ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 532 / C& RL N ew s be the conversion of records th a t w ere originally the p ro d u ct of LC cataloging. It was suggested th a t all of these records should be flagged and sent to LC by th e shared cataloging services as a service to L C . LC representatives agreed to consider the useful­ ness to LC of this suggestion. W hile th e Linked Systems Project will result in operating links betw een the L ib rary of Congress, th e Research Libraries G roup, and th e W ashing­ ton L ib rary N etw ork, it will be some tim e before O C L C can become a p a rt of th e technical link. M i­ cro en h an cer or sim ilar techniques using m icro ­ com puters should be developed for searching sev­ eral databases in th e R EC O N process. Since one of th e objectives is to red u ce d u p licativ e effort, it makes no sense to search only one database w hen there is some likelihood th a t sim ilar w ork m ay al­ ready have been done on one or m ore others. This suggestion m ay require m ore softw are w ork on the p a rt of th e targ et databases th a n they are w illing to do, b u t th ere was encouragem ent to explore this avenue as a short-term solution to the lack of o p era­ tional links am ong th e utilities. These recom m endations form th e essence of a nationally coordinated program for retrospective conversion of p rin t form bibliographic records. It is a program th a t has the chance of reducing the ag­ gregate costs of th e RE CON process and securing funding for m aking a very large dent in the inven­ to r y of re c o rd s t h a t n e e d to b e c o n v e rte d to m achine-readable form in order to b etter support the w ork of th e scholarly com m unity. ■ ■ E d ito r’s note: No copyright is claim ed on this arti­ cle, w hich the author w rote as part o f his official duties as an em ployee o f the U.S. governm ent. M a n a g in g a u to m a tio n fo r results: C om p letin g task s w h ile p a rticip a tiv e p la n n in g p r o c ee d s B y E llen G. M iller Director, L ibrary Systems D evelopm ent University o f C incinnati Planning for automation w ith the end-user in mind. F or m any university and research libraries, the lapsed tim e betw een starting library autom ation p la n n in g a n d se c u rin g fin a l to p m a n a g e m e n t b u d g e t signatures is several m onths. Perhaps it even takes years. The com petition in higher educa­ tion for scarce resources means th a t lib rary au to ­ m ation m anagers and C EO librarians m ust create a careful case for lib rary autom ation. O ne m ethod for creating th a t case, tim e-consum ing b u t politi­ cally and psychologically helpful, is p articipative planning. As used in this article, participative planning goes beyond the recent lib rary literatu re concern­ ing participative m an ag em en t1 because it specifi- 1For a useful sum m ary, see Nicholas C. Burckel, “ P a r tic ip a to r y M a n a g e m e n t in A cadem ic L i­ b raries: A R e v ie w ,’’ C ollege a n d Research L i ­ braries 45(January 1984):25-34. A C Q U IS IT IO N PERSPECTIVES 6 . Book House is in its fourth gen­ eration of automation. O ur custom software allows us the flexibility to accept orders generated through your computerized system or in the mail. O ur policy is to develop a working compatibility with the automated sys­ tem in your library to facilitate receiv­ ing orders, transmitting open order re­ ports and invoices electronically. Let's explore interfacing your auto­ mation with ours. CALL TOLL-FREE TODAY 1-800-248-1146 In Canada & Michigan CALL COLLECT (517) 849-2117 OCLC Vendor No. 17397 SAN 169-3859 t h e BO O K H JOBBE O RS SER U VING L S IBRA E RIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT SINCE 1962 208 WEST CHICAGO STREET JONESVILLE, MICHIGAN 49250 534 / C&RL News cally calls for end-users as well as all levels of li­ brary staff to be represented in the groups th a t identify problems and alternative solutions, evalu­ ate those alternatives, make recom m endations and point out implications of the recom m ended solu­ tion. Participative planning of autom ated library systems brings faculty, students, and lib rarian s (both support and professional staff) together in a Local programming would be too time-consuming and expensive. non-crisis m ode to discuss needs and options and to make a system recom m endation. Speaking to li­ brarians, one university president noted the need for greater faculty