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TABLE OF CONTENTS.

THEME ARTICLES: NETWORKING ~TSASIPy
133 Foreword, Howard F. McGinn, Jr.
135 Access to Information " Can Schools Provide It? Diane
D. Kester
140 The Cleve-net Library Project: An Electronic Mail and
Shared Data Network, Douglas Perry
146 The Wilson County Networking Project, Peter A. Bileckyj
155 The Western North Carolina Library Network: oWell Begun
Is Half Done,� Deborah B. Babel
159 Decision Points in Small-Scale Automation, Don Beagle
170 Going Online at the Public Library, Barbara L. Anderson
and S. Joy White
175 The North Carolina Information Network: A Vital Cog in
Economic Development, Howard F. McGinn, Jr.
181 Bibliographic Data Bases from the Network Point of View
in Kathmandu! Marjorie W. Lindsey
ARTICLES
: 186 Rural Teenagers Are Reading! Carroll Harrell, Annette
Privette and Constance Mellon
190 Cumberland County Public Library, Jerry Thrasher
194 An Intellectual Freedom Alert
FEATURES
131 From the President
196 New North Carolina Books
199 NCLA Minutes
Cover: Don Beagle, oDecision Points in Small-Scale Automation,� Advertisers: Baker & Taylor, 130; Ebsco, 133; H.W. Wilson, 145;
North Carolina Libraries 44 (Fall 1986); 159. Richard Kraweizc, 151; OCLC, 139; UNC Press, inside front cover;

University Products, 154.

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130"North Carolina Libraries

Exalting Learning
and Libraries

NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

From the President

Benjamin Disraeli once said that o... the
secret of success is constant purpose.� Successful
people often assert that a prerequisite for
achievement is the formation of specific goals.
These goals are subsequently utilized to inform
decisions and maintain a focus.

In considering success, we observe that
libraries in North Carolina are successfully ad-
vancing into the technological era. Though librar-
ies may be at varying phases of movement, the
number that are oon-line� and computerized
grows daily. This is not occurring by chance. Indi-
viduals who work long and hard for the develop-
ment and growth of libraries in North Carolina
will tell you that the goal has not been just to
computerize. The common theme for library
development focuses on making information and
learning accessible, exciting, and possible for all
People.

This may appear to be a lofty purpose, but it
is also realistic and meaningful. Libraries have the
Opportunity to foster excitement about new
ideas, to generate the desire to know more, and to
Promote the search for possibilities. With new
knowledge developing at such a rapid pace, we
would lose these opportunities as human beings
Were it not for technologically-advanced libraries.

We can be proud in North Carolina that
library development embraces this as its constant
Purpose. Relative to this purpose, the successes
that libraries of all types enjoy in this state are
measured by the height to which its population
Sees new knowledge as exciting and information
as readily available and usable. Being oon-line�
and computerized are strategies for achieving this
higher purpose.

With this constant purpose in mind, the
North Carolina Library AssociationTs Media Com-
mittee has established as its number one goal for
the biennium to increase awareness and highlight
new technologies.

Regional networking meetings sponsored by
the State Library were held in May to bring librar-
ians in North Carolina up-to-date on the rapidly

developing North Carolina Library Network. How-
ard McGinn, Coordinator of Network Develop-
ment, discussed the opportunities and benefits in
detail. Over 400 people across the state attended
the three meetings held in Hickory, Greenville and
Sanford.

Among those attending the Sanford meeting
was Peggy Olney from Moore County Schools.
Being anxious to provide the most appropriate
services for students that assures for them the
best educational opportunities, Olney became
excited about whatTs happening and the chal-
lenge by newer technology facing educational lead-
ers across the state.

Reflecting on past experiences with media,
Olney sees the current revolution in information
science rapidly moving school library/media pro-
grams into the newer realm of information stor-
age and retrieval. oStudents are learning to sift
through the multitude of information in all for-
mats,� observed Olney.

The variety of uses and the new capabilities
of todayTs technology provide unique learning
opportunities in the classroom as well as in the
library/media center. For example, the Down
East Instructional Telecommunications Network
of Hyde and Beaufort County Schools is linked by
an interactive telecommunications system with
the capability of both receiving and transmitting
instructional programs. Possibilities with this
program are limited only by the creativity of the
minds of the users.

Another example is the Alexander County
SchoolsT Computers in the Classroom, a model
program, which will include the use of microcom-
puters as instructional tools in every school

within the unit.
Local cooperative efforts among all types of

libraries are becoming a reality in our state. Two
active multi-type networks funded by the State
Library are located in Cleveland and Wilson
Counties. The area high schools participate in
these projects called ZOC or Zones of Coopera-
tion. By developing realistic plans and proce-
dures, the schoolsT participation in this network-
ing project is working well.

1986 Fall"131

Many fine things are happening across our
state as libraries are successfully advancing into
the technological era. Do continue to share these
with us as you plan, set goals and implement
exciting programs.

The next Executive Board Meeting is sched-
uled for Wednesday, October 22, 1986, in For-
syth County Public Library, Winston-Salem.

Pauline F. Myrick, President -

Book Week, November 17-23.

The Library of Congress 1987
Engagement Calendar

We are pleased to
announce publication
of the 1987 Library of
Congress Engagement
Calendar. This is the
third edition in what
promises to be a long
and wonderful tra-
dition.

The Library of Con-
gress is a treasure
house of American and world culture. Its collec-
tions include rare books, early motion pictures,
political cartoons, illuminated manuscripts, scien-
tific drawings, old cookbooks, maps, graphics and
other fine art.

