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Public-Access Computer Systems Review Volume 04 Number 03
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The Public-Access Computer Systems Review
Volume 4, Number 3 (1993) ISSN 1048-6542
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CONTENTS
COMMUNICATIONS
OJAC: An Electronic Document Delivery System for British Columbia
Post-Secondary Students
By Lynn Copeland (pp. 4-23)
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REVIEWS
Crossing the Internet Threshold: An Instructional Handbook
Reviewed by Thomas C. Wilson (pp. 24-26)
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Internet Primer for Information Professionals: A Basic Guide to
Internet Networking Technology
Reviewed by Steven A. Stone (pp. 27-29)
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The Public-Access Computer Systems Review
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Editor-in-Chief
Charles W. Bailey, Jr.
University Libraries
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-2091
(713) 743-9804
LIB3@UHUPVM1 (BITNET) or LIB3@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU (Internet)
Associate Editors
Columns: Leslie Pearse, OCLC
Communications: Dana Rooks, University of Houston
Reviews: Roy Tennant, University of California, Berkeley
Editorial Board
Ralph Alberico, University of Texas, Austin
George H. Brett II, Clearinghouse for Networked Information
Discovery and Retrieval
Steve Cisler, Apple Computer, Inc.
Walt Crawford, Research Libraries Group
Lorcan Dempsey, University of Bath
Nancy Evans, Pennsylvania State University, Ogontz
Charles Hildreth, University of Washington
Ronald Larsen, University of Maryland
Clifford Lynch, Division of Library Automation,
University of California
David R. McDonald, Tufts University
R. Bruce Miller, University of California, San Diego
Paul Evan Peters, Coalition for Networked Information
Mike Ridley, University of Waterloo
Peggy Seiden, Skidmore College
Peter Stone, University of Sussex
John E. Ulmschneider, North Carolina State University
Technical Support
Tahereh Jafari, University of Houston
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Publication Information
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Copeland, Lynn. "OJAC: An Electronic Document Delivery System for
British Columbia Post-Secondary Students." The Public-Access
Computer Systems Review 4, no. 3 (1993): 4-23. To retrieve this
file, send the following e-mail message to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 or
LISTSERV@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU: GET COPELAND PRV4N3 F=MAIL.
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1.0 Introduction
Traditionally, libraries have dealt with three levels of
information:
1. What there is: information about what information
exists (e.g., card catalogues, indexes, and abstracts).
2. Where it is: information about where that information
is located (e.g., card catalogues).
3. Content: the information itself (e.g., books and
journals).
Users could determine the "what" and "where" in the traditional
card catalogue. Introducing the online catalogue expanded access
from any networked terminal in the library or elsewhere, but
materials still were accessible only in the library.
With the provision of electronic indexes and abstracts,
access to information about "what" exists has expanded,
especially if this information is available on networks.
However, it continues to be a separate task in most cases for the
user to determine where desirable material is located.
Further, electronic indexes and abstracts have given users
access to information about far more material--material often
available only in another (usually unidentified) institution.
Access to this material has been provided primarily through a
labour-intensive interlibrary loan process. Libraries are
increasingly recognizing the potential benefits, both for patrons
and library operations, of providing more direct access to the
material, wherever it is located.
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A first step is to allow patrons to request copies of
documents directly from other institutions. The purpose of the
Online Journal Access Citation (OJAC) project was to demonstrate
the feasibility of this process. The second step of providing
electronic access to the document itself is only now becoming a
possibility with available electronic information, increasing
network bandwidth, and sufficient computer resources.
2.0 Background
The British Columbia Electronic Library Network (ELN) was
provincially funded in 1989 to provide electronic access to
information for all twenty-four publicly funded British Columbia
post-secondary institutions, including four newly founded
University Colleges. These institutions had been established to
deal with the problems of the low post-secondary participation
rate and increasing population in the interior of the province.
Programmes at the University Colleges were developed in
partnership with the three existing British Columbia
universities. It was intended that ELN not build a highly
centralized facility, but rather rely on ELN-subsidized projects
undertaken by individual institutions to fulfill this mandate.
By 1991, the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser
University libraries had already begun mounting commercial
reference and journal article citation databases on their own
institutional computer systems. These databases were used by
each institution's faculty, students, and staff.
The long term objectives of the OJAC pilot project were to:
(1) encourage and to develop a model and mechanism for these
libraries to share their locally mounted databases with students,
faculty, and staff at other ELN institutions, and (2) provide a
mechanism for users to issue an online request for a specific
article. Thus, the OJAC project would meet the Ministry of
Advanced Education Training and Technology's intention when it
established the Electronic Library Network: to facilitate and
increase resource sharing among British Columbia post-secondary
libraries through the provision of electronic library network
services.
Simon Fraser University provided staff, computing
facilities, data communications facilities, and funding to
implement and manage the pilot project. Much of the required
computing and data communications support for the project was
already being developed for local use. ELN provided funding to:
(1) obtain consortium rights for participating students and
faculty to access the pilot database, (2) provide data
communications and terminal/workstation support for the colleges,
and (3) offer journal retrieval and photocopying services during
the pilot.