involvement in library decision­ m aking, including decisions about au to m atin g both circulation and bibliographic systems.2 Expe­ riences at the University of Missouri3 and the Uni­ versity of C in cinnati4 suggest th a t p articip ativ e planning for library autom ation results in a better m atch betw een user needs and system capabilities. Selecting the m anagem ent philosophy of p artici­ pative planning allows for getting other tasks ac­ complished during the period required for plan ­ ning and securing top m anagem ent support. An example is getting tasks out of the w ay th a t will help make the system useful sooner th a n planned. Many libraries use this lead tim e for retrospective conversion of older bibliographic records; others undertake self-study, ranging from study groups to site visits. The University of C incinnati’s (UC) m anage­ m ent methodology for library autom ation had four parts. F irst, we began a particip ativ e p lan n in g process in early 1981 in order to assure the broadest possible discussion by representatives from all li­ brary staff and end-user groups prior to their rec­ om m ending a perm anent system. Second, w ith the fiscal year funding for continued planning in h and by m id-1982, attention turned to tasks th a t could be accomplished while aw aiting selection and in ­ 2Robert M. O ’Neil, “Academic Libraries and the Future: A President’s V iew ,” College and Research Libraries 45(May 1984): 187. 3James F. Corey, Helen H. Spalding, and Jean- m arie L ang Fraser, “Involving Faculty and Stu­ dents in th e Selection of C atalog A lternatives,” Journal o f A c a d e m ic L ibrarianship 8 (January 1983):328-33. 4Paul M. Anderson and Ellen G. Miller, “P artic­ ipative P lan n in g for L ib rary A utom ation: The Role of the User Opinion Survey,” College and R e­ search Libraries 44 (July 1983): 245-54. s ta lla tio n of th e p e r m a n e n t o n lin e c a ta lo g / circulation-reserve system. The prim e candidate was editing over 600,000 O C L C records collected on archive tapes since 1972. Most libraries choose to review and edit their database after their chosen system’s term inals have arrived; th a t task may take m any months. Given the com petition at UC for funds of the m agnitude required by library systems development, th a t de­ lay was politically unacceptable. Hence the third decision, to have a standard database ready for end users as soon as possible. Varying local practices m ade library staff leery of letting patrons use the O CLC database “as is.” They w anted to review it and bring it up to standards. Having decided to edit as m uch of the database as possible prior to system installation, we reached to our last m ajor decision: use software available in th e m arketplace ra th e r th a n do local p ro g ra m ­ ming. Local program m ing was expected to be too time-consuming and too expensive. In sum m ary, UC’s methodology for m anaging library autom ation had four parts: use a p articip a­ tive planning process, thus taking at least several months to get top m anagem ent support; use the in­ tervening tim e to carry out tasks th a t w ould speed up getting the system operational for end users; se­ lect as the m ajor task an edit of 600,000 O C LC rec­ ords; and use software capabilities existing in the m arket place. Action plan The University of Cincinnati C om puting C enter is an IRM shop. W ith the help of our m anagem ent consultant, Ralph Shoffner, we began a cost/bene- fit study of IBM cataloging systems. O ur goal was to find a software package th a t perm itted us to u p ­ grade all OCLC/M ARC fields online. A public ac­ cess module, to allow experimental use of an online catalog, was of secondary im portance. After several weeks of study, we decided on a tw o-pronged approach. First, we selected N orth­ western University’s Technical Inform ation Sys­ tem (NOTIS) as a cost-effective m ethod to review and edit O C LC records online. However, it also was necessary to obtain the University of F lorida’s MVS NOTIS version in order to meet our com puter center’s requirem ents. The UC C om puting C enter (UCCC) took on the significant task of integrating the Florida (MVS) and N orthw estern (DOS) vër- sions of NOTIS. Second, we selected Solinet to 1) do an AACR2 flip on older O CLC archive tapes, 2) perform sub­ field editing, 3) prepare m anagem ent reports of records not processed, and 4) reform at individual records so as to better fit