This yearTs 70 images include a striking 1842
color daguerreotype of Notre Dame cathedral;
portrait of an intense Orson Welles at age 21; let-
ter signed by Houdini ofrom the grave�; page from
16th century choir book (the book weighed 60
pounds); early photograph of bike rider oMile a
Minute� Murphy going nowhere; Toulouse-Lau-
trec poster; and lots more!

The Calendar is 7� X 9�, 128 pages, printed on
fine paper, and oWire-O� bound to lie flat. (oWire-
O� is the best of the mechanical bindings.) Each
calendar page covers one week, and there is lots
of room for making notes and appointments.

The Calendar also contains a valuable 10-
page supplement which outlines how to access
and order material from the Library, including
new books, braille, recordings, photographs, and
posters.

We are pleased to make the Calendar avail-
able at special discounts to library people and
Friends of libraries for fund raising.

ISBN 0-939456-20-6
Suggested retail price, $10.00

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132"North Carolina Libraries

Honorary and Life Memberships
Nominations

The North Carolina Library Association,
through its Honorary and Life Membership Com-
mittee, is seeking suggestions for nominees for
Honorary and Life memberships.

It has been the custom of NCLA to make
these two awards based on the following criteria:

1. Honorary memberships may be given to
non-librarians who have rendered important ser-
vices to the library interests of the state.

2. Honorary memberships for non-librarians
should be given at a time considered appropriate
in relation to the contribution made.

3. Life memberships may be given to librar-
ians who have served as members of the North
Carolina Library Association and who have made
noteworthy contributions to librarianship in the
state. These memberships are limited to librarians
who have retired.

Recommendations for nominations should be
accompanied by biographical information, in-
cluding contributions to librarianship.

Recommendations for nominations should be
submitted to: Dr. Mell Busbin, Committee Chair,
NCLA Honorary and Life Membership Committee,
P.O. Box 411, Boone, N.C. 28607, no later than
January 31, 1987. ai

Church and Synagogue Library Association

The North Carolina Chapter of the Church
and Synagogue Library Association exists to
promote church and synagogue librarian-
ship and to provide educational guidance
on an ecumenical basis. Membership pro-

vides an opportunity to participate in two
workshops annually and to receive the
chapter newsletter. For further informa-
tion, call or write Janet L. Flowers (3702
Tremont Drive, Durham, NC 27705 919-
383-3430).

Foreword

Howard F. McGinn, Jr., Guest Editor

ne

This issue of North Carolina Libraries is
devoted to the topic of NETWORKING. Since the
King Research study in 1982 and the subsequent
creation and funding of the now-famous ZOCs
(Zones of Cooperation), Networking has under-
gone significant development in North Carolina.
In the 1984 Summer issue of North Carolina
Libraries John Welch, in his introductory re-
marks, posed these questions. He asked: oWhat is
the future for networking in our state? Will we
develop a vast, integrated, multitype network of
libraries or find that our networking needs are
handled more efficiently by local or regional
ZOCs? The answer to these intriguing questions
will unfold for us as we continue to examine and
experiment with networks.� And the answers
have, indeed, been unfolding.

The past year has seen the implementation of
the North Carolina Information Network, a
statewide information service that is being de-
signed to function as the oinformation infrastruc-
ture� that the state needs to continue its
educational and economic development into the
1990Ts. The North Carolina Information Network
is the stateTs oGood Roads� of the future. But the
network and its programs are the results of suc-
cessful projects created, developed and imple-
mented by talented and resourceful North Caro-
lina librarians during the past ten years. The ZOCs
worked and are being used as models for the rest
of the state. The North Carolina Online Union
Catalog, maintained at OCLC, Inc., began opera-
tions in late May of this year. It provides unprece-
dented access to the resources of North Carolina
libraries of all types to all libraries in every corner
of this geographically diverse state. Access to the
OCLC Interlibrary Loan subsystem and the late
Fall 1986 introduction of the North Carolina
Union List of Serials expand even farther the use
of these dial access services. For the first time our
libraries can now afford to use the massive North
Carolina Databases at OCLC via dial access using
any standard microcomputer and telecommuni-
cations. Soon the State Library will launch a one
year test of an electronic mail/bulletin board ser-
vice and will make available to the far-flung librar-

ies of the state access to over 700 major business,
technical and educational databases. Other infor-
mation networks will soon follow.

But Networking in North Carolina is very alive
on the local and regional levels. Electronic mail/
bulletin board programs are in operation, local
union catalogs and union lists of serials are being
created, automation continues in many libraries,
retrospective conversion projects are numerous,
and the University of North CarolinaTs Linknet
program is just entering its start-up phase. The
Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN)
nears completion and is serving as a national
model of cooperation. The western North Caro-
lina network linking Appalachian State Univer-
sity, Western Carolina University, and the Univer-
sity of North Carolina at Asheville is well into
development.

John WelchTs questions can be answered. The
networks of North Carolina are vast, integrated,

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1986 Fall"133

multitype networks, and vital sophisticated local
and regional networks. This issue describes some
of these success stories. Remember, these articles
do not predict what the author thinks will
happen. They reflect what is now happening in
North Carolina. Diane Kester describes how net-
working can aid the school library; she discusses
school library networking developments in other
areas of the country. Douglas Perry and Peter
Bileckyj describe the successful electronic mail/-
bulletin board systems they developed in Cleve-
land and Wilson Counties respectively. Deborah
Babel tells how a bibliographic network is being
constructed to serve the needs of our mountain
area public universities. Don Beagle shows how
his Lee County Library automated and began the
retrospective conversion of the systemTs collection
by using Dynix and the Lee County computer
facility. Barbara Anderson and Joy Wilson de-
scribe the development and implementation of
business, demographic, and statistical database
services at the Forsyth County Library System.
This writer presents his thoughts on the role of
networking in economic development. Finally, in a

marvelous example of international networking,
Marjorie Lindsey, Multitype Library Cooperation
Consultant for the State Library of North Caro-
lina until her retirement in 1985, describes her
participation in a networking conference con-
ducted by the government of Nepal during her
recent several month assignment in that country.

