March 18th, 1999, Meeting
Present: Ryan, Moon, Miller, Klatchko, Vasi, Toy, Heath (Chair and recorder), Bisom, Walker, Gargano, White
Campus round robin :
UCLA - Orion2 will be implemented in 2 phases - the first will be editing records in the database in Spring 1999 quarter, and the second will be the OPAC/public interface, which will probably be in Summer 1999. Current efforts are focused on debugging and increasing performance and stability of the system. The Library is working with the Physical Sciences Department on an experiment in electronic publishing (the documents are in Tex format). The Library has received a grant from the Getty for the digitization of architectural plans and drawings, and another from the Times-Mirror foundation to digitize a collection of glass negatives They are approaching the third round of their leasing contract for workstations; this round will incorporate all machines into the contract. The Y2K assessments are just being completed. An archive of Orion1 records is being created to form the basis of their new data warehouse. A pilot certificate server is planned for the Spring 1999 quarter.UCB - The new University Librarian has decided on a partial administrative reorganization of the library. Three new AUL positions -- Collections, Public Services, and Undergraduate/Main Library Collections -- will replace three existing subject-based positions. The principle systems have been brought to Y2k compliance, and Systems staff are now engaged in checking workstation applications for compliance. New funding has been received to complete public workstation upgrades this fiscal year; the 1999/2000 budget is expected to include full funding for workstation equipment replacement.
Systems is working with public services to develop enhancements to the Library’s web OPAC interface and functionality. A version of Database Advisor has been implemented for electronic resources in science and engineering. Work is underway to incorporate the name authority file into GLADIS. The Library is working with the CDL to develop a grant to work with museums on the development of online content to be included in the OAC.
CDL - A version of the Online Archive of California database is now up and running on a CDL machine; the new programmer (Ken Weiss) will be responsible for its implementation. Staff have examined a number of vendor OPAC solutions as possibilities for the union database, and these products appear to have the necessary capabilities. M. Berger will be exploring several of the products in greater detail. The IEEE files are no longer being loaded into the CDL system, but are now mounted as remote links. The Amigo image collection has been licensed and will be run on the UCSD super computer center. S. Jurist will work with the CDL on integrating the Amigo collection into existing access structures. CDL plans to evaluate X.509 in use with large image collections. The Technical Architecture & Standards Group has developed a set of service models which will be presented in a session at the upcoming CDL forum. The Authorities Working Group has established pilot projects with Columbia and JSTOR. A Strategic Innovations Workgroup has been established to search for funding opportunities in new areas of educational technology. A purl server will be established for resolving names for locally created documents and for cataloged documents.
UCSD - A task force to study the Library’s server processes is now finishing its work; B. Miller will inform LTAG of the outcome. Planning is underway for implementation of a new email system this year. A Web Portal team has been charged to Design an interface that will integrate all web based information delivery systems; a small team will do the first phase by September. The Pacific Rim Library Alliance will meet to discuss the technical architecture for an East Asian Digital Library.
UCSF - A major systems upgrade has just been completed; this included the addition of mirroring and CPU redundancy. They are researching how people search their web site, including Medline. An investigation is underway to evaluate develo0pment of a metasearching interface, as well as a portal type of search engine, and a java search interface for Dublin Core tagged documents.
UCSB - The new DRA system will not be implemented this year, so Notis2000 will be installed and used until summer 2000; this will require a CICS upgrade. DRA has suggested using SMS to push software from the servers, so they are investigating. Corporate Scheduling and Time (an NT-based system with web clients) has replaced PROFS on the campus systems, so the Library will be. An Information Technology Board has been established by the campus, with an IT planning sub-group to explore open access computing; they have established a ratio of 1 networked workstation for each 11 students as a necessity, and are establishing a replacement budget for all such machines. The Library is submitting a proposal for a new building, and has developed a new model for space standards that includes remote storage, a 1:5 seat:student ratio with 1 in 3 being a wired workstation. Additional equipment for Project Alexandria is being installed into the computer room.
UCI - An equipment purchasing cycle has just been completed, and they are now in the process of server upgrading, with an additional NT server. An equipment replacement projection schedule has been recently developed. An implementation plan for the III Millenium product is in development; this implementation will require re-indexing of the database. Upgrades for Y2K compliance will require replacement of some workstations. The campus has given notice that they must replace their terminal servers within 18 months. CBT software has been installed on all library workstations. Library departments are now looking at core competencies for all levels of staff, including systems staff. The campus is currently receiving bids on smart cards, and the library is part of the evaluation team. An upgrade of the campus backbone has been completed, and an upgrade to the Library’s network is expected in Aug.
UCR - The Rivera Library is currently undergoing renovation, and some work is still underway in the Science Library, with some collections being moved into local storage. 250 new machines have been installed in the Science Library. All 386s are being removed, and 5 dhcp ports have been installed. Solutions are being sought for the equipment that is not Y2K compliant and which is running Novel and DOS applications. Printing services is having some difficulties with the smart-card implementation, and they are working to switch the Rivera Library to NT to resolve these problems. Infomine is now at version 3.0.