A report by Paul Baldwin defined the OJAC pilot project. [1]
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3.0 Description of the Pilot Project
Simon Fraser University Library managed the OJAC pilot project in
partnership with the participating libraries. Project objectives
were as follows:
1. To mount a journal contents database on the Simon
Fraser University's BRS/SEARCH computing facility that
could be accessed by students, faculty, and staff at
SFU, especially students at the downtown Belzberg
branch of the SFU Library and University College of the
Cariboo (UCC), one of the new University College
members of the ELN. The initial database was H. W.
Wilson's Social Science Index.
2. To link the journal contents database to a serials
control file of library journal holdings of the Simon
Fraser University and University College of the Cariboo
libraries, with the capability to expand the linking to
other ELN participant library journal holdings after
completion of the pilot phase.
3. To provide a document delivery service based on
requests submitted by faculty, students, and staff of
the participating libraries as part of their searching
in the journal contents database.
4. To demonstrate the feasibility of this model and
service to be used by other ELN participant libraries.
5. To work out the technical, procedural, management, and
service issues required to transform the pilot project
into an ongoing service of the Electronic Library
Network and to quickly extend it to other ELN
libraries.
During Phase II of the pilot project, two other post-secondary
ELN-member libraries--Okanagan University College (OUC) and
University College of the Fraser Valley (UCFV)--joined the
project, and their holdings were added. A second database, the
Wilson Humanities Index, became available.
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Library users submitted requests by searching and selecting
a citation online, then entering their name, student number, and
phone number using online prompts. These requests were forwarded
via e-mail to an ID maintained for the supplying institution.
Requests were retrieved daily, and the journal articles were
photocopied and forwarded to the requesting institution's ILL
division. Although every library could be a document supplier,
it was anticipated that SFU would be the main supplier because of
its more comprehensive collection. A student was hired for two
hours per weekday to process requests at SFU.
4.0 OJAC Library Reports
Each participating library prepared a report about its use of
OJAC. What follows is a summary of the key issues addressed in
these reports.
4.1 Publicity, Training, and Documentation
Each institution had already developed its own procedures for
publicity, training, and documentation for electronic services.
Consequently, the approach used for the OJAC project was
individually determined as well.
OJAC publicity was accomplished through library research
instruction sessions, class tours, and announcements in campus
publications. Instructional faculty were notified about the
project through departmental meetings and announcements.
The University College of the Fraser Valley noted that "the
best publicity for OJAC, however, was word-of-mouth from students
and faculty who used it successfully, and who came back with
their friends for another session."
All of the libraries indicated the importance of a basic
introduction to the searching menus. Individual point-of-need
instruction was the primary means of familiarizing library
patrons with the database and searching techniques. Library
instruction sessions, printed handouts, and the system's online
instructions were also used to orient users to OJAC.
Some system features--combined search terms, abbreviations,
truncation, author-name searches, and the selection of
appropriate subject headings--presented difficulties for users,
particularly for first and second year students.
The OJAC terminals were placed near the reference desk in
each library, so that help from a librarian was readily
available.
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4.2 Telecommunications
Slow system response time was a problem during the pilot project,
particularly before BCnet TCP/IP connections were installed at
Okanagan University College and the Belzberg Library. This
problem resulted from the inadequate telecommunications support
for post-secondary institutions outside the British Columbia
Lower Mainland for both file transfer and virtual terminal
sessions. The University College of the Cariboo and the
University College of the Fraser Valley were using Datapac for
communications (they did not have BCnet connections). After the
pilot project, the University College of the Cariboo obtained a
9600 baud BCnet connection.
4.3 Effect on Regular ILL Traffic
A problem that libraries face is that the increasing demand for
interlibrary loans has not been matched with a concomitant
increase in staff. One reason for introducing a service such as
OJAC is the expectation that it will replace some regular
interlibrary loan requests, thus eliminating staff time required
to process requests.
Because of changes due to expansion of academic programmes
at all three University Colleges, it was difficult to isolate the
impact of OJAC on regular interlibrary loans.
Okanagan University College noted that, although
interlibrary loan statistics increased rapidly between 1989/90
and 1991/92, in 1992/93 they dropped by 11.8%. Combined ILL and
OJAC figures for Okanagan University College showed a 7% increase
for 1992/93. OUC staff felt that part of this drop may have
resulted from rapid collection growth meeting user needs;
however, they felt it was also likely that the drop reflected the
substitution of OJAC document delivery requests for ILL requests.
The University College of the Cariboo indicated that the
OJAC project reduced the number of interlibrary loan requests.
This impact was especially noted in academic year 1992/93, when
students and reference staff became more familiar with the
service and more promotion and orientation was done with classes
and faculty.
The University College of the Fraser Valley noted that their
ILL statistics for January to March 1993 rose 256% over those
from the previous year. ILL requests rose from 78 in March 1992
to 393 in March 1993. Because this was UCFV's first year as a
degree-granting institution, it was not possible to isolate the
increases due to OJAC.