Since the last issue on this topic in North
Carolina Libraries in 1984, the North Carolina
Information Network and the many local and
regional networks, have begun operation. The
future has arrived, aided by rapid advances in
microcomputers and telecommunications. But
more than this, the future was brought to us by
the hard work, talent and dedication of many
North Carolina librarians. Technology didnTt make
the network possible; people have. And because
the spirit of cooperation and common purpose
continues to grow among libraries and librarians
of all types in the state, we will be able, in a way, to
constantly have the future as part of the present.
I hope you enjoy this Networking issue of North
Carolina Libraries. all

Join NCLA

Return the form below along with your check
or money order made payable to North Carolina
Library Association. All memberships are for two
calendar years. If you enroll during the last quar
ter of a year, membership will cover the next two
years.

To enroll as a member of the association or to
renew your membership, check the appropriate
type of membership and the sections or roundta-
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entitles you to membership in one of the sections
or roundtables shown below at no extra cost. For
each additional section, add $4.00 to your regular
dues.

NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

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CHECK TYPE OF DUES

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retired librarians, library school students, oFriends of the Library,� and non-

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LIBRARIANS"earning up to $12,000 : $22.00
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Mail to: Nancy Fogarty, Treasurer, NCLA, P.O. Box 4266, Greensboro, N.C. 27404

134"North Carolina Libraries

Access to Information " Can
Schools Provide It?

Diane D. Kester

oTm sorry. That issue is missing from our col-
lection. Why donTt you try the public library or the
community college? They should have that issue
for you to use.�

Does it sound familiar? Have you felt guilty
that you could not provide the resources your
students need? Do you find yourself referring stu-
dents to other libraries, not even sure whether or
not the item will indeed be available? There must
be a better way.

There is. School library/media coordinators
are establishing a link to other libraries by sharing
resource information " be it a simple list of peri-
odical holdings or a microfiche copy of a union list
of serials of the libraries in the community. To
make contact with other libraries, school libra-
ry/media coordinators are beginning to utilize on-
line bulletin boards and electronic mail.

Cooperation among school libraries had its
beginning with system level centralized acquisi-
tions and processing. Often the system level
supervisor provided this service to the teachers or
teacher-librarians who were in charge of the
school library. Expensive items such as 16mm
motion picture films were purchased by the
school system for all teachers to share. Gradually
the film collections were loaned to other libraries
and school library networking was on its way.

In 1978, the Task Force on the Role of the
School Library Media Program in the National
Program quoted the National Commission on
Libraries and Information Services in defining a

library network.

Two or more libraries and/or other organizations
engaged in a common pattern of information exchange,
through communications, for some functional purpose.
A network usually consists of a formal arrangement
whereby materials, information, and services provided
by a variety of types of libraries and/or other organiza-
tions are made available to all potential users. (Libraries
may be in different jurisdictions but agree to serve one
another on the same basis as each serves its own con-
stituents. Computers and telecommunications may be
among the tools used for facilitating communication
among them.)!

Research Reports
Literature on school library cooperation is

Diane Kester is media coordinator at Western Wayne Junior
High School in Goldsboro, NC.

scant. Research reported in 1981 by Barbara
Immroth revealed that the multitype library net-
work in Colorado successfully includes schools.?
Writing in 1982 on a study of attitudes of school
library media specialists on networking Ann Carl-
son Weeks stated, oFew references are made to
this participation [school libraries and other
types of libraries] in the body of literature dealing
with multitype networks.�? She continued, oIn-
formation available on the topic is primarily phil-
osophical or descriptive in nature, appearing in
professional journal articles and conference pa-
pers geared toward the school library professional
audience. Few evaluative studies have appeared
in the literature.�4 What has been happening?

The research generally concerns two factors
relating to networking " the holdings of libraries
and the attitude of librarians. As supporting evi-
dence of the value of sharing resources, Marilyn W.
Greenburg studied the collections of school librar-
ies for evidences of an overlap or duplication of
holdings. Over 50% of the titles were unique to an
individual school collection; they were not dupli-
cated in other schools. She identified factors that
contribute to the availability of library materials
in secondary schools. Schools which demon-
strated a high availability of books and materials
participated in interlibrary loan.®

Carol A. Doll researched the overlap of school
and public libraries collections in Illinois in 1980.
She found that the average overlap in school col-
lections was 30 percent and the average overlap
in school and public library collections was 50
percent. School collectionsT differed from each
other more than they differed from public library
collections.®

Weeks surveyed the media specialists in New
York State. The school librarians there ranked
interlibrary loan as one of the most important
services they would like to add to their program.T
In 1985 Peggy Chapman conducted an attitude
survey of public and school librarians in a large
metropolitan city in North Carolina. She reported
that, oWhile both groups agreed that there are
many benefits to be derived from networking,
many more public librarians than media special-
ists expressed a willingness to participate in

1986 Fall"135

inter-library cooperation.�® You see, there is a
wide variance in attitudes of school library pro-
fessionals concerning the sharing of resources.

Two years ago Mary Holloway, writing for
North Carolina Libraries, identified the assets
that public school libraries can bring to a multi-
type library network. First, there are over 2,000
school library/media centers just in North Caro-
lina. Second, both print and nonprint resources,
along with the equipment to utilize audiovisual
materials, are available in these schools. Third,
microcomputers are already in the schools and
are being used for instruction as well as library
management. Holloway went on to identify short
and long-range plans for school participation in a
statewide network.?

