ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 992 / C&RL News be rare in North America, w here classification theory may be less advanced. Chinese academic libraries are certainly less developed than similar libraries in North America, but this situation is changing rapidly as more li­ brarians are trained and library buildings are con­ structed. T here will probably remain a shortage of w estern books and journals due to the high cost of this material, b u t Chinese libraries do have a strong core o f subject experts.—Xiong Dizhi, Director o f the Library and Dean o f the Faculty o f Medical Library and Information Science, China Medical U niversity, Shenyang, C hina; a n d D a v id S. Crawford, Senior Librarian, McGill University, M ontreal (Visiting Research Librarian, China Medical University, Shenyang). ■ ■ Computerizing com m unication for interlibrary loan By Amy Chang Coordinator fo r Interlibrary Loan Texas Tech University Libraries Electronic mail fo r faculty and students solves the IL L crunch at Texas Tech. A n electronic mail system, designed by the staff of Interlibrary Loan (ILL) at Texas Tech University Libraries, allows faculty and stu­ dents to request materials from their offices and homes via the E-Mail system any tim e o f the day. Users can choose different request forms from the menu. The staff of IL L receives the request ac­ cordingly. Several options have been program m ed for the menu-driven E-Mail system: book, article, dissertation, renewal requests/status checking, and questions-and-answers. Instructions for using the E-Mail system and a short form for patron informa­ tion were also program m ed into the system. The statistics for the borrowing unit of Interli­ brary Loan at Tech Libraries had shown a steady growth during fiscal year 1987/1988 (an average 14% increase) .This was followed by a 36% increase th e first seven m onths of 1989. Approximately 700 messages are sent to patrons monthly, notifying them of arrived materials, problem s with requests, overdues, and charges. The staff constantly inter­ acts with patrons by phone or in person about request forms, renewal of books, checking the status o f th eir requests, etc. Since th e num ber of requests increased dramatically, a more efficient way to com m unicate with library users was re ­ quired. The staff concluded that an electronic mail system would m eet th e dem and for quick and reliable communication. The VAX was chosen for installing the E-Mail system. The VAX system is one of the mainframe systems in th e Advanced Technology Learning C en ter December 1989 / 993 (ATLC). The VAXcluster can be used for many purposes: database m anagem ent, graphics, p ro ­ gramming in a variety o f languages, and text proc­ essing (such as papers, theses, and dissertations with mathematical and scientific formulae). The cluster consists o f two C entral Processing Units; a VAX 8650 and a VAX-11/780, so that w hen one VAX is down, users can log on to the other com ­ p u ter system. Several VAX term inal rooms are located in vari­ ous places across campus. Hard-w ired terminals and dial-up term inals are distributed among d e­ partm ents, colleges, and dormitories. Each depart­ m ent can sub-assign access to their faculty and students. Connections are available to the IBM 3081s through the Academic Com puting Network from any terminal. In addition, th ere are 3,000 individual users on campus who have their own access to the system. The num ber of individual users has doubled since 1988 and is still increasing. Users can not only access th e mainframe b u t also the VAX-Mail system. Professors give class assign­ ments, make announcem ents, or answer questions using th e VAX-Mail system. Students can turn in an exercise, report, or program, or ask questions via the VAX-mail system. Networking with th e system in ATLC for individual users requires a modem for the m icrocomputer, a phone line, software (such as Smartcom or Procomm), and a password. E le c tr o n ic m a il s y ste m Public E-Mail connections are made through the telephone system. Modems connect the com ­ puters and the phone system and convert the message into a form for transmission over a tele­ phone line. Each subscriber to th e E-M ail system has a unique identity n um ber or a password for the “mail-box” w here mail can be received or sent. Messages are stored and forwarded through a large com puter system, th e VAX mainframe. T he sender communicates his/her message by entering it at a terminal or m icrocom puter through a modem. The message is sent over a telephone line to a central com puter w here it is stored, ready to be accessed by the recipient. D e v e lo p in g th e IL L E -M a il sy ste m Programming the E-M ail system for IL L begins with system analysis and system design. D uring the system analysis process, the staff had studied and analyzed the inconvenience and the tim e-consum ­ ing process of communicating betw een th e staff and the patron. After the problem was identified, the staff started investigating th e availability of networking the electronic mail system on campus. Procedures for developing the system for IL L were planned and the VAX system was chosen. An out­ line for the program was drawn. In designing the system, five options for requesting IL L materials and a main m enu screen format were programmed, and detailed guidelines for writing the program w ere listed). An output layout was also drawn so that a readable form would be received by the IL L staff. C O B O L (abbreviation for Common Business O riented Language) was chosen to b e th e program language. Reasons for choosing C O B O L included: C O B O L is a English-like program language; it can be in terp reted by other programmers; the logic of the program can be easily traced down; and C O ­ BOL provides an interactive processing option which assists in th e construction o f the screen and the dialogue o f an online application. This program option allows users to key in data and the com puter responds with a display on a screen. T h e p r o c e s s o f p r o g r a m m in g Before the program was coded into the com­ puter, a flowchart was used to map out the struc­ ture. Mapping program structure allows the pro­ gram m er to oversee the logic o f a program and decreases the coding errors. The structured chart for th e E-Mail system has