The Center for Research Libraries is a not-for-profit independent research library whose pur-pose is to make rarely-held research materials available to scholars throughout North America. Founded in 1949, it is the United States' oldest cooperative, membership-based research library. The Center is an outstanding example of an academic consortium that derives success from the cooperation of a large number of academic and research institutions.

The Center is unique among organizations that support scholarship with its library collection of more than 3.7 million volumes and 1.2 million microform units, its cooperative, membership-based governance, and its programs that enable institutions of higher education to maximize their expendi-tures for library materials. The Center specializes in obtaining specific kinds of materials from publishers, scholarly societies, universities, archives, museums, and governmental libraries -- foreign newspapers, microform copies of U.S, National Archives files and other governments' unpublished records, dissertations, subscriptions to hard-to-find scholarly journals, titles issued by the Russian Academy of Science, U.S. general circulation and ethnic newspapers, and large and expensive microform sets.

The Center expands access to library resources for university faculty and researchers through its cooperative collection development programs. Its valuable holdings, of interest to scholarly researchers, are likely to be used infrequently in any one library; this makes it prudent for univer-sities to support and subscribe to a centralized library resource. By committing their membership fees to the cooperative acquisition and storage of these materials, each Center member increases the research materials available to all scholars throughout North America while avoiding unnecessary duplication of holdings and costs.

The cost-avoidance benefit of participation in the Center is becoming increasingly important to libraries as they experience dramatic rises in the prices of books and journals. The staggering increases in the costs of library materials occur as university budgets are stretched to the limit. The Center provides an economical and efficient solution to institutional problems.

Each member library considers the Center's collections to be a remote extension of its own local collections -- in other words, a branch library. The Center informs researchers about the titles it holds by contributing its catalog records to the most frequently consulted online international bibliographic databases. When a researcher learns that titles of interest are available at the Center, his or her university library sends an electronic request to the Center. Whenever possible, the infor-mation is transmitted by telefacsimile to the requester; books or microfilms sent out on loan are mailed to the patron. Most of the use of the collection is accomplished through the interlibrary loan process; about 100,000 items are sent out each year in response to requests. The Center also main-tains a reading room where scholars may consult materials; last year, patrons submitted almost 700 requests for the reading room.

The Center preserves many kinds of library materials that are in danger of being lost to scho-larship. Recently, the Center microfilmed over 500 newspaper titles published in the U.S. by immigrant groups during the mid- 1800s to mid-1900s, saving primary sources of information for the social and cultural history of Asians and western and eastern Europeans in America. Its collec-tion of materials from imperial Russia and the USSR will insure the availability of these resources when preservation of them in the former Soviet Union can no longer be certain.

2. THE HISTORY OF CRL

The Center was established by ten midwestern universities in 1949 as the Midwest Inter-Library Center (MILC). The idea of MILC was a creative solution to a conflict between the univer-sity presidents (who did not want to build additional library facilities on their campuses) and their library directors (who asserted the research value of the volumes crowded on the libraries' shelves). The university presidents determined that a regional depository library would alleviate the space problems in their overflowing libraries, and their library directors proposed that a specialized staff at the Center could build a collection that would meet some of the more esoteric demands of their researchers.

The Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation funded the construction of the original building. As soon as the building was completed in 1951, the ten founding libraries iden-tified books, journals, documents, and bound volumes of newspapers that were infrequently used by their patrons and, throughout the 1950s, transported about two million items to MILC to be processed and shelved. In addition to accepting materials from its member libraries, the Center began direct acquisitions programs from publishers, scholarly societies, and national governments.

The Center's membership grew from the moment staff began to accept materials, to catalog them, and to make them available for loan -- libraries were attracted by the deposit program and by rapid access to the huge collection of cooperatively-owned research materials. In 1965, the regional restrictions on membership were lifted, and MILC was renamed the Center for Research Libraries, which became an international organization.

The Center employs about eighty people. Its specialized collections require staff expertise in acquiring materials from archives and publishers all over the world. The Center's collection includes materials in over one hundred languages, so the acquisitions and cataloging staff must have extensive language skills. For forty-four years, the member institutions have provided the principal budgetary support for the programs, facilities, collections and operations Members' annual assess-ments provide 88% of revenue. The Center derives additional income from investments, sales of services to non-members, sales of microforms and publications, and indirect charges from grants.