An overview of the role of school library/
media centers in multitype library networks was
presented by Janice K. Doan in 1985. In addition
to HollowayTs reasons for school library participa-
tion in networks, Doan points out that the school
library is the entry point for future adult library
users. If we want adults to have access to resour-
ces, we must also provide the service to school
children, young adults, and educators.

Schools Collections in a National Bibliographic
Database

Several school systems across the nation
have become members of a state or regional
vendor of the national bibliographic data base
compiled by OCLC in Dublin, Ohio. School Library
Media Annual 1985, Volume Three lists 58 school
libraries and library systems which are members
of a network and direct users of OCLC services as
of April 1985. oOther school users receive OCLC
services via a contract with an OCLC member,
such as a processing center, state library, public
library, or academic library.�!°

Most academic libraries and large public
libraries in North Carolina subscribe to the servi-
ces of SOLINET, the vendor for OCLC. Acquisi-
tions, cataloging, and interlibrary loan activity is
done on-line with either a direct computer line or
with a microcomputer and dial access with a tele-
phone. Two school systems, Greensboro and
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, are members. In both sys-
tems it is used primarily for cataloging in the cen-
tralized processed service. Therefore, the OCLC
record does not identify the individual school
which has an item, only that it is held by a school
within the system.

Schools in State and Local Networks

New York City. The New York City School
Library System (NYCSLS) is a state-funded pro-

136"North Carolina Libraries

gram which seeks to provide a coordinated
approach to library service in the public and non-
public schools of New York City. The high school
libraries were given the option to join NYCSLS. An
agreement between the principal and librarian on
one part and the Library Unit of the Board of
Education on the other, enables the school to
become a part of the New York City School
Library System. As an incentive, the Library Unit,
using LSCA Funds, provides a modem and the
phone installation charges if the school principal
agrees to purchase the computer system and pay
the monthly phone bill. Presently, 20 of the 111
high schools in New York City are members. Their
goals are to enrich library collections and en-
hance library services through the sharing of
materials and information. The NYCSLS contracts
with the New York Public Library which operates
the Metropolitan Inter-Library Cooperative Sys-
tem Database, MILCS. MILCS contains most of the
holdings of the major public libraries in the New
York metropolitan region and the NYCSLS Data-
base. The NYCSLS administers the interlibrary
loan program through which member libraries
may borrow materials from one another as well as
from other school library systems and public,
academic and special libraries. This summer ele-
mentary, intermediate and junior high school
libraries are installing computers and telephones
to begin participation in the NYCSLS.

Three other programs are administered
through NYCSLS " cooperative collection devel-
opment, homework hotline, and computerized
information retrieval (online data base use).
Cooperative collection development is gaining in
popularity. In NYC participants met to identify
collection strengths and needs. Based on these
results, the system designates one library to
strengthen or develop a special collection. Sub-
jects of these special collections include areas
such as folk tales, ethnic literature, Asian coun-
tries, history of specific periods of American his-
tory, computers, law, and specific sciences. An
informal agreement allows materials to be bor-
rowed by member libraries. The idea of coopera-
tive collection development is one which should
be considered in North Carolina, not only by indi-
vidual administrative units but also among neigh-
boring systems and public libraries.

New York State. The Legislature appropriated
$3.9 million to foster the development of 48 school
library systems. Each system is developing a com-
puter-based union catalog of materials in the
schools within the system. An interlibrary loan
and delivery system is being established. Each sys-
tem is to become a member of one of the nine

state public, academic, and special library net-
works. A recent study of the interlibrary loan
activity of these schools in New York showed that
85% was between schools, 9% was with public
libraries, and 6% was from other types of libraries.
Within the state, adjoining school districts are
meeting for cooperative collection development
planning. Unnecessary duplication of expensive
items is prevented. (One school purchased News-
bank and distributed the index on microfiche to
cooperating libraries.) District and regional de-
positories have been established as olast book re-
positories.�

Alaska. Schools in the Anchorage School dis-
trict are fully participating members of the Alaska
Library Network. The holdings of district libraries
are on microfilm. High school libraries may dial
into Western Library Network (WLN) for holding
information as well as for electronic mail. Also
available is a microfiche catalog of the holdings of
the twenty-eight systems that belong to WLN."

New Jersey. The state library is providing
leadership in the development of six regional
library cooperatives. The interim planning com-
mittees in each region included school librarians.
Emphasis during 1986 has been in network mem-
bership approval by superintendents and boards
of education followed by reference services, ci-
tation location, interlibrary loan, and delivery.
The computerized data base is the next phase.�

Connecticut. In a recent presentation at a
session at ALA, Catherine Murphy, Stanford, CT,
explained school and public libraries use of
OPACs (Online Public Access Catalog). Teachers,
students, and the library staff have subject access,
as well as author and title access, to the collec-
tions of member libraries. Murphy identified eight
ways that OPACs affect collection development.

Better cataloging improves access; networking makes
other collections accessible; improving the catalog
record makes selection of materials more accurate; new
ways to search the catalog makes searches faster and
more successful; successful and unsuccessful searches
can be recorded and used in evaluating new acquisitions;
bibliographies and inventories can be used to increase
collection usage and aid in the weeding process; acquisi-
tion modules of the online catalog can provide records of
materials purchased by classification and subject and
can be compared to online catalog use; circulation sta-
tistics can be compared to the collection and goals set
for increasing sections which have high usage.�!®

In developing a record for a bibliographic
data base, Murphy pointed out that schools
require unique fields such as grade level, curricu-
lum area(s), special aspects, and relationships to
other curriculum areas. She warns that, oSchool
library media specialists need to become more
aware of standards so that they are not disen-

franchised in the larger automation world.�
(Murphy)

Colorado. The Colorado Regional Library
Service System, in operation since 1976, included
school library media personnel as equal partners
in the development of the state network. RLSS
has provided inservice programs for the school
library media personnel and worked for passage
of legislation which included schools as equal
members in multitype library cooperation. Links
have been formed to enable smaller school dis-
tricts to utilize ILL, reference computer searches,
and communications from RLSS.

