained that bigchalk.com is participating in Preview 2000 with several ProQuest databases as well as with Electric Library. Sakelaris introduced Jeff Brierley, regional sales manager for bigchalk.com.

• Peter Voss, national sales manager for Encyclopaedia Britannica. Inc., provided a brief overview of Britannica Intermediate, a new online encyclopedia available through Britannica Online, available without charge to all Ohio K-12 buildings through INFOhio. Britannica Intermediate is designed for upper elementary and middle school students; the reading level is approximately grades 4 and 5. Voss explained that more enhancements are forthcoming; he introduced Michael Warfield, training and sales support for Ohio.

The next meeting of the INFOhio State Users Group will be held on May 17, 2000, at ORCLISH in Columbus. More information and registration procedures will be announced soon. INFOhio's Annual Retreat will be held at Cherry Valley Lodge in Newark on June 13-15, 2000; watch for details.

Handouts
OhioReads Grant Review Volunteer Form

Photos provided by Dave Ambrose.