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4.4 Document Delivery
With the exception of one week where system problems interfered
with the daily processing of requests, Simon Fraser University
maintained its goal of overnight to three day processing--the
longer time being required if an item was not on the shelf at the
time of the initial retrieval attempt. This goal was achievable
because Simon Fraser University does not circulate journals.
Each library decided what method of delivery should be used,
and the opportunity to compare results was valuable.
The University College of the Cariboo felt that their
subsidy for Priority Post delivery was well-spent. The Belzberg
branch library in downtown Vancouver receives a daily ILL
shipment from SFU's main library at the Burnaby Campus, and OJAC
was included in it; this contributed to their satisfaction with
document delivery.
Okanagan University College used regular mail delivery and
noted that student response was very positive for orders filled
in less than seven days. They suggested that speedy document
delivery should remain a primary feature of the OJAC service.
The University College of the Fraser Valley noted that
toward the end of the term some students were waiting ten days or
more for their materials. UCFV was relying on regular ILL
delivery using the British Columbia post-secondary interlibrary
loan NET service. This meant that materials were sent by
twice-weekly courier to the University of British Columbia from
Simon Fraser University. From there, they went by thrice-weekly
courier to University College of the Fraser Valley. At times,
this resulted in a delay of four working days.
One concern which librarians had was that the ability to
request documents in the absence of quotas or user charges might
result in abuse of the system. Okanagan University College noted
that, although the majority of users ordered reasonable numbers
of documents, 30% of the orders during one period were generated
by just four users. The Belzberg Library noted a few minor
problems involving requests initiated under fictitious names,
documents ordered in error, or articles not picked up, but felt
these did not interfere with the operation of the service. To
allow some monitoring of user activity and contact with patrons,
documents were delivered to the interlibrary loan office of the
libraries rather than directly to patrons.
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4.5 Serial Holdings
All libraries noted the usefulness of having their own holdings
available in the database as well as those of Simon Fraser
University, with its broader collection. The University College
of the Fraser Valley commented on the "number of panic-stricken
students who needed articles immediately, and who used OJAC to
identify articles in journals held at University College of the
Fraser Valley." Although every effort was made to provide
accurate serials holdings and to update them on request, holdings
were not completely accurate.
4.6 User Experience and Satisfaction
All libraries reported a high degree of user satisfaction; this
was supported by various user surveys and by anecdotal evidence.
At the conclusion of Phase I, the University College of the
Cariboo noted that a variety of students and faculty had
indicated satisfaction with the OJAC service, and a staff survey
in December 1992 rated the OJAC project highly. The University
College of the Fraser Valley noted that OJAC was very successful,
especially for students in third year who had specific,
complicated topics that were not easily searched in paper
indexes.
However, the participating libraries did report some
problems. For example, students in interdisciplinary fields
stopped before checking both OJAC indexes (Humanities Index and
Social Science Index) or they became frustrated at having to
check indexes sequentially. It was suggested that these
databases be combined for searching purposes. With the
availability of the OPAC, BRS/SEARCH, and numerous CD-ROMs,
students were initially confused by the variety of user
interfaces.
4.7 Continuation of OJAC
It was unanimously agreed by the participating libraries that
OJAC should continue after the pilot project. The Belzberg
Library noted that the project had provided patrons of that small
branch library with access to vast resources in electronic form
and delivered the full text of those documents in a timely
manner. They asserted that, in order to maintain and enhance
electronic access for students, faculty, and staff, it was vital
for the OJAC project to continue. Because seven new degree
programs were recently added at the University College of the
Cariboo, the library believed it could not fully provide all the
necessary resources for undergraduate research. Rather, it would
have to continue to rely on outside sources to supplement its
collections, and OJAC could improve its access to the collections
of participating libraries.
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Great interest was expressed in expanding this type of
service, both through adding more databases and more libraries.
Okanagan University College suggested that electronic indexes in
the social sciences and humanities increased the demand for
electronic indexes in other fields of study. The University
College of the Cariboo noted that the popularity of OJAC with
students prompted them to ask for access to both additional
databases (especially science databases) and matching primary
sources at other institutions (mostly the University of British
Columbia and the University of Victoria), all available with the
same fast turnaround time of three to four days. Enhanced and
expanded database offerings would be welcomed by University
College of the Cariboo students and faculty.
5.0 User Surveys
Okanagan University College, the Belzberg Library, and the
University College of the Cariboo distributed two surveys during
the course of the project. The first was to users searching the
catalogue. The second was given out to users who had requested
documents at the time the document (or a notice if the document
was unavailable) was delivered to them.
In each case, a small number of users responded and the
results are not statistically meaningful. Nevertheless, they
suggest what things are important to users and what areas could
use improvement. During planning, it was recognized that each
institution wished to address issues of particular concern to
itself. Thus, the questions were phrased slightly differently at
each institution. The complete results of the questionnaire are
available in the final project report. [2]
5.1 Online Catalogue Searching Survey
An online catalogue searching survey was conducted by Okanagan
University College (34 respondents), the Belzberg Library (12
respondents), and the University College of the Cariboo (5
respondents).