In other states, schools are becoming active
participants in library cooperative networks, ie.,
Illinois (through ILLINET), Indiana (18 systems
in INCOLSA), Ohio (OHIONET), Pacific Network
of OCLC (6 systems in PACNET), Montgomery
County Maryland (MILO), and now, in North
Carolina - Wilson Library Network, and CLEVE-
NET.

North Carolina. In our state, multitype
library cooperation has been supported with
LSCA grants administered by the State Library.
These local cooperative networks have been
called ZOCs, Zones of Cooperation. Two projects
involve school library media centers.

CLEVE-NET. The high schools in Cleveland
County were included from the beginning in the
proposal to form a multitype library network. A
history of cooperation and reciprocal borrowing
through use of a common library card for the
libraries in Cleveland County provided the foun-
dation for their ZOC project. With Cleveland
County Memorial Library as the center, CLEVE-
NET links two public libraries, a technical college,
four high schools, and a private college (Cleveland
County Memorial Library, Mauney Memorial
Library in Kings Mountain, Cleveland Technical
College, Burns High School, Crest High School,
Kings Mountain High School, Shelby High School,
Gardner-Webb College). The first project of the
network was an on-line union list of patrons.
Second was the Union List of Serials, accessible
both in print format and on-line. The third proj-
ect, which is still in the information gathering
stage, is an on-line local information file of com-
munity agencies and organizations. Electronic
mail provides resource sharing opportunities and
personal contact among the librarians. Public
events, college programs, and school activities are
posted on the electronic bulletin board. The Pro-
ject Director for CLEVE-NET is Douglas Perry,
Director, Cleveland County Memorial Library.

Each high school in the network received a
computer, printer, modem, and telephone. Al-

1986 Fall"137

though school patrons were not added to the on-
line list, schools have added their holdings to the
Union List of Serials.

WILSON COUNTY LIBRARY NETWORK. After
overcoming the technical difficulties of linking a
variety of brands of microcomputers, the Wilson
County Library Network began operation in the
fall of 1985. The headquarters of the network is
the Wilson County Public Library. Other members
include two academic libraries, three high schools,
a hospital library, and the School for the Deaf
(Atlantic Christian College, Wilson County Tech-
nical College, Fike High School, Hunt High School,
Beddingfield High School, Wilson Memorial Hospi-
tal, and Eastern North Carolina School for the
Deaf). The interactive electronic mail/bulletin
board system is used to transmit interlibrary loan
requests, reference requests, and professional
information among member libraries. Projects
being developed include a consortium union list
of serials, union list of audiovisual materials and a
union list of patrons. Peter A. Bileckyj, Reference
Department, Wilson County Public Library, is Pro-
ject Director.

The school system has recently purchased
new computers for the high schools to allow all
members to take advantage of the share-ware
that the Network has obtained. School libra-
ry/media center activity on the system was pick-
ing up as the school year ended. [Note: See
articles on Cleve-net and the Wilson Library Net-
work in this issue. ]

School Participation in Networking in North
Carolina

What does this mean for school/library
media centers in North Carolina where even a tel-
ephone is a rarity? First, do your homework. Seek
the advice of consultants in Raleigh " both in the
Department of Public Instruction and at the State
Library. Read, read, and read about the elements
involved in networking.

Networking works, even without telecom-
munications. Local schools can develop plans and
procedures to participate in cooperative collec-
tion development. Lists of periodical holdings can
be shared with local colleges and public libraries.
Just today, a community college librarian needed
an educational journal for a patron. She sus-
pected that one of the schools in the county
would have it " but the schools have not pro-
vided the college a listing of our holdings, even
though they have provided a listing of their hold-
ings to the schools. With consolidation of schools
many libraries have duplicate copies of reference
materials. How do you find out who could use

138"North Carolina Libraries

that second copy of Current Biography 1954?

Have you learned to use electronic mail?
Many areas of this state have bulletin board servi-
ces available for a nominal fee. No more otele-
phone tag!� Visit the ZOC projects in the state
which include school libraries. Visit selective users
of the North Carolina Information Network.

The key to sharing is advanced planning. If
your county has not formed an association of
librarians, start one. Work together to plan the
sales pitch to be presented to appropriate admin-
istrators. The administrator must be convinced of
the values of the network before being presented
with membership fees, yearly maintenance fees,
telecommunication costs, and other expenses.

Why network? School library/media coordi-
nators are vendors of information. The quantity
and quality of information will be enhanced with
networking. Students of all ages should not be
denied the access to information just because
their own school library/media center does not
subscribe to a specific magazine or cannot afford
a special reference tool. Networking is sharing.
Sharing begins in each administrative unit and
each county. Networking is not a question; it is a
necessity.

References

1. Task Force on the Role of the School Library Media Program
in the National Program, National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science. The Role of the School Library Media Pro-
gram in Networking. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Gov't Printing Off.,
1978, p. 89.

2. Barbara Froling Immroth. The Role of the School Library
Media Program in a Multitype Library Network. Dissertation,
University of Pittsburgh, 1978.

3. Ann Carlson Weeks. A Study of Attitudes of New York State
School Library Media Specialists Concerning Library Network-
ing and Technology. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh,
1982, p. 3.