The Center's Board of Directors, comprised of university administrators, faculty, and librarians drawn from the member institutions, are elected by the membership to provide overall guidance for governance, financial, and program development. The current Board continues the precedent set with the founding Board's association of university administrators and librarians: the Board mem-bers represent diverse points of view on the goals of the Center in relation to the goals of higher education.

The Center is not merely storage for a stagnant collection of library books. Over its forty-four year history, the major universities and research institutions in the United States and Canada have shaped their libraries' collections based on the Center's holdings. The success of the collection program depends on the Center rapidly supplying materials through interlibrary loan to member libraries: it is the center's goal to minimize the geographic location factor by providing forty-eight-hour service, which requires efficient book retrieval and document supply operations as well as excellent and highly visible bibliographic access.

3. CRL'S AUTOMATED LIBRARY SYSTEM

The automated library system is the third phase of the Center's overall bibliographic access project, which began in 1982 with the editing and filming of CRL's catalog, then in card format, and the selection of OCLC as the cataloging medium. The second phase, nearly complete after eight years in progress, is the conversion of the catalog in card format into machine-readable format. This third phase recognizes the need for integrating the processing operations of the Center and making cataloging records visible to as wide a spectrum of users as possible. The fourth phase includes the implementation of new mechanisms for storage and delivery of the Center's collections.

CRL's automated library system, funded in part by the United States Department of Education, is designed to facilitate libraries' and individual researchers' bibliographic access to the collections of the Center through the installation of an automated library system including an online public access catalog (OPAC) that will be available through Internet in late 1993. In addition, the automated library system will enhance the cooperative collection development and resource sharing programs of the Center by improving the management of acquisitions and serials control.

Within a three-year period from 1992 to 1995, the Center will purchase and install equipment, train staff, adapt manual procedures, and implement three components of an automated library sys-tem -- an online public access catalog, an acquisitions module, and a serials control module. These three system components, when fully functional, will help the Center to achieve the following goals: provide online access to a discrete file of the Center's bibliographic records for research libraries and individuals throughout the world through the Internet; ensure access to complete files of currently received serials (approximately 14,000 titles) and currently received newspapers (over 400 titles); improve the efficiency of ordering and receiving of materials to meet immediate research needs; and provide information on the implementation of the collection development policies to facilitate cooperative collection development decisions. The final year will include an evaluation of the sys-tem's effectiveness in increasing the resource sharing objectives of the Center.

The primary goal of the automated library system is to provide improved bibliographic access to the Center's collection of rarely-held library materials to researchers worldwide. A second goal is to improve the Center's management of its library materials acquisitions processes to ensure that its collection is a reliable and complete source for the specific categories of materials that research libraries rely on the Center to hold. Furthermore, the Center intends to expand the automated library system to provide direct patron access to the Center's bibliographic files and an electronic document delivery service in which an individual patron can order an article that is transmitted directly to him or her. By establishing a direct-to-patron document delivery service the Center will reduce delivery time and potentially decrease the workload of its members' interlibrary loan offices.

The objectives of the automated library system are:

Researchers' ability to browse the Center's holdings in an online environment supports the cooperative collection development program by facilitating bibliographic access to CRL's holdings. Currently, the Center catalogs on OCLC and tapeloads its records into the Research Libraries Group's RLIN. Access to the Center's records in these international databases is useful, although the immense size of these systems' databases somewhat diminishes the efficiency of bibliographic searching. Searching CRL's discrete catalog is a more satisfying experience for some scholars. The installation of the automated library system at CRL also enables libraries and individuals without access to OCLC or RLIN to search the Center's bibliographic files.

Since 1988, the Center has supplied magnetic tapes containing its machine-readable bibliogra-phic files to more than thirty university libraries or systems that have incorporated the Center's records into local or statewide online public access catalogs. The Center has experienced a 14% overall increase in use resulting from improved online bibliographic access.

4. THE PLANNING PHASE

The Center began building its file of machine-readable bibliographic records in 1982, when it began regularly using OCLC for cataloging. Retrospective conversion of all catalog records began in 1983, and all serial holdings (nearly 40,000 bibliographic and holdings records) were completed in 1986. As of September 1993, conversion of monographic records is approximately 95% complete and is continuing with completion expected in 1995.