Not every respondent answered each question. Three
questions (3, 7 A., and 7 B.) were not asked by all three
institutions.
Average responses were in the 3.4-3.8 range on a five-point
scale, where a high score indicated a positive response.
(Okanagan University College's question regarding response time,
for which the average was 2.5, was an exception. Okanagan
University College reports that since the time of the
questionnaire, it has installed faster lines, and the response
time has noticeably improved.)
The survey results are presented in Table 1.
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Table 1. Online Catalogue Searching Survey Results
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1. The first question asked the user to specify what information
the user was searching for. The results, although meaningful
only in the institutional context, indicated that virtually all
of the searches were subject oriented. The subject specified by
one dissatisfied user ("themes in the fairy tale Beauty and the
Beast" in the Social Sciences Index) indicated that the user had
not recognized the inappropriateness of the database for the
topic.
2. How many periodical articles/citations did you find?
0 1-10 11-50 51-100 100+ Total
===========================================
4 17 5 6 8 51
3. How many different searches did you do (OUC and UCC)?
1 2-5 6-10 11-20 21-30 50 Total
================================================
4 20 8 3 4 6 39
4. How satisfied were you with the amount of information you
found? (1 = not satisfied and 5 = very satisfied)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
======================================
5 9 10 17 11 52 3.4
5. How relevant was the information you found? (1 = not
relevant and 5 = relevant)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
=======================================
4 6 12 15 14 51 3.5
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6. How complete was the information you found? (1 = not
complete and 5 = complete)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
======================================
4 6 11 20 9 50 3.5
7 A. Overall how satisfied are you with your search results
(Belzberg and UCC)? (1 = not satisfied and 5 = satisfied)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
========================================
2 1 2 7 6 18 3.8
7 B. How satisfied were you with the speed of the online
searching (OUC)? (1 = not satisfied and 5 = satisfied)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
========================================
11 7 6 7 3 34 2.5
8. How easy did you find the online indexes to search? (1 = not
at all and 5 = very)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
=======================================
2 5 15 16 13 51 3.6
9. How useful did you find the [OUC screen] instruction? (1 =
not useful and 5 = useful)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
========================================
3 13 9 16 11 52 3.4
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10. How much assistance did you require from library staff? (1
= none and 5 = constant)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
======================================
16 7 11 11 5 50 2.6
11. Overall, how satisfied were you with the search software?
(1 = not satisfied and 5 = very satisfied)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
===================================
1 8 10 19 11 49 3.6
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5.2 Document Delivery Survey
A document delivery survey was administered by Okanagan
University College (12 respondents) and the University College of
the Cariboo (19 respondents). Responses to this survey were in
the 4.3-4.7 range on a five-point scale, where a high score
indicated a positive response. In one case (4 A. and 4 B.), the
institutions asked slightly different questions.
Table 2 presents the document delivery survey results.
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Table 2. Document Delivery Survey Results
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1. Were the articles you received relevant to your topic? (1 =
not relevant and 5 = very relevant)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
======================================
2 0 3 4 18 31 4.3
2. Did you receive the articles you requested? (1 = none and 5
= all)
1 2 3 4 5 Total
=============================
0 0 1 4 26 31
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3. Were you satisfied with the delivery time? (1 = not
satisfied and 5 = very satisfied)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
=======================================
1 1 5 2 22 31 4.4
4 A. Approximately how long did it take for articles to arrive?
(for OUC; measured in days)
1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10 11-14 Total
========================================
0 3 5 3 1 12
4 B. Was the delivery time satisfactory? (for UCC; 1 = not
satisfied and 5 = satisfied)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
===================================
1 0 0 2 16 19 4.7
5. Would you use the online indexes and article delivery service
again?
All respondents said yes.
6. Overall how satisfied were you with this document delivery
service? (1 = not satisfied and 5 = very satisfied)
1 2 3 4 5 Total Average
===================================
0 0 1 10 20 31 4.6
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5.3 Summary of User Comments
In both surveys, users were asked to comment about what they
liked or disliked about the system. Selected comments follow.
Numbers in parentheses indicate how many users made a similar
comment.
What users like about the system:
o Access to more, useful materials (9).
o Faster than a print search (8).
o Accessible, user-friendly, and easy to learn (7).
o Saves time receiving serials materials (7).
o Direct online ordering (3).
o More efficient and simple than ILL (3).
o Local holdings are useful (2).
o Downloads very fast (1).
o Easier than a print search (1).
o More comprehensive than a print search (1).
o Ability to print results (1).
What users like least:
o Too many steps, tricky to use, and need initial help
(19).
o System is too slow (15).
o System hanging or not working (4).
o Separate indexes--combine them (1).
o Delivery too slow (1).
o Disappointed when requested article that was not
delivered (1).
o Disliked screen by screen print (1).
o Need more terminals (1).