4. Weeks, p. 4.

5. Marilyn W. Greenburg. Availability of Library Materials in
Thirteen Secondary Schools. Dissertation, University of Chicago,
1981.

6. Carol Doll. oSchool and Public Library Collection Overlap and
the Implications for Networking,� School Library Media Quar-
terly, 11 (Spring 1983), 193-99.

7. Weeks, p. ii.

8. Peggy Chapman. oLibrariansT Attitudes Toward Networking,�
North Carolina Libraries, 43(1) (Spring 1985): 47-51.

9. Mary A. Holloway. oLibrary Networking: A School Library
Perspective,� North Carolina Libraries, 42 (Summer 1984), 66-
67.

10. Shirley L. Aaron and Pat R. Scales, ed. Library Media
Annual 1985 Volume Three. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited,
1985.

11. Patricia Berglund. oSchool Library Techology,� Wilson
Library Bulletin, (June 1986), 56-57.

12. Berglund.

13. Catherine Murphy. oBuilding Collections for School Librar-
ies: 1990 and Beyond,� Presented at ALA, June 28, 1986. Al

(ae

CLC UPDATE

Elizabeth City e




@ Boone e Greensboro

Winston-Salem @ Durham

Unanimous
Decision
for LS/2000 System

Ldnrenias at twelve campuses of The University of North Carolina have unanimously agreed to
purchase the LS/2000 system. Installation of the first four systems has begun. All systems will be

installed by June 1987.

@ Asheville
®@ Cullowhee




Fayetteville @

@ Pembroke

Wilmington
e

In November 1985, the University of North Carolina
released a request for proposals which aimed to provide LS/2000 Sites
integrated library systems at twelve of its campuses. In
March 1986, following evaluation of the eight responses, Boone Appalachian State University
all twelve libraries recommended the selection of the :
LS/2000 system. Elizabeth City Elizabeth City State University
: F | §
According to Dr. Robert W. Williams, Associate Vice mene [SRE H perio ON Srey
President, Academic Affairs, ~The University of North Greensboro orth Carolina A & T State University
Carolina looks forward to a most satisfactory association University of North Carolina at Greensboro
with the LS/2000 system. Of special significance to us is Durh F
the fact that the LS/2000 system is a product of OCLC 4 ah NOky Sakon an see Sie
Online Computer Library Center, Inc., whom most of our Winston-Salem North Carolina School of the Arts
libraries have depended on for computerized cataloging, Winston-Salem State University
interlibrary loan, and related services. The LS/2000 staff Pembrok Wari
at OCLC provides the level of vendor support and sty _ : bt a ig Se ae.
product development that The University needs to afford Asheville University of North Carolina at Asheville
maximum service {0 Its users. Wilmington University of North Carolina at Wilmington
With these additions, OCLC now supports 79 LS/2000 Cullowhee Western Carolina University

computer installations serving 143 libraries throughout the
United States and the United Kingdom.

IM! systems

6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, Ohio 43017-0702
614-764-6000

1986 Fall"139

The Cleve-net Library Project:
An Electronic Mail and Shared

Data Network

Douglas Perry

It all started in a 5,000 watt station in Fresno.
Ted Baxter

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Cleve-net was created in response to an invi-
tation for proposals issued by the North Carolina
Information Network Steering Committee in
1984. The Steering CommitteeTs task force on
ZOCTs (zones of cooperation) had funds available
to establish multi-type library network demon-
stration projects which would use new technology
for resource and information sharing. Cleveland
County librarians had worked together for years
in various low-tech cooperative ventures and felt
that the time was right to propose an ambitious
and pioneering project.

Like Ted BaxterTs start, Cleve-netTs origins
were humble indeed. Library directors from local
colleges invited the new public library director to
a welcome luncheon at a Shelby Chinese restau-
rant in July of 1980. These administrators enjoyed
each otherTs company enough to say, oWhy donTt
we do this more often?� Within three months the
heads of five Cleveland and neighboring county
public and academic libraries had met, proposed
a constitution and formed the Broad River Libra-
ry/Media Association. In response to the per-
ceived weakness of other local or regional library
associations, Broad River established itself as an
association of institutions rather than individu-
als. On this basis, the voting membership (library
directors or their appointed representatives)
could commit the staff and resources of partici-
pating libraries necessary to the success of coop-
erative projects. Projects were envisioned and
participation was encouraged for those institu-
tions which felt that some particular benefit was
to be gained for them. An altruistic appeal to self
sacrifice for the greater good of library science or
of other institutions was never encouraged. From

Douglas Perry is the former Director of the Cleveland County
Memorial Library and the former Project Director of Cleve-
net. Carol Heaven Wilson was appointed Library and Project
Director on July 1, 1986. Mr. Perry is now Director of the
Asheville-Buncombe Library System in Asheville, N.C.

140"North Carolina Libraries

the beginning the glue of self-interest has stuck
various Cleveland County libraries together for
the greater good of each and all.

Early Broad River projects included: a union
list of periodical subscriptions generated by a
common vendor, EBSCO, a union list of genealogi-
cal holdings and various shared continuing edu-
cation projects. In 1983, Broad River was granted
LSCA Special Project funds to standardize the
manual circulation systems of Cleveland Techni-
cal College, Gardner-Webb College, Mauney Memo-
rial Library and the Cleveland County Memorial
Library.

The above mentioned oCommon Card Proj-
ect� provided a standardized plastic library card
to patrons registered at each library and allowed
them to borrow and return books in any oCom-
mon Card� library. These cards were to be used
with Gaylord Model C chargers which each library
had acquired through the project. A weekly cour-
ier service was also established to route books
returned at participating libraries to their home
library. This courier duty was rotated through the
participating libraries, which promoted weekly
personal contact among librarians.