The Center staff began planning for automation of library operations in 1988 by starting with a needs assessment of the functional areas of acquisitions, serials control, microform sales and subs-criptions, cataloging (including authority control), circulation, and collection management. The needs assessment helped the staff to analyze the components of various tasks, to identify the data elements that must be included in records, and to list required system capabilities for information retrieval and management. Staff carefully examined how automation current-manual procedures would improve the resource sharing program.

Staff concluded that the serials control, acquisitions, cataloging and authority control opera-tions of the Center could be easily managed by commercially-available automated systems. How-ever, the Center's circulation activity differs from that in a typical library, because all of its "patrons" are interlibrary loan offices which, in turn, control the transactions of individual users. Also, there is no standard loan period since member libraries are using materials that collectively belong to them. Although staff agrees that the collection use information and other management data provided by an automated circulation system are important and commercial systems could be adapted to meet the Center's needs, the addition of a circulation module to be purchased by the Center required addi-tional careful study before a selection is made.

Staff researched several systems and determined that Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (III) is the system that best meets the Center's needs. III's software can be operated as a stand-alone system, an essential consideration since the Center has no access to a mainframe computer or large mini-computer. Staff recommended selection of III because of the system's capacity for a large number of records, the flexibility to purchase individual modules and add memory capacity as needed, staff s past favorable experience with vendor support and system performance, and Center members' support for the system.

In 1989, the Center began installing a local area network (LAN) with the ultimate goal of utilizing this network as the basic communications link between the Center's online public access catalog and Internet users. A one full-time equivalent position for an automation technician was added to the staffing chart beginning January 1990. In the past two years, the Center purchased and installed a network operating system, file server, a tape backup unit, cabling, a hub/router and other equipment to ensure the reliable operation of the LAN, which includes an initial installation of fifty workstations. The costs thus far have been approximately $125,000.

5. THE IMPLEMENTATION PHASE

The implementation is a three-year plan to purchase and install the three modules of the automated library system, to train staff in automated procedures and use of the system, and to broaden accessibility to the Center's bibliographic files through the Internet connection.

YEAR ONE:

Install OPAC and Set Up Internet Accessibility (October 1992-September 1993)

• October-December 1992: Finalize the contract and prepare the physical site.

During these three months, Center staff made the final selection of system components and finalized the contract with the vendor, Innovative Interfaces, Inc. Plans for the first year called for ordering nine terminals: three for Cataloging Department staff, one for Collection Resources; three for the Access Services Department staff, one for monographic orders; and one for serials check-in. Center staff prepared the work area for system installation by installing a dedicated telephone line for access to the system by III, and purchasing and installing cables to all workstations. The central processing unit (MIPS 3230 with 32MB memory), terminals and printers were installed by the end of December 1992. Staff also finalized arrangements with Blackwell North America for loading the Center's bibliographic and authority records into the new system.

• January-February 1993: Load authority and bibliographic records into III.

The first day of system operation occurred when the Center's machine-readable database was loaded into the automated library system in January 1993 This database consists of all the Center's authority and bibliographic records and is serviced by Blackwell North America (BNA). As the basic file for the automated library system, this database provides accurate bibliographic and authori-ty records for all system modules

• March-May 1993: Install the OPAC/authority control module and train staff.

All staff in the Access Services, Acquisitions, Cataloging, Collection Development, and Stack Management departments who routinely consult bibliographic information were trained in the OPAC module by III. Training covered the types of indexes available, record display options, and search-ing strategies. Much of the training focused on the Access Services Department staff, which receives an average of 225 interlibrary loan requests each day that must be searched in the bibliographic files. The Cataloging Department staff received training on the cataloging and authority control functions. This training included adding, deleting and updating records; downloading records from OCLC; applying global updates to headings; performing catalog maintenance; creating bibliographies by manipulating data in the OPAC; and compiling statistical and management reports.

• June-September 1993: Effect the Internet connection and update the data base.

Center staff concluded arrangements to connect to the Internet through the University of Chicago. The gateway installation, physical connection and testing took place during September 1993. Annually, at the end of August, the Center issues an update to its machine-readable biblio-graphic database, representing new cataloging, recataloging, and retrospective conversion work done in the preceding twelve months. An update tape is sent to libraries and systems that have loaded the Center's records into their local databases. In August 1993, this tape also was loaded into the Center's automated library system to ensure that all cataloging and authority work done since the transition to III is included in the OPAC and authority file. The Center's card catalog was frozen at that time and all new cataloging and authority records are being entered only into the auto-mated library system.