UCD – A Cold Fusion-based system for initiating and managing nominations was implemented for this year’s Recognition Award Program. Planning has begun for the migration of staff workstations from Windows95 to the WindowsNT platform. An evaluation process for migration to an Integrated Library System has begun. The detailed design for an OPAC interface using the DRAWeb application is underway. Y2K readiness analysis has been completed, and all systems should be compliant by Fall, 1999. Loading of BNA’s table-of-contents files is being contemplated. A certificate-aware Apache web server is being explored for allowing remote access to electronic reserves materials.
UCSC - Planning is underway to implement a new Library-wide Linux server to replace the existing email and web server. The Library has used the campus’ new RFP process for submitting new budget initiatives to submit an equipment replacement proposal, and an order for staff machine replacement has just been issued. Workstation support between the Science and McHenry Libraries has been consolidated. Implementation of Database Assistant is being considered, As is CBT.
Reverse proxy server - S. Gurnani
Sal described the traditional proxy service, in which the client’s only contact with the web/net is through the proxy. This type of implementation, to work correctly, would need to control the client browser, and is really just a firewall. We, on the other hand, only want the server for access to restricted web content, thus a reverse-proxy server is required that could substitute URLs in appropriate places. Selective modification of URLs in a returned document by the server of URLs so that links would also be routed through the server is a significant development issue. Because such development does not seem cost-effective for a short-term solution, a reverse proxy server does not seem feasible. Sal will continue to work with D. Wasley to explore other options for short-term solutions (OCLC’s Webscript is one such possibility). CDL will also work with vendors to push use of X.509 certificates. Sal will contact publishers to try to get a sense of the time frame for this.
Government information - A. Sevetsen
There are several different issues relating to government publications that Andrea will be seeking to address, among these are cataloging, CDROMs,, and joint internet and web development. Her current draft document is specific to CDROMs, a situation in which no two campuses are doing the same thing, and where the primary question is how to serve CDROMs on the network. One mechanism being explored is Citrix. The most ideal solution may be to provide SPSS or SAS access to data files. The University of Virginia has done this using standard commercial software applications, and we might be able to purchase what they have done. It might be useful to work with the UCSD supercomputer center on this. Andrea would welcome any ideas that we might have.
Union catalog project - K. Coyle
There have been two projects, one to look at where ILS vendors are today, and another to look at a virtual union catalog potential. Having talked with a number of vendors to determine functionality, technical capabilities, and flexibility on a broad scale, they are compiling the results of interviews, and will then evaluate whether there is a feasible product available. It seems likely that a bid document will be written, but it might be better to wait because desirable features seem to be in current development, which means release in 2001. The virtual union catalog study involved 6 campuses. Searches were performed in Melvyl on all campuses, and also on each campus individually; the same searches were then executed with Z39.50. There were 3 types of systems - III, DRA, and Webz - and all had author, keyword, and exact title searches in common. Individual system differences (z39.50 implementation, indexing, etc.) create great disparities in search results. The next step is to have real users run a series of searches, but the expectation is that it will be difficult to get real quantified information from this. A web site will be established to describe the results of the virtual union catalog project. A virtual union catalog would generate cost-benefit trade-offs that would need careful analysis. There are also solutions that lie between a virtual union catalog and the current Melvyl catalog database that should be explored.
Y2K - J. Gargano
Each campus is asked to update their 1997 Y2K report. Joan will try to find the 97 report for each campus and send it to us, but we should let her know if we find our own. She would like updates by April. 15th. We should send these electronically, and need only report on mission critical systems that are not yet Y2K compliant.
LTAG goals for 1999
Exploration of electronic dissertations: Kathleen Rattie (UCB Graduate Division) is taking the lead on this, and has met with J. Gargano The format will probably be Tex, SGML, or pdf. Kathleen is working with graduate divisions on other campuses, and with UMI. They are following guidelines set by Virginia Tech. Planning is needed for housing and archiving such documents in their electronic forms. The compound document nature of these may pose technical difficulties.
Because of shortage of time, Mary will send a report to the LTAG listserve. The following was subsequently sent:
As you all may know, all but one campus is currently loading records for qualified patrons into the patron database at CDL. The one campus not doing this, UCB, has actually implemented a patron API, so that the Request service can directly query their local file (allowing them to deny service to blocked patron). The ultimate goal of Request is for all campuses to implement a patron API in lieu of the patron file loads. The goal of CDL for this implementation is January 2000 (the beginning of Phase II). The acquisition of a patron API will probably be a cost factor for most campuses. It has been additionally planned that the Request service would directly query all of the campus' circulation systems directly to obtain availability status information. This is now being done for six of the nine campuses.
Planning is currently underway for the integration of the A&I databases into the CDL Request system. Statistical analyses are being carried out to determine what type of workload impacts might result, and the accuracy of using current serials holdings in the MELVYL PE file.
The vision for Phase II is complete integration of all inter-library lending and borrowing activities into a single work flow (and, thus, a single system).