The Broad River Library/Media AssociationTs
activities from 1980 to 1984 are well character-
ized by the quotation from John NaisbittTs Meg-
atrends that we used in applying for the Cleve-net
grant:

o... networks are people talking to each other,
sharing ideas, information and resources ... net-
working is a verb, not a noun.

Networks exist to foster self-help, to ex-
change information, to change society, to improve
productivity and work life, and to share re-
sources.�!

Our early experiences with networking had
been successful and had proven beneficial to each
participant. By 1984 we felt confident that more
complex and involved network projects would be
practical and again beneficial. At this time the
State Network Steering CommitteeTs task force on
ZOCTs was making a second round of grants for

local networking. We envisioned a project that
would feature many of the elements that the state
committee would like to see and which would be a
logical extension of the groundbreaking coopera-
tive projects Broad River had already established.
We planned to create a system that could eventu-
ally be expanded as a means for the comprehen-
sive automation of functions in any of the
participating libraries.

Our proposal to the task force on ZOCTs was
to establish an on-line communications and
shared data network that would initially provide
four products: electronic mail, a shared database
of oCommon Card� patron registrations, an on-
line data base of periodical holdings and a local
information data base. These functions were to be
provided for an expanded group of libraries in
Cleveland County including: Cleveland County
Memorial Library, Cleveland Technical College,
Gardner-Webb College, Mauney Memorial Library
and the four high schools from the county's three
school districts. This consortium had become, in
fact, an all-inclusive roster of Cleveland County
public, academic and secondary school libraries.

The management plan for the Cleve-net proj-
ect called for a project director, assistant direc-
tor and task forces to address the questions
associated with the four products proposed. The
heads of each member library agreed to meet asa
group on a monthly basis and the task forces were
to meet as often as necessary. Each library was
involved in the project design and the acquisition
of project hardware and software. The final con-
figuration reflected a consensus of opinion that it
was the most beneficial design available given the
extent of our funding.

Proposals were heard from a variety of busi-
ness and library market vendors. A major consid-
eration in selection was to acquire a system
which was first expandable, then flexible enough
to support software from more than one source.
The multi-task, multi-user Datapoint 3200 super
microcomputer was chosen as the host process-
ing unit of the network because it could handle
the rather modest initial needs of the network
and could later be expanded to hold 300 meg-
abytes of storage, have 8 megabytes of main
memory and support 28 users. As communica-
tions between remote users was to be provided
over regular voice business telephone lines, ten
1200 baud modems were installed, one at each of
the seven remote libraries and three at Cleveland
County Memorial, home of the host computer.
Funds were not sufficient to provide seven
modems and seven incoming lines at the host, so
the remote libraries were divided among the

modems and schedules were worked out for their
access to the system. Schools have priority in the
morning and after they close at 3:00 pm, the other
public and academic libraries each can be on-line
for the rest of the day.

One of the most efficient aspects of the
hardware configuration was the use of IBM Per-
sonal Computers as the workstations at each site.
Use of PCs instead of dumb terminals allowed the
member libraries access to the vast world of off-
the-shelf business, educational and library appli-
cations software which could be used when they
were not in the network mode. Since installation
of the IBM PCs in September, 1985, different
libraries have used word processing, filing, SAT
test tutor, foreign language tutor, catalog card
production and general communications soft-
ware. These uses keep the hardware busy all day
when the station cannot or does not need to be
on-line with the network. Another interesting use
of the hardware outside the network is the addi-
tion of oBibliofile� laser cataloging at the Cleve-
land County Memorial Library. This will soon be
tied into the expanding network system as the
source of MARC cataloging for an on-line data
base of library holdings.

Another networking feature of Cleve-net is
the emergence of an IBM PC user group among
members who share help and information about
non-system use of the PCs. Cleve-net has been
built on an existing non-electronic network and in
turn is spawning new sub-networks.

... Cleve-netTs origins were
humble indeed.

One of the important features of the Data-
point 3200 host computer that has not been men-
tioned is that it runs a version of the Unix
operating system that allows the selection of sys-
tem software from more than one source. It was
initially planned to use some standard business
software and some custom-written software to
provide the four promised network products:
mail, patrons, periodicals and local information.
This plan was modified as non-LSCA funds were
made available to the project. Cleveland Memorial
funds were used to acquire Sirsi CorporationTs
Unicorn Library Management System which could
provide the Cleve-net products plus bibliographic
and circulation control. As mentioned before, the
Library CorporationTs oBibliofile� laser disk sys-
tem has also been added as a source of MARC
records for the emerging catalog and circulation
functions of the network.

1986 Fall"141

Cleve-net has been up and on-line since Sep-
tember, 1985. As soon as the host computer,
modems, telephone lines, remote PCs and soft-
ware were installed, electronic mail was fully
functional. Early messages were often of the oHi!
How are you?� genre. As the novelty of electronic
mail wore off, many more useful communications
were seen. The most frequent early messages were
requests for information on patrons registered at
other common card libraries who had overdue
books. This question has become less frequent as
thousands of patrons from all over the system
have been re-registered and input into the system
patron database. This database is searchable
from any Cleve-net terminal by name or registra-
tion number.

Much use of electronic mail has been made to
supplement the education of network members in
the use of the system. More knowledgeable users
are able to monitor off-site use of the system by
others and offer advice and correction. Through
the bulletin board feature of mail, events are
posted for all to read, and meetings of the
members are called.

Requests for reference assistance are sent to
members who are perceived as appropriate choic-
es. For instance, questions thought to be an-
swered by government documents are sent to
Gardner-Webb College, a selective government
document depository library. The high schools
especially use electronic mail for reference and
interlibrary loan as they cannot use the State
Library in-watts system. Cleve-net has provided a
revolutionary breakthrough that remedies the
isolation of the high schools. Most of them did not
even have telephones in their libraries before
Cleve-net. Outside information assistance was
rarely sought. Cleve-net has given high school
librarians daily electronic contact and regular in-
person contact with professionals and collections
from which they were isolated in the past.