our IBM environment. Due to varying local practice, occasionally undoc­ um ented, for inputting and updating OCLC rec­ ords, we decided to “de-dup” records at UC rather th a n using Solinet’s record selection capabilities. W ith the software capability selected—NOTIS and Solinet—we turned to equipm ent. Funding N ovem ber 1984 / 535 perm itted placing 11 Telex 476L term inals, w ith associated p rin ters, in 7 UC libraries. Seven of those term inals were dedicated to database edit­ ing. All w ere linked w ith the campus telecom m u­ nications network, perm itting access to other soft­ w are packages like WYLBUR, a text editor. UC enjoys a high degree of cooperation between its libraries and com puting center. For example, UCCC staff hold key positions in library systems developm ent, and the center is the facilities m a n ­ ager of NOTIS and will be for the perm anent on­ line catalog/circulation-reserve system. E d itin g 600,000 O C LC records provided an opportunity for a small-scale preview of the kind of problem - identification, -analysis, and -solving th a t the p er­ m anent system would require. In other words, set­ ting up the Editors’ C atalog (the local nam e for NOTIS) provided a microcosm of th e m an ag e­ m en t, policy, and p ro ced u ral issues th a t w ould have to be solved later. The Editors’ C atalog w ould be a living m anagem ent laboratory. Implementing the Editors’ Catalog (NOTIS) T hree m ajor aspects w ere tackled sim ultane­ ously. O ne was site p rep aratio n . T he seven li­ braries getting the 11 Telex term inals h ad to make plans for locating equipm ent th a t fit into their cu r­ rent workflow. This required coordinating campus offices, such as Physical Plant and the C om puting C enter, so th a t electrical, cabling, and other sup­ p o rt w ould arrive in the correct sequence. The next aspect was staff training. Catalogers w ere used to O C LC technical screens containing field identifiers, and N OTIS’ technical mode used very similar notation. However, most public ser­ vice staff w ere not fam iliar w ith OCLC/M ARC record form ats, requiring a double education for th em —in O C LC and NOTIS. The representative facuity/staff/student User Education C om m ittee, previously set up to select training methods for the perm anent system, designed a brief training pack­ age to help public service staff learn O C LC fu n d a­ m entals as well as N O T IS ’ public access mode. C ataloging d epartm ent staff set up NOTIS tra in ­ ing for N O T IS ’ te ch n ical m ode. Sm all N O T IS training files w ere established. Sequence of the database load was the th ird as­ pect of im plem entation. Prior to this tim e, UC c at­ alogers h ad seen only sample printouts from O C LC archive tapes. Presented w ith the opportunity to load, view, and edit 12 years’ w orth of cataloging, we decided to break dow n the 600,000 records into m anageable segments. The Florida software al­ lowed us to do that. It was decided to split the database load into tw o m ajor segments: O C LC singletons (one occurrence of an O C L C number) first, followed by O C L C d u ­ plicate numbers. The singleton load was further split into smaller database slices, such as singletons for the Chemistry-Biology library, in order to p ro ­ cess at one tim e known problem s associated w ith a single slice. See Table 1, UC Editors’ C atalog D ata Load Log. Processing the database by slices m eant th a t catalogers controlled sequence and tim ing. This in tu rn m eant an ability to control the volume of the w orkload, rath er th a n have to cope w ith a m ountain of 600,000 undifferentiated O C LC rec­ ords. Singletons were moved into the test file begin­ ning in November 1983; catalogers looked at a par- NOTIS permitted a leisurely time fram e for making changes. ticular slice and decided if there were any unex­ pected problems. If so, th e d ata was backed out of the test file, tables w ere adjusted, and th e test file load was repeated. D atabase slices w ere moved out of the test file to the production file, w here online editing takes place, only on th e catalogers’ a p ­ proval. By the end of June 1984, over 420,000 sin­ gletons had been moved to the production file. D u ­ plicate processing then began and continues, also by slices. C urrently, there are 475,000 O C LC rec­ ords in NOTIS. Table 1 shows the complexity of the database load sequence. It required careful tracking in order to know at all times exactly