Other:
o Want abstracts and more information (4).
o Need more databases and Canadian content (3).
o Needs status reports (1).
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6.0 Document Request Statistics
Statistics are shown below for the period January to April 1993
when all of the libraries were fully operational. Of the 1,476
requests received at Simon Fraser University, SFU filled 1,181
requests (80%). In total, 1,220 requests were filled. Forty-one
requests (3%) were duplicate requests.
Simon Fraser University held 655 (83%) of the 786 journals
represented in the two databases, compared to Okanagan University
College (217), University College of the Fraser Valley (95), and
University College of the Cariboo (169). In addition, SFU's
holdings displayed first on the list. Thus, it is not surprising
that most requests were sent to SFU.
Table 3 shows total OJAC requests between January and April
1993.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 3. Total OJAC Requests, January 1993 - April 1993
----------------------------------------------------------------
Lent
to Borrowed From
=== =================================================
SFU UCFV UCC OUC Belzberg Total
SFU ---- 0 0 0 0 0
UCFV 146 - 4 2 0 152
UCC 299 0 -- 23 0 322
OUC 679 0 10 -- 0 689
BELZ 56 0 0 0 - 56
Total 1180 0 14 25 0 1219
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Table 4 shows OJAC requests filled by SFU between January and
April 1993.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 4. OJAC Requests Filled by SFU, January 1993 - April 1993
----------------------------------------------------------------
Library Requests Filled Unfilled Held Duplicate
======= ======== ====== ======== ==== =========
OUC 846 679 167 64 22
UCC 380 299 81 40 6
UCFV 165 146 19 21 1
BELZ 84 56 28 7 12
Total 1475 1180 295 132 41
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Requests for journals already available in the requesting
libraries were returned (132 or 9%). It appears that this
problem occurred because students were confused by the holdings
displays, particularly when they continued on to a second screen
or when the system was slow and students became impatient with
waiting. This problem abated when the holdings display was
changed to provide more information on the initial holdings
screen. It would be desirable if only the owning institutions'
names and codes displayed on the initial holdings screen.
Activity varied widely, peaking toward the end of each
semester and slowing during midterm break. Activity during the
summer session was much lower than during the fall and winter
sessions. The annual data for the University College of the
Cariboo and the Belzberg Library show this pattern.
Table 5 shows OJAC requests to Simon Fraser University from
Belzberg Library and the University of the Cariboo Libraries
between May 1992 and April 1993.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 5. OJAC Requests to Simon Fraser University from Belzberg
Library and the University of the Cariboo Libraries, May 1992 -
April 1993
-----------------------------------------------------------------
May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
'92 '93
BELZ 6 4 0 0 26 42 0 0 48 30 6 0
UCC 6 0 0 9 49 94 69 21 65 143 171 1
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7.0 OJAC Costs
The OJAC project determined document delivery costs and compared
these costs with traditional ILL costs.
7.1 Lending Costs
The SFU Interlibrary Loans Department maintained records on the
time required to process OJAC requests and on other costs. The
"administrative, equipment, and other" cost is our best estimate.
The breakdown of costs for a typical OJAC request is shown in
Table 6.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 6. Cost Breakdown for SFU Processing a Typical OJAC
Request
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Activity Cost (Canadian
dollars)
Clerical (printing requests, pulling,
photocopying, and shipping; 8 per hour) $2.00
Postage $1.00
Photocopy $ .60
Supervisory $1.25
Administrative, equipment, and other $1.15
Total $6.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This compares with Simon Fraser University's usual lending costs
of approximately $11 (Canadian). There are several reasons why
OJAC lending would be cheaper:
1. The citations are copied electronically from the
database, and they have a high degree of accuracy.
2. Because journals do not circulate at SFU, there is no
cost for identifying whether materials are in
circulation and recalling them if needed. In some
cases, however, journals are not on the shelves and a
second trip is required to retrieve the item.
+ Page 20 +
3. The staffing level required for performing OJAC work is
at a lower pay grade than that required for more
complex lending.
7.2 Borrowing Costs
Normally, ILL borrowing costs tend to be much higher than lending
costs. This is because staff need to receive the request on
paper, identify a location holding the material, send the
request, and possibly repeat the process if that institution is
unable to supply it. The patron then needs to be notified and
given the material. Books eventually need to be returned to the
supplying library. Typically, Simon Fraser University's
borrowing costs are about $26 (Canadian) per item.
This is where OJAC can truly save library staff time and
money. The only library staff activity required for an
unmediated journal search is to deliver the journal article to
the patron, possibly helping the patron with an unsuccessful
request. It is of concern that patrons may abuse such a service;
many libraries monitor ILL requests and restrict an individual
patron's activity either with a limit on the number of requests
per term or by intervening if a patron appears to be overusing
the ILL service.
