September 27^th, 1999, Meeting

Present: R. Moon, T. Toy, B. Miller, M. Heath (Chair and Recorder), P. Wakeford, D. Bisom, H. Walker, R.White

Campus round robin:

UCSF: The Library is currently recruiting for two technical positions (a head of systems and a head of innovative software systems), and has recently hired two new programmers and a network administrator. They continue to plan upgrades for their technical infrastructure (re-cabling and wiring, etc.).

UCSD: Brian Schottlaender, the new University Librarian, arrived a week ago. Campus computing has implemented a web proxy service that bases access on the campus login and password (description and instructions may be found at http://www-no.ucsd.edu/documentation/application/squid/index.html ); the Libraries provide URLs for licensed databases that have access restricted to UCSD students, faculty, and staff. Systems is in the process of implementing GroupWise (from Novell) for email, calendaring, and other groupware applications. The INNOPAC-LARS interface is in testing. During 98/99, 273 new workstations have been installed; file servers have been migrated to new equipment; and the INNOPAC/Millenium migration is under way. UCSD has joined CORC as a means of integrating access to electronic resources with that to physical resources, which will be especially useful in the Portal project. Grants have been received to support a Chinese Digital Library, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center will host the application; the Qing Dynastic Library and the National Library of China digitized collections will comprise the startup data sets (a press release can be seen at http://www.npaci.edu/online/prdla.html ). All line-mode terminals have been eliminated from public areas.

UCR: Networking equipment in the 1-year old Science Library has been replaced in order to double the port capacity (to 600), and some DHCP ports have been implemented DHCP (initially just 5). Student workstation control software for the teaching labs is being evaluated; they are looking at three products. The campus has a proxy server in beta test, and the Library is looking at Innovative Interfaces WAM for access control. SRLF is evaluating the use of Z39.50 to download records from databases of contributing campuses as a way of processing their backlogs. UCR is going to have a Law School, and a consultant's study recommended use of an III system for its library.

UCD: A 28-station, state-of-the-art instruction lab has been established by the Library. The Library's web site is being restructured to provide a new set of faster loading pages and both development and production environments; a Web Editorial Board and a Web Design Team have been created to review all pages and insure standards and consistency. Infrastructure upgrades this year will include replacement of all 486 PCs, upgrade of all staff workstations to Windows NT, and implementation of an NT shared file server. Other upgrades will include replacement of the hardware that runs the DRA catalog and circulation system. They are evaluating various email options, and may ultimately end up running Pine plus both IMAP and POP servers so that people can choose. A certificate aware web server for electronic reserves is running, but cannot be used until January, when UCOP establishes their Certificate Authority server. The existing Kronos time reporting system for student employees is being upgraded to client/server, and the door control software in use for the Extended Hours Reading Room was upgraded.

UCB: Three AUL recruitments are just being completed. A system for network charging is being established. The campus implementation of PeopleSoft has not been smooth, especially the accounts payable portion, and this has impacted the Library's purchase of materials from small vendors. An implementation of a request function between UCB and Stanford is under development, as is a process to send circulation status information to the MELVYL catalog database displays. A new version of the web catalog was made public this summer; use now seems to be between 150 and 250 simultaneous sessions; an experimental version supports cross-database searching, including SilverPlatter CDROMs. The Library has plans to run a proxy server. Some DHCP ports in the stacks have been activated. There are a number of digital database projects in operation, and a single tool is being sought to manage them.

UCI: They are currently beta testing the Innovative Interfaces' Millennium product, and are negotiating for the full suite of applications. The campus has been upgrading the fringe areas of the network. This fiscal year, the Library will eliminate all line-mode terminals, as well as accomplishing some additional workstation replacements. A detailed, all-inclusive Y2K inventory and report has been completed. Systems has hired a new Programmer/Analyst III. The campus has reached the conclusion that smart card technology is not yet mature, and has placed that implementation on hold. A group is being established to do an RFP to outsource copy services for the entire campus. The Library is entering negotiations with their campus computing center on the establishment of a web proxy.

UCLA: Today is the go-live day for Orion II.

UCSC: The operating system for their INNOPAC system has recently been upgraded. A new Library web page appearance has been developed. Two old servers were replaced with new Dell servers running Linux. Matching funds are expected from the campus to replace the Library's older Windows workstations. A proxy server was implemented to support distance education students. Summer/Fall 2000 is the target for implementing the Innovative Interfaces' Millennium product The campus is migrating to a GUI interface for its Banner system.