w here every record was and its status. UCCC staff prepared the program s and docum entation supporting record tracking, w hich enabled us to load the 600,000 record d a ta ­ base into both test and then production files by slices. Workloads and procedures Although we knew th a t NOTIS could help us ac­ complish a needed O C LC editing task prior to in ­ stalling the perm anent system, we also recognized th a t there w ere no additional staff available to edit the records. To find necessary staff tim e, current workloads and practices needed review. In the University L ibraries’ cataloging center (serving C entral, college and departm ental aca­ demic libraries), NOTIS served as a catalyst for 1) reviewing card filing and its quality control, 2) changing procedures for personal nam e authorities and cross references, 3) revising card production for serials, and 4) reviewing the priorities of pe­ ripheral tasks such as added copy and volume proc­ essing, filing of on-order slips in the Public C a ta ­ log, and w ithdraw al and transfer projects. Some processing has been dropped and some has been re­ assigned to staff in other units. NOTIS speeded up our viewing O C LC as a database generator rath er th a n as a card producer. Processes w ere stream - 536 / C&RL News TABLE 1 U.C. EDITORS’ CATALOG DATA LOAD LOG September 8, 1984 Total Records Loaded: 479,102 Collection or C & D Library Archive & Rare Book C entral 1971-1972 C entral 1973 C entral 1974 C entral 1975 C entral 1976 C entral 1977-1978 C entral 1979-1980 C entral 1981-1982 C entral 1983-Part A C entral 1983-Part B Clerm ont College Special Collections Serials Medical, New C entral, New Nursing & Health Extracted Non-MXCI H ealth Sciences Lib. Classics Chem./Bio. Library CCM Library, Scores CCM Library Central, Old Codes All O ther Medical Geology Library Physics Library Currie. Resources Various Marx L aw Library Classics, New Elliston Collection C&D, Small Colleges Raymond Walters Juvenile Collection C entral, New Dups Medical, New Dups C entral, Reuse Cancl Central, Replace UPD Central, @01 in 910 C entral, l ’s in 010 Serials Special Collections Archive & Rare Book Nursing & H ealth C entral 1971-1972 C entral 1973 C entral 1974 OCLC Symbol (s) CIN4/5/6# CINN CINN CINN CINN CINN CINN CINN CINN CINN CINN CIC2 CIN3 CIN7 MXC CIN MXCN MXCI MXCC CINT/W /Y CINB/C CINS CINM /V/F(F 1977 & ON) C IN L/Q /H MXCR/A/B/H/L/P CING CINP CINU CIN9 OML CINT/W /Y CINK/8 C IN D /E/X /2/Z/R/@ /% ORW CINJ CIN MXC CIN CIN CIN CIN CIN7 CIN3 CIN4 MXCN CIN CIN CIN CIN Q uantity Loaded 5545 Singletons 6882 Singletons 12399 Singletons 10632 Singletons 16919 Singletons 28743 Singletons 14195 Singletons 22821 Singletons 23627 Singletons 24066 Singletons 21443 Singletons 8076 Singletons 1278 Singletons 2787 Singletons 1944 Singletons 1853 Singletons 3980 Singletons 219 Singletons 22061 Singletons 35727 Singletons 8993 Singletons 10222 Singletons 17227 Singletons 11213 Singletons 4575 Singletons 4061 Singletons 3726 Singletons 318 Singletons 198 Singletons 5434 Singletons 29445 Singletons 2977 Singletons 36461 Singletons 17731 Singletons 3310 Singletons 302 Duplicates 13 Duplicates 297 Duplicates 5715 Duplicates 3749 Duplicates 15113 Duplicates 6305 Duplicates 3335 Duplicates 1536 Duplicates 2133 Duplicates 3716 Duplicates 6471 Duplicates 6280 Duplicates 7920 DuplicatesC entral 1975 537 TABLE 2 E D IT O R S ’ CA TA LO G C O R R E C T IO N S —M O N TH LY SUMMARY 1984 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE ALL M ONTHS No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of Type of C orr. : Hours: C orr.: Hours: ‘ C o rr.: Hours: C orr.: Hours: C orr.: Hours: C o rr.: Hours: C o rr.: Hours: C orrection T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal T otal Classics C orrections 0 0 0 0 159 19.50 1525 58.25 1077 32.75 641 33.50 3402 144.00 Transfers 0 0 0 0 318 33.75 340 78.90 14 250 95 2.25 767 127.4 Filing Indicators 0 0 0 0 0 0 1070 43.58 1556 64.50 972 43.25 3598 151.33 W rong U pdates 0 0 0 0 16 9.00 35 6.00 120 14.50 0 0 171 29.50 M edical Theses 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 1.25 0 0 45 1.25 Music C orrections 0 0 0 0 408 15.25 740 14.25 263 4.50 262 6.75 1573 40.75 No C all No. 0 0 0 0 30 4.00 6 1.00 684 62.50 16 .33 736 67.83 Review O nly 0 29.66 0 33.06 0 62.57 0 47.83 0 37.65 0 21.82 0 232.59 S O L IN E T R eport 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1.33 1005 157.66 1011 158.99 Miscellaneous 0 