This issue has been discussed at length by the participating
libraries. In the short term, it is hoped that adequate control
over the OJAC service can be maintained at the distribution end
(when the patron is handed the document). Some libraries intend
to impose a charge for OJAC requests. Each library will be able
to specify a message to appear on the document request screen for
their users. Ultimately, it is proposed that validation and
monitoring facilities be built into OJAC requesting services.
8.0 Short-Term Recommendations
The participants in the OJAC project made the following short-
term recommendations:
1. A permanent OJAC service should be offered to British
Columbia post-secondary institutions, beginning in Fall
1993. It should be up to each institution to decide
whether to participate or not. Participants should
both request and supply documents.
+ Page 21 +
It was unanimously agreed that the OJAC project
should continue. Participants were concerned that the
OJAC service should be integrated with the existing
British Columbia post-secondary interlibrary loan
network, NET.
2. The standard charge for the OJAC service should be set
at $6 (Canadian), but that it should be up to
individual institutions to decide on what basis they
might wish to charge or restrict access to the OJAC
service for their own patrons.
3. Serials holding information must be maintained
accurately. Arrangements should be made to allow
institutional holdings to be updated manually.
4. Holdings for all OJAC participants should be added to
the OJAC databases. Those libraries from which OJAC
requests may be made should be flagged. Institutions
which are not part of the OJAC service should see
neither the message to request a document nor this
flag.
5. Each OJAC institution should be allowed to specify
institution-specific text to display on the OJAC order
screen.
6. The ELN should urge the Ministry of Advanced Education
Training and Technology to provide adequate BCnet
support for ELN institutions in order to ensure
adequate response time on terminals in the ELN
libraries and, ultimately, to enable the delivery of
electronic documents.
9.0 Medium- to Long-Term Recommendations
In addition to the OJAC end-user document delivery system,
British Columbia post-secondary interlibrary loan departments use
a variety of systems for their interlibrary loan activity. The
University of British Columbia has a system called UBCLINC that
provides integrated searching and requesting in the OPAC for
British Columbia post-secondary ILL staff. A number of
institutions use AVISO or Interlend, which are PC-based
interlibrary loan management systems, as well as UTLAS' and
OCLC's ILL modules. The BUCAT software is used at eight of the
colleges.
+ Page 22 +
These circumstances strongly argued that these disparate systems
needed transparent integration, and resulted in the following
medium- to long-term recommendations:
1. The ELN should seek funding to provide integrated
access, searching, document requesting, and system
management functionality for all ELN library databases
and OJAC services.
2. Efforts should be made to expand the material available
for document delivery through OJAC by including other
Simon Fraser University databases, databases mounted by
ELN libraries (e.g., the University of British
Columbia), and services such as CARL.
3. ELN institutions should be encouraged to obtain support
for Z39.50 as soon as possible so that patrons can use
familiar and consistent search commands, and they
should require that any systems they purchase either
support or intend to support Z39.50.
4. ELN OJAC systems should provide item-level holdings
validation; mechanisms for validating users who are
requesting documents and applying institutionally
determined limits on the number of individual user
requests; and mechanisms for an institution-specific
hierarchy of choices for document requests, rather than
relying on the user to choose where the document should
come from.
10.0 Conclusion
The pilot project provided the opportunity to work out system
problems and service issues as well as to gather management
information about user behaviour and costs. This information was
needed before an OJAC service with sound and knowledgeable policy
and procedures and realistic pricing could be established. It
was anticipated that an OJAC service would simplify procedures
and reduce costs and delivery time compared to a conventional ILL
transaction, where a staff member must identify the location of
material, request it, and possibly repeat the process if that
copy is not available.
+ Page 23 +
The OJAC project offered its participants the opportunity to
participate in an exciting initiative. Despite some problems,
the project was successful both in the eyes of librarians and of
users. Building on the work of the project, a permanent OJAC
service commenced September 1993. Its establishment provides the
opportunity for British Columbia post-secondary institutions to
offer improved service to their users, while reducing library
staff workloads.
Notes
1. Paul Baldwin, Journal Contents Database and Document Delivery
Pilot Implementation Study (Burnaby, Canada: n.p., 1991).
2. Lynn Copeland, British Columbia Electronic Library Network:
Final Report (Burnaby, Canada: n.p., 1993).
About the Author
Lynn Copeland, Manager, Library Systems, Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6. Internet:
COPELAND@SFU.CA.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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This article is Copyright (C) 1993 by Lynn Copeland. All
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The Public-Access Computer Systems Review is Copyright (C)
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+ Page 27 +
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Stone, Steven A. Review of Internet Primer for Information
Professionals: A Basic Guide to Internet Networking Technology,
by Elizabeth Lane and Craig Summerhill. The Public-Access
Computer Systems Review 4, no. 3 (1993): 27-29. To retrieve this
file, send the following e-mail message to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 or
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lane and Summerhill chose a difficult task for themselves in
their new book, Internet Primer for Information Professionals: A
Basic Guide to Internet Networking Technology. The Internet is a
growing organism, with new tools, services, and possibilities
appearing every day. In introducing the Internet, the authors
tried to strike a balance between two views of computing
instruction: "the majority of end-users [who] want to perform
specific computing operations to aid them with their jobs" and
others who "see the development of technical self-sufficiency as
a tool for life-long learning." This is not an easy balance to
achieve, and since the Internet is constantly changing, the
authors often chose to explain how the network works, rather than
giving concrete examples about how to use the Internet. The
resulting book is not a good place to start learning about the
Internet. However, after reading Brendan Kehoe's Zen and the Art
of the Internet, Tracy LaQuey's The Internet Companion: A
Beginner's Guide to Global Networking, or Ed Krol's The Whole
Internet User's Guide and Catalog, this book can provide more
in-depth information.