MELVYL architecture report (Karen Coyle):

[In response to a question from the group, Karen reported that Y2K testing has been successfully completed; she will check on the status of the CDL-T report on the topic.] A committee has been charged to provide input to the RFP process for a vendor product that will provide the basis for the new MELVYL architecture. An initial RFP document is in its final editing (the deadline is Oct. 1^st), and will then go to that committee. Laine Farley is convening the committee, whose members are to coordinate campus input to the RFP development. Drafts of the RFP will be due on Nov 30^th and Jan 14^th., with the final RFP due on March 1^st. A modular approach to functionality in the RFP may be the best one, especially since there are two or three systems that contain an API concept. Database size and usage levels pose relatively unique issues; other issues include the number of contributing sources.

Consensus on Certificate Authority vendor selection is still in development, but initial deployment in January 2000 seems feasible. A proxy pilot has been developed, and is currently being tested; one issue is adding the CDL IPs to each electronic journal vendors' list. It will probably be necessary for each campus to run its own copy of the proxy application to enable it to be used for subscriptions that are unique to that campus. The proxy Sal has developed differs from others in that it is a secure proxy, and uses certification to accomplish this. They are close to an agreement on student feeds from Registrar’s databases into the UDIR.

The focus for the project is on technical metadata management, and the outcome will be two white papers for the Digital Library Federation on imaging, one on structural metadata and one on administrative metadata. There are multiple project participants in MOAII. The current development uses a general MS Access database that will generate EAD container lists or other objects. All types of item metadata (i.e., descriptive, administrative, and structure) are stored in this single database, and a series of input forms have been developed to establish the user interface. Information may be found at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/MOA2/ .

Catherine's UCB Graduate Division unit has historically formulated guidelines for dissertations. Demand from graduates for electronic submission caused them to explore the electronic submission of dissertations by creating an advisory committee to gather input from their diverse contingencies. A pilot project was established that accepts PDF formatted documents for a UMI copy (UMI uses only PDF format). One issue not yet addressed, but which must come out of the project, is who will perform the archival function for electronic copies. In Spring, 1999, 9 electronic copies were accepted, with 13 the following Fall, and these were from a broad range of disciplines. About 500 UCB dissertations are searched per month on UMI. The process is to accept PDF filing as an email attachment, and then FTP the files to UMI one at a time; UMI provides online access, but also prints and microfilms the electronic documents. For the time, electronic filing cannot be a requirement, but must remain an option. The web site is www.grad.berkeley.edu/grad/contgrad/edis. It was suggested that a step in the process should be developing direct links to documents from entries in the Library's catalog. Catherine is working with the graduate divisions on the other campuses, who are waiting to see the outcome of the project at UCB. Catherine remains in communication with Beverlee French, who is negotiating the UMI systemwide contract.

Although LTAG members made appointments to the group, Ralph is the official LTAG representative. Discussions have begun; the group has a deadline is Oct. 27^th for submitting a draft proposal to HOTS and LTAG.

Funds have been allocated to hire staff to release professional staff to work on this project. The portal is being designed to meet user's information needs, rather than to reflect existing UCSD Libraries physical or organizational division. Plans include development of a configuration-driven interface to selected multiple networked resources using a variety of tools. Effective implementation requires redirecting the energies of public services, technical services, and systems staff. Additional detail is available at http://libnet.ucsd.edu/portalproj/. (Question: what is status of the CDL PURL server? This question has been submitted to Sal Gurnani, and his response will be included in the final minutes.)

CDL plans to load the file of cataloging for Elsevier titles from UCSD into a test database, and implement suggested URL display changes for the test database, by Oct. 1^st. UCD and UCB will receive an output file sometime soon after that. A report on the pilot will provide input to a decision on the CCA scheduled for discussion at the Nov. 19^th University Librarians meeting.

Bruce will distribute to LTAG the memo that went out to the coordinating team. There currently seem to be two options for converting existing Wade Giles entries in cataloging and authorities records; one is to load sets of records from OCLC, and the other is to extract, translate selected fields, and reload records from local databases. Both options have multiple problems, and various alternatives are being explored. It seems that, no matter which option is selected, there will be cost issues.

beta testing of the Phase II implementation is set for early November. Real time patron authentication has been implemented for UCB, but needs to be developed for the other campuses. While there is no absolute deadline for this, it is advantageous for to develop it as soon as possible, since it would allow blocking of delinquent patrons which the batch-loaded files do not currently do. Ralph Moon has developed a set of Java programs that can provide a basic shell; if a version is developed for III systems, and one for DRA systems, minor tweaking should be necessary to implement for all campuses. Diane Bisom volunteered UCI staff to assist with development of the III version, and UCD will work on a DRA version.

Mary Heath will draft a report for SOPAG that addresses the LTAG goals for 1999, and will distribute this draft to the LTAG mailer by the end of November for comment.

March, 2000.