0 0 0 19 1.50 32 2.25 23 2.25 132 2.83 206 8.83 All Projects 0 29.66 0 33.06 950 145.57 3748 262.06 3788 223.73 3123 268.39 11609 962.47 538 / C & R L N ew s lined a n d priorities revised in o rd er to find th e staff tim e to use N O T IS to get th e d atab ase read y for th e p e rm a n e n t system. C hanges in a u th o rity p ro ce­ dures w ere also begun in an in crem en tal fashion; those procedures w ill co n tin u e to be ch an g ed after th e p e rm a n e n t system, w ith its a u th o rity control cap ab ility , arrives. In th e cataloging center described above, staff a n d u n it h e a d s lik ed th e o p p o r tu n ity to m a k e w orkflow an d p ro ced u ral changes in crem en tally over several m o n th s. T h ey also liked b ein g in ­ volved in decision-m aking ab o u t changes a n d b e ­ ing able to try o u t changes w ith just a few staff, a d ­ justing to new le arn in g as they w e n t along. N O T IS p e r m i t t e d a le is u r e ly t i m e f r a m e f o r m a k in g changes th a t th e p e rm a n e n t system w o u ld have re ­ q u ired in a highly visible m ode over a short period of tim e. An exam ple is E d ito rs’ C atalo g staffing. T ab le 2, E d ito rs’ C atalo g C orrections, shows th e pace of online ed itin g in U niversity L ib ra rie s.3 In Ja n u a ry a n d F e b ru a ry 1984 few corrections w ere m ade; th e 20-odd staff logged in u n d e r 40 hours. In A pril a p la te a u of a b o u t 255 h o u rs/m o n th to m ake a b o u t 3,500 corrections h a d been reached. O ne category, “Review only” took tim e b u t resulted in no changes. In six m onths, over 11,500 corrections h a d been m ad e, req u irin g 962 m an -h o u rs or ab o u t 5 m inutes p er correction. In itially , all staff took p a r t in th e ed itin g process in o rd er th a t they all w ould becom e fam iliar w ith N O T IS ed itin g p ro ce­ dures. T h ere was one d ifficu lty —N O T IS editing was no t being done very efficiently, as T ab le 2 in d i­ cates. A new te ch n iq u e is now being used. F our-person team s a re assigned full-tim e to th e E d ito rs’ C atalo g for a 2-w eek period. T hey have a lim ited n u m b e r of o th er duties to provide respite from th e ted iu m of long hours spent checking th e shelflist or a t th e te rm in al. This ro ta tio n a l m eth o d seems to com bine lack of in terru p tio n s w ith a constantly grow ing le arn in g curve w ith o u t ru n n in g th e risk of staff b u rn o u t. U niversity L ib raries’ experience thus fa r shows th a t b o th existing tasks a n d th e ad d itio n al w o rk ­ lo a d fo r th e E d ito rs’ C a ta lo g are b ein g acco m ­ plished by th e sam e staff. I t rem ains to be seen w h e th e r this p ro d u c tio n ra te can a n d w ill co n ­ tinue. Campus news about NOTIS T h ro u g h o u t th e p la n n in g process, U C ’s lib ra ry systems developm ent office used a p la n th a t com ­ bined one-w ay (such as articles in th e facu lty new s­ letter) an d tw o -w ay (such as discussions w ith th e U niversity L ib ra ry C o m m ittee a t reg u la r m e et­ ings) com m unications m ethods. T h e th em e “d a ta ­ base u n d e r co n stru ctio n ” epitom ized d atab ase e d ­ iting via N O T IS. W hile th e E d ito rs’ C atalo g w as visible in only 7 of 18 lib ra ry sites, articles an d 5L in d a N ew m an , “E d itin g of O C L C A rchive T ap e s.” A p resen tatio n to th e N o rth ern O hio T ech ­ nical Services L ib rarian s, Ju n e 8, 1984. m eetings stressed th a t lib ra ry staff w ere w orking h a rd to have a stan d ard ized , useful d atab ase read y w h en th e p e rm a n e n t system cam e up. W e also p o in ted o u t th a t w e w ere using a p a rtic i­ pativ e m a n ag em en t process th a t included faculty, students, an d lib ra ry staff. These groups w ere re p ­ resented w h en specifications w ere identified, sys­ tem s review ed, a n d th e p e rm a n e n t system selected. W e believe th a t th e ir p a rtic ip a tio n , com bined w ith ed itin g th e d atab ase p rio r to installing th e p e rm a ­ n e n t system, w ill help result in faster in teg ratio n of th e online catalo g /circulation-reserve system by faculty, researchers, a n d students into th e ir daily lives. Costs T h ere w ere, of course, costs for th e E d ito rs’ C a t­ alog. T he N O T IS softw are an d eq u ip m en t are o b ­ vious exam ples, to tallin g a b o u t $125,000 in o n e­ tim e fees. Next comes billing from th e co m