not only simplified the complexity of th e program but also maximized the efficiency of the program. After the structure had been drawn, a set o f instructions for the com puter was ready to be coded onto the VAX. T he next step was to compile the program. A program will not be executed by the com puter until it has been trans­ lated into the machine language. This translating task in th e com puter is nam ed compile, which is done by a com piler of the com puter or software. As the com puter translates th e program language, the com piler of the com puter detects errors from the program. In most cases, it wall list the errors for further corrections. Normally, the com piler only lists the syntax errors which have violated the p ro ­ gramming rules. The program cannot be executed until the listed errors are corrected. Following all the program ming rules will only allow the com ­ p u ter to compile th e program easily. It still will not guarantee th e program can be executed, because logic errors may cause the failure o f the perform ­ ance. Such an error is caused by a mistake in the sequencing of instructions as one codes a program. Besides, logic error will not be caught nor listed by the com puter. The error is detected after the p ro ­ gram has been compiled, that is during the execu­ tion. These errors have to be located by th e p ro ­ gramm er. After logic error is corrected, the p ro ­ gram is ready to run. Rarely can a program be executed successfully the first time. Needless to say, debugging and testing the p ro ­ gram were the most time-consum ing tasks in p ro ­ gramming. Debugging is finding errors (syntax and 9 9 4 / C&RL News logic errors) in the program and correcting them . Testing is required w hen a program is ready to run. Testing involves running th e program with the actual data and examining th e results that are car­ ried out by th e program. I f th e results are not satisfactory, modification of th e program will be needed. F or instance, during the testing stage of the Tech IL L E-M ail system, users found that the request form on th e E-M ail system did not provide enough space for certain fields, the output did not provide the data from the input file, the screen display was not satisfactory, etc. Each time a modi­ fication was m ade in the program, th e staff had to go through the procedures o f coding, compiling, debugging, and testing, until data could be entered in the desired place, data could be stored onto the data file o f the com puter, and the recipient could actually receive the information in readable form. T hree major parts of th e IL L E-M ail system were included in the program : screen display, data saving, and output. The main program w ritten for the display screen, saving data, and filling in the request form has 21 modules, 6 data divisions, and 20 working storage sections. The IL L E-Mail system was im plem ented in May 1989. An announcem ent was m ade to faculty in the library new sletter ‹A C C E SS) and on the VAX information directory by ATLC. T he reduced traf­ fic in IL L in May and June allowed IL L staff to m onitor the system closely, and modify the pro­ gram when necessary. S y ste m p e r f o r m a n c e As the user enters the VAX system, the user types IL L after the $ prom pt. As soon as the IL L E-Mail system is logged on, the screen displays, “D o you need instructions?” If the user enters Y, a set of instructions will be displayed on th e screen. These instructions were w ritten for th e first tim e user and explain briefly how the system will work. W hen the user finishes reading the instructions, he/she may press anykey, and the system will bring a short form on th e screen. W hen the user finishes filling out the form, the main m enu will be displayed, and the user is able to choose a request form (book, article, dissertation, or renewal request/status checking) to fill out on the com puter. If th e user enters N to the instruction option, th e system will im mediately bring the short form on the screen. W hen a request form has been com pleted, the system will ask the user: “Do you have another request?” If the user enters Y, or yes, the main m enu will be displayed again, otherwise th e system will be logged off instantly. The fifth option on the main m enu is Questions- and-Answers. It answers questions such as “How long will it take?” and “How m uch will it cost?” O nce finished reading the answers, the user may choose to go back to the main m enu or log off. The sixth option on th e main m enu is EXIT which allows the user to exit from th e IL L E-Mail system. The staff checks the E-M ail twice a day. Re­ quests can be printed out from a laser p rin ter in ATLC. T h e a d v a n ta g e s o f u s in g th e E -M a il s y ste m The following are some advantages o f an IL L E- Mail system: 1. The same message can be sent to any num ber of recipients simultaneously. 2. It saves m oney and tim e over processing the message through the regular mail service or a phone call. 3. Users can access th e system from anywhere— hom e or an office at any tim e of the day. 4. Users need not walk to the library to fill out request forms, nor do they need to wait until the library is open. 5. Delivery of mail via E-M ail is im m ediate to th e recipient. Normally, campus mail takes at least 24 hours and regular postal mail takes 48 hours for users to receive the mail or notice from ILL. 6. It is reliable. The mail cannot be lost. 7. Repetitious questions, such as “How long will it take?” can be answered using th e IL L E-Mail system. The IL L E-M ail system, like any o th er autom a­ tion project, will be an ongoing project. The pro­ gram always has been revised and im proved in response to users’ needs. The major concern with electronic messaging is that users may neglect to check th eir electronic messages. Educating pa­ trons and publicizing th e new system may very well be a long process. ■ ■ ULS: Where to volunteer The listing for the University Libraries Sec­ tion was inadvertently left out o f the article on “ACRL seeks volunteers for com m ittees” in the O ctober 1989 issue. To be considered for ap­ pointm ent as chair or m em ber o f a ULS section com m ittee, contact the ULS Vice-Chair/Chair- Elect: Janice T. Koyama, H e ad Librarian, Moffitt U ndergraduate Library, University o f California, Berkeley, CA 94720.