The book is divided into six major chapters: "What is the
Internet?," "Overview of Current Networks," "Technical Notes,"
"Network Applications," "Network Resources," and "Policy Issues."
As may be apparent from the chapter titles, Lane and Summerhill
focus on the specifics of what makes the Internet work. The book
gives all the technical information in one chapter, and the
actual use of the tools in the next chapter. For instance, the
technical aspects and protocols for the Telnet command are in
"Technical Notes" on page 48, whereas the way the screen looks
when Telnet is actually used is in "Network Applications" on page
106. The reader is often referred to the appropriate chapter for
more information and the book has a good index, but it would have
been helpful to refer the reader to a particular page rather than
to a whole chapter.
The first chapter is "What is the Internet?" with the
obligatory history of the Internet, which takes five pages and is
roughly the same information available in many other sources.
+ Page 28 +
The second chapter is an "Overview of Current Networks."
This chapter should have been omitted or moved further back in
the book. It is not essential for beginners, and advanced users
are probably ready for more technical and comprehensive works
such as Tracy LaQuey's The User's Directory of Computer Networks
or John Quarterman's The Matrix: Computer Networks and
Conferencing Systems Worldwide.
The third chapter provides "Technical Notes." It covers the
protocols behind the functions of the Internet, some network
concepts, and file formats. Again, the material is at varying
levels of complexity. Some of it will be familiar to anyone who
has used the Internet, but other subjects are covered in a way
that will be confusing for intermediate users. Of interest to
more advanced users is the inclusion of the current RFC (Request
for Comments) number for each of the major protocols.
The fourth chapter is about "Network Applications,"
including electronic mail, mailing lists/electronic conferences,
FTP, Telnet, Finger, and advanced applications. The information
is all accurate, but it could have been better organized. For
example, the Finger command explanation could have been
integrated into the section on finding e-mail addresses in the
electronic mail section; however, it was included in its own
section.
The fifth chapter discusses "Network Resources." It
includes some resources that are not in the beginning books,
especially some platform-specific tools that users may find
useful (e.g., hypertext tours of the Internet). Expert
techniques are discussed, such as the rules for searching
LISTSERV lists, which are not included in Krol, LaQuey, or Kehoe.
Unfortunately, the chapter's layout makes it hard to jump right
to a particular fact.
The sixth chapter, "Policy Issues," is the most interesting
and accessible chapter for all classes of users. In twenty-six
pages, Lane and Summerhill sketch out some of the major issues
regarding the Internet today. There are many articles and even a
few books about these topics, most notably The National Research
and Education Network (NREN): Research and Policy Perspectives by
Charles McClure et al., but this is a concise statement of the
major issues, such as barriers to access, transformation of the
research process, and legal issues in ownership of information.
This section of the book is a good introduction to the challenges
of the Internet for any information professional.
+ Page 29 +
This book tries to cover topics of interest to beginning
users, policy makers, and advanced users, which is too much to
handle well in 182 pages. Books targeted to specific audiences
can do this better. For beginning users, there is Zen and the
Art of the Internet, The Internet Companion, and, for advanced
beginners, The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog. For
people interested in policy and shaping the network, there are a
few books and many conference proceedings. Advanced users who
want to know more about the networks can use LaQuey, Quarterman,
and others.
However, this book might be a good stepping stone for those
librarians who have made it through the beginning books and have
spent some time on the networks and now want to know more about
the inner workings of the Internet.
Further Information About the Reviewed Work
Lane, Elizabeth, and Craig Summerhill. Internet Primer for
Information Professionals: A Basic Guide to Internet Networking
Technology. Westport, CT: Meckler, 1993. 182 pp. $37.50. ISBN:
0-88736-831-X.
About the Author
Steven A. Stone, Electronic Services Librarian, Cullom-Davis
Library, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625. Internet:
STONE@BRADLEY.EDU.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Public-Access Computer Systems Review is an electronic
journal that is distributed on BITNET, Internet, and other
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To subscribe, send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1
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SUBSCRIBE PACS-P First Name Last Name. PACS-P subscribers also
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This article is Copyright (C) 1993 by Steven A. Stone. All
Rights Reserved.
The Public-Access Computer Systems Review is Copyright (C)
1993 by the University Libraries, University of Houston. All
Rights Reserved.
Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by academic
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libraries. Libraries are authorized to add the journal to their
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
+ Page 24 +
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Wilson, Thomas C. Review of Crossing the Internet Threshold:
An Instructional Handbook, by Roy Tennant, John Ober, and Anne G.
Lipow. The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 4, no. 3
(1993): 24-26. To retrieve this file, send the following e-mail
message to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 or LISTSERV@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU: GET
WILSON PRV4N3 F=MAIL.
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In recent years, many books dealing with different aspects of the
Internet have been published. The perspective of these books has
varied from introductions to specific resources to
troubleshooting TCP/IP internetworks. One area that has been
generally overlooked is how to train people to use the Internet--
that is until the appearance of Crossing the Internet Threshold.
In addition to providing the content for training sessions, the
authors have produced a framework for trainers, a wealth of
resource material (some of which can be used directly without
modification), and narrative descriptions of various aspects of
the Internet.
This book does not attempt to exhaustively cover Internet
resources and tools. Indeed, the authors have been selective in
the material they present, and that is one of the book's
strengths. The content is limited to what would be challenging,
but not overwhelming, to a novice user.
The book is a ready-made training tool, including narrative
description, quick reference guides, and exercises that are
geared toward both novice and more advanced users. Many of the
sections also include cross-references to locations where more
information is provided on mentioned topics. That function can
be helpful to the self-paced learner and to the trainer
attempting to customize a training session.
The authors successfully cover all the areas needed for
users with no experience and those users with some experience who
wish to grow in understanding. The style is casual, easy, and
enjoyable. This book could be used effectively as a workbook
accompanying an Internet training session.
The book begins by offering an introduction to
internetworking from technological, social/political, and
functional perspectives. Naming and addressing conventions, the
evolution of network services, and useful definitions are covered
to give the user a framework on which to place specific functions
and tools.
+ Page 25 +
By far the best advice given for a novice user--or for that
matter even an experienced user--is "You can't know everything."
The denial of that fact is a fault in many other Internet books.
A sensible number of lists, periodicals, organizations,
directories, and guides are provided in a "keeping current"
section. Attempting to be comprehensive rather than selective in
describing where to go for more information on available
resources is actually a disservice to new users. The authors
have struck a pleasant balance, while remaining honest in
presenting the book as a snapshot of the Internet at a particular
point in time.
E-mail, remote login (Telnet), and FTP are each given a
chapter. These chapters each follow a uniform format: narrative
description, unique relevant parameters, tips for use, and
exercises. The e-mail section includes a discussion of lists
(both BITNET and Internet), appropriate etiquette for online
communication, and command summaries.
The authors also provide fact sheets for a number of popular
Internet services, software, tools, and projects (e.g., Archie,
Gopher, HYTELNET, SLIP, and USENET News). Each listing is one
page long and includes "what," "where," and "for more
information" sections. This book provides an enormous number of
useful pointers and tips, especially for new users. In addition,
there are several ready-made overhead masters and discussion
questions provided at the end of the book.
It is difficult to find fault with the book. The main
limitation is its emphasis on the UNIX flavor of Internet
services and functionality. The authors are open about this
focus. It is both a strength and a weakness. Having this
boundary permits the authors to focus more on real Internet
issues without being distracted by describing variant forms of
commands (e.g., FTP). But for the novice user who may not have
access to a UNIX account or local support to translate commands
into the "OS du jour," such a focus could be disheartening. In
addition, the LISTSERV command summary section would benefit from
a few more examples. It is a bit terse.
If you have been volunteered as an Internet trainer or have
actually chosen that august task, this book is a wonderful
resource for you. The focus is clearly geared for librarians,
but could be easily extended to other user groups. The content
and format are superb and appropriate. Tennant, Ober, and Lipow
have provided a much needed resource for the Internet community.
Readers will hope that the authors will update this resource over
time.
+ Page 26 +
Further Information About the Reviewed Work
Tennant, Roy, John Ober, and Anne G. Lipow. Crossing the
Internet Threshold: An Instructional Handbook. Berkeley: Library
Solutions Press, 1993. ISBN 1-882208-01-3. Price: $45.00.
About the Author
Thomas C. Wilson, Head of Systems, University Libraries,
University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-2091. Internet:
LIB4@JETSON.UH.EDU.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Public-Access Computer Systems Review is an electronic
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computer networks. There is no subscription fee.
To subscribe, send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1
(BITNET) or LISTSERV@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU (Internet) that says:
SUBSCRIBE PACS-P First Name Last Name. PACS-P subscribers also
receive three electronic newsletters: Current Cites, LITA
Newsletter, and Public-Access Computer Systems News.
This article is Copyright (C) 1993 by Thomas C. Wilson. All
Rights Reserved.
The Public-Access Computer Systems Review is Copyright (C)
1993 by the University Libraries, University of Houston. All
Rights Reserved.
Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by academic
computer centers, computer conferences, individual scholars, and
libraries. Libraries are authorized to add the journal to their
collection, in electronic or printed form, at no charge. This
message must appear on all copied material. All commercial use
requires permission.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