p u tin g center, on w hose m a in fra m e N O T IS is ru n , along w ith eq u ip m en t m a in ten a n ce an d personnel tim e. T h a t totals a b o u t $180,000 p er 12 m onths. A th ird d irect cost is for Solinet processing, a b o u t $15,000 to d ate. L ib ra ry staff tim e is not know n b u t could include a t least 2 F T E supervisor level staff in a d d i­ tio n to th e m an-hours show n in T ab le 2. A n o th er cost categ o ry is tim e. W e u n d e re s ti­ m a te d th e tim e req u ired to mesh th e N o rth w estern an d F lo rid a versions of N O T IS. In reality it took six m onths, from July th ro u g h D ecem ber, to fully in ­ te g ra te th em an d to p re p a re o u r record trac k in g system. Staff h a d expected to begin ed itin g records on th e p ro d u ctio n file in th e fall of 1983, ra th e r th a n J a n u a ry 1984. T his d elay resu lted u n d e r ­ stan d ab ly in nervous staff w ho fretted ab o u t th e ir ability to ed it th e 600,000 O C L C records before th e p e rm a n e n t system w o u ld be installed. N ever­ theless, as of this w ritin g , w e believe th a t all b u t a b o u t one-sixth of those records, th e m ost difficult duplicates req u irin g m a n y changes, w ill be read y w h en th e first eight libraries are b ro u g h t up p rio r to th e b eginning of fall te rm , 1985. E arly in 1984 it Input needed on micros T h e new ly form ed A CRL M icrocom puters in A cadem ic L ib raries Discussion G ro u p is c u r­ ren tly com piling policy a n d p ro ced u re state­ m ents from libraries th a t offer any ty p e of m i­ cro co m p u ter services to th e ir p atro n s. A sam ple collection of these w ill th e n be m a d e available to m em bers an d others. If your lib ra ry has pu b lic access m icrocom ­ p u ters, circulates softw are, or offers any o th er ä service rela ted to th e use of m icrocom puters by ‹ p atro n s, please send copies of relev an t policy an d p ro ced u re statem ents to th e ch air, L in d a ; Piele, L ib ra ry /L e a rn in g C en ter, University of W isconsin-Parkside, Box 2000, Kenosha, W I 53141. N ovem ber 1984 / 539 w as d ecid ed to em p h asize e d itin g one ty p e of d a ta —bibliographic—on NOTIS. W hereas the ac­ curacy of location inform ation is being reviewed, com prehensive d a ta editing of copy and piece hold­ ings, especially for serials, will aw ait the arrival of th e p e rm a n e n t system. O u r goal of an entirely edited record will occur later th a n planned. Benefits The benefits of setting up th e E ditors’ C atalog using N OTIS have been m any. • T h e E ditors’ C atalog proved a m anagem ent microcosm for tasks th a t w ould also be required by th e p erm an en t system. Planning for site p re p a ra ­ tion; reviewing existing cataloging practices and procedures; experim enting w ith staff education for an online catalog; tra in in g pu b lic service staff about O C L C ; standardizing divergent cataloging practices; bringing together cataloging staff from all five UC library jurisdictions for th e first tim e— all these things and m ore w ere accom plished in a less visible and hence less hectic atm osphere. •M a n y staff in both technical and public service areas w ere train ed on the E ditors’ C atalog. This broadened general knowledge about online biblio­ graphic databases. O thers w ere nam ed to the sev­ eral systems developm ent committees. O ne result has been a heightened awareness am ong catalogers about public service ram ifications of database de­ cisions. • T h e p ro filin g decisions re q u ire d to set up NOTIS w ere a prelude to those now being required by the p erm an en t system. W e have learned a lot about the consequences of our NOTIS profiling, such as defining lib rary levels, e.g ., system-wide, institution, etc., in descending order of m agnitude. Time to plan your posters The LO EX Clearinghouse has issued a call for abstracts for Poster Sessions to be held at the Second Biennial LOEX W orkshop, May 9-10, 1985. T he workshop them e is “Teaching the O nline C atalog User.” P o ste r Session p r e s e n ta tio n s —to in c lu d e graphics, pictures, diagram s, an d n a rra tiv e te x t—w ill allow presenters to expand infor- m ally and to answ er questions relating to the online catalog instruction program s on their ow n campuses, to report research findings, and to describe innovative ideas or m istakes en- countered. Sessions will last 30 m inutes, w ith question and