YEAR TWO:

Install Acquisitions and Serials Modules (October 1993-September 1994)

• October 1993: Install the acquisitions module.

The hardware for both the acquisitions and the serials check-in modules will be purchased at this time: two terminals for monographic orders and three for serials check-in staff. The acquisitions module will be purchased with a 20,000 record capacity and will be installed in October 1993.

• October 1993-September 1994: Train staff in acquisitions module and input acquisitions records.

III will provide training for both serials and monographs orders staff, covering all phases of the acquisitions process: placing orders and encumbering funds; creating the vendor file; down-loading records from OCLC; recording payments; claiming and canceling orders; and compiling management reports and acquisitions lists. Center staff will begin to enter new monographic orders into III and to convert manual files and, within specific time parameters, files that currently exist on a superseded local automated acquisitions system. Serials check-in staff will create acquisitions records for standing orders (i.e., journals, annuals, and continuations). Staff will inform vendors of the planned date of change and will order printed forms for ordering and claiming. Since all of the Center's bibliographic records for serials are in its machine readable database, the staff will be able to use accurate cataloging records for building records in the acquisitions file. Staff should complete input of the regularly-received serials acquisitions records by the end of April 1994, and input most serials records by September 1994 as well as revise work flow and rewrite procedures for the automated environment.

• February-April 1994: Install the serials check-in module and train staff.

The serials module will be purchased with a capacity for 14,000 check-in records and will be installed in February 1994. III will provide training for serials check-in staff, covering all phases of the module: creating check-in records; creating the vendor file; checking in serial issues; claiming issues; and compiling management reports. Approximately 4.0 FTE of the serials check-in staff will create serial check-in records upon receipt of new issues. Records for the majority of serials titles will be created during February 1994-January 1995.

• April-September 1994: Continue to input acquisitions and serial check-in records.

The creation of acquisitions and serial check-in records will continue throughout this period.
 
 

YEAR THREE:

Complete and Evaluate the Implementation Phase (October 1994-September 1995)

• October 1994-January 1995: Continue to input acquisitions and serial check-in records.

For those titles not entered into the III system at this time, the Center's staff will establish procedures for problem solving: to include reconciling differences in entry, determining whether or not a title has ceased publication, etc. The goal of these activities will be the closing of all manual acquisitions and serial check-in files by September 1995.

• February-September 1995: Implement procedures to close all remaining manual acquisitions and serial check-in files.

• March-September 1995: Evaluate the project.

The evaluation will measure the effectiveness of an online public access catalog of the Center's holdings in increasing use of the collection, expediting access to information for researchers, and avoiding expenditures by member libraries for acquisition of materials that are at the Center. Increased use of the collection is fairly simple to measure. The Center has maintained statistics on interlibrary loan transactions since the early 1950s and, in recent years, has kept circulation statistics on the number of items supplied and the categories or subjects of materials circulated. Use has been rising an average of 8% over the past four fiscal years and should increase by 15% with broader access to bibliographic information. Although III will produce management reports on the numbers and kinds of searches of the OPAC, Center staff will have to survey library patrons to determine their experiences obtaining bibliographic information from Center searches. The central question to be investigated is whether patrons find bibliographic information for Center holdings easier to locate; in addition, the survey will include questions about whether the materials supplied by the Center were available from other sources.

6. THE COSTS

The major costs are the hardware and software required for an OPAC, and catalog maintenan-ce, authority control, acquisitions and serials modules. The total costs are for the following features: 20,000 order records; 14,000 serial check-in records; Internet access; 500,000 bibliographic records; 200,000 authority records; and 14 simultaneous users. The costs for hardware are $92,355 and for software $172,050.

The personnel involved in implementation of the automated library system are existing staff, since, for both project oversight and the conversion of manual records to automated files, the incumbents will have the same jobs to perform in an automated rather than a manual file environ-ment. Productivity rates will fall somewhat during the transition period; however, when all functions are fully automated, staff will be able to work more efficiently.

7. CONCLUSION

The notion that libraries are shifting from an emphasis on ownership of material to one of access to material is demonstrated by the Center's steadily increasing interlibrary loan statistics. In the past four years, the number of requests has increased 32%. By making patron access to bibliographic information easier and setting up the capability for direct-to-patron document delivery, the Center will not only extend use of its collections to a much wider circle of scholars, it will help lower interlibrary loan burdens at its member libraries. In this way, the automated library system is an expansion of a forty-four year old international resource sharing program.