discussion tim e bu ilt in. G uidelines for th e subm ission of abstracts and forms can be obtained by contacting C aro ­ lyn K irk e n d a ll, D ire c to r, L O E X C le a rin g ­ house, E astern M ichigan University L ibrary, C enter of E ducational Resources, Ypsilanti, MI 48197. The deadline for submission of abstracts is M arch 1, 1985. This also means th a t w e have m ore and deeper q u e s tio n s to ask o u r c u r r e n t v e n d o r , B ib lio - Techniques, In c ., of O lym pia, W ashington. W e understand b etter the consequence of initial profil­ ing decisions. •P u b lic services staff started to learn about the O C LC/M A RC w orld. This knowledge is essential if one is to understand index construction and how O C LC/M A RC fields m ap into Biblio-Techniques L ib rary and Inform ation System (BLIS). • W e learned about subtle M A R C /O C LC for­ m a t im plications early, such as th e card profile a u ­ tom atically rem oving u n w an ted subject headings w hich, how ever, occur on the archive tape. An op­ posite example is autom atic stam ps, e.g ., oversize, th a t are prin ted on cards based on the profile b u t do not occur on the tape. • W e have saved innum erable m an-hours due to th e Solinet pre-processing for AACR2 flip, subfield checks, and M A RC /O CLC subfield 049 (location and holdings inform ation), to nam e only a few ser­ vices provided. Personnel in different reporting structures—such as the five independent library ju ­ risdictions, th e com puting center, cam pus p la n ­ ning, and physical p la n t—are learning to w ork to ­ gether. This grow ing com m unication, done in a relatively low stress environm ent, will pay large dividends w hen BLIS is installed and becom e oper­ ational. •M a n y library staff now know the difference betw een technical displays used by d atabase m ain ­ tainers and the public catalog used by faculty, stu­ dents, and researchers. Those differences include level and completeness of inform ation and com ­ m an d language. • O r , to look at it from a m ore general perspec­ tive, the E ditors’ C atalog has p erm itted us to start bringing large groups of staff out of a mostly paper records era w ith all of th a t m edium ’s characteris­ tics and lim itations, into an electronic era. Elec­ tronic records p erm it and create uses w hich will disturb and stim ulate all our staff. •F in a lly , and certainly not least, the E ditors’ C atalog has laid to rest m any doubts about m eeting standards. One reason th a t over 400,000 singletons w ere loaded into th e production file in less th a n six m onths was because th e records w ere com plete. L i­ b rary staff confidence in th e accuracy of U C ’s d a ta ­ base, after its load into BLIS, is essential if staff are to help faculty, students, and researchers transfer th eir tru st to th e online catalog. T he University of C incinnati selected p a rtic ip a ­ tive m anagem ent of library autom ation because it w ould bring end-users and lib rary staff together in selecting an online catalog/circulation-reserve sys­ tem . W hile th a t selection process was underw ay, w e began the m ajor task of editing 600,000 O C L C records to m eet standards. It appears th a t th e bene­ fits of record editing outw eigh its costs because both th e database and the library staff will be as ready as possible to support faculty and students in th e fall of 1985. ■ ■ A FALSE R U M O R G O I N G R O U N D SAYS “LESS IS M O R E .” A comprehensive range o f services is essential to meeting the exacting requirements of the academic library. Specialized service can only be provided by offering more, not less. Baker & Taylor provides the widest coverage and larg­ est inventories of academic titles from 14,000 publishers including university presses, societies, and associations. Constant publisher follow-up assures that even the most difficult books to acquire will be supplied or reported to the library In addition, Baker & Taylor offers generous discounts with no service fees or handling charges and the highest fulfillment rote in the industry Baker & Taylor is the academic specialist that offers more. For details, contact the Soles Deportment of fhe division nearest you. EASTERN , 50 Kirby Avenue, Somerville, NJ 08876, (201) 722-8000 MIDWESTERN, 501 S. Gladiolus Street, Momence, IL 60954, (815)472-2444 SOUTHERN , Mt. Olive Road, Commerce, GA 30599, (404) 335-5000 WESTERN , 380 Edison Way, Reno, NV 89564, (702) 786-6700