Those readers who constantly play the office
game of otelephone tag� can appreciate the surety
of messages getting through as members check
their electronic mail boxes twice a day. The tele-
phone is still used if someone must be reached for
an answer immediately, but one must still catch
the intended party. Simply writing an electronic
mail message and looking for the answer the next
day can save a lot of wasted time. In an electronic
mail system which provides constant on-line
access to all members, it is possible to create a
feature to alert individual members as mail is
created for them. This was investigated but the
expense was not warranted at this stage of our
networkTs development.

142"North Carolina Libraries

The on-line patron registration file was envi-
sioned as a way to check the permanent record of
library users at the point of check out. The
expense in labor of maintaining a paper (Rolodex
type) file on patrons at the check out counter and
the time needed to check each borrower had pre-
vented us from having this kind of control in the
past. We have had no pre-checkout screening of
borrowers from other Cleveland County libraries
since the inauguration of the oCommon Card�
project.

Persons have been re-registered at the partic-
ipating libraries since October, 1985 and now the
status of users from any oCommon Card� library
can be quickly checked before lending materials.
The Cleveland County Memorial Library has
noticed an increase in the receipt of fines since
using the on-line patron file. By making comments
on the items long overdue or unpaid fines on the
individual patron record, any Cleve-net library
can have a convenient circulation control tool
short of implementing fully automated circula-
tion control.

The advantage of using the patron data base
software from an existing circulation control
package is that when Cleve-net libraries are ready
to invest in the additional communications and
item data base production necessary, they will
already have a usable patron file on-line. In keep-
ing with our design of a flexible system the patron
data base can be useful as an aid in a manual or
automated circulation control system.

The on-line patron registration
file was envisioned as a way to
check the permanent record of
library users at the point of
check out.

The union list of magazine holdings and the
local information data base have been configured
to use the Sirsi bibliographic control module. Both
fit into what is basically a bibliographic format
which can be searched by author, title or subject.
The magazine union list is being easily created by
filling in the blanks on a bibliographic template
screen. The Western North Carolina Library Asso-
ciation Union list of serials is being used as our
source of cataloging. Printed copies of the Cleve-
net magazine data base are placed in the maga-
zine index areas of each library to direct patrons
to the holdings of all Cleve-net libraries.

Patrons who seek a magazine held in another
Cleve-net library can most quickly get the desired

article by going to the holding library. Interlibrary
loan of photocopies can also be arranged by send-
ing a message over electronic mail. The desired
item can either then be mailed or slipped into a
courier box for delivery within a week. (High
school libraries have not yet been linked with the
courier.)

The local information data base uses the bib-
liographic template of the item data base to store
data on local agencies, organizations and clubs.
This includes the following: agency name, contact
person, address, telephone number, hours of
operation, eligibility, service provided and subject
and keyword classification of the organization.
The software will allow subject and agency name
searching of the data base from any Cleve-net
location. Subject searching will be based on an
authority file of subject headings which is sup-
plied to each operator. A hard copy file of agency
publications is being established for an in-depth
back-up to the data base, and a regular schedule
of information updating has been established.

The local information data base is a project of
special interest to the United Way. They had pre-
viously determined that such a resource was a
priority need in Cleveland County and they have
been very supportive of our efforts. They have
granted Cleveland County Memorial Library funds
for a special local information telephone line and
are helping gather and process information for
the data base. This feature should come on-line in
late summer of 1986. Jo Anne Owens of the Cleve-
land County Memorial Library has taken much of
the responsibility for the creation of this Cleve-net
product as the MasterTs project for her MLS
degree from the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro.

True to our design and intent, the completion of
our four initial projects does not mark the matur-
ity of Cleve-net, only its adolescence (othe onset of
puberty� doesnTt seem to be the right phrase). The
immediate future will bring the conversion and
loading of Cleveland County Memorial's complete
book and audiovisual data base into the host
computer's disk. This disk memory has just been
upgraded from 40 to 160 megabytes. With Cleve-
land MemorialTs item data base on-line, auto-
mated circulation control will begin. Other Cleve-
net libraries will be able to search Cleveland
Memorial's data base by author, title or subject
and request items for interlibrary loan on elec-
tronic mail.

It was hoped that all Cleve-net libraries
would be able to use the full circulation control
capability of the system this year, but the Cleve-
land County Commissioners turned down a capi-

tal fund request to bring our software license to
that level. This network enhancement is still
desirable and possible and can be accomplished if
the members pool resources from their separate
funding bodies or find other grants. When that
stage is finally reached, any Cleve-net library will
be able to search the holdings of any other
member. With this type of on-line access, interli-
brary loan requests should show a mighty
increase and our courier system might need to be
increased to a daily operation.

It could be possible to offer access to some of
the data bases of Cleve-net directly to the at-
home public in the future. We would need to add
a modem and telephone line dedicated to public
access and supply an access software diskette to
outside agencies or members of the public who
have IBM compatible personal computers and
modems. These outside users could search the
item and local information data bases and
request materials or information on a local bul-
letin board type of setup without having access to
confidential patron records.

Benefits of the consortium approach to
automation of circulation and later the public
access catalog include: reduced software costs,
shared hardware and software maintenance
costs and access to one another's collections. This
all-inclusive approach to automation has brought
libraries along which might not have gotten this
far in their development for years. We have all
learned from one another and feel the richer for
having worked together.

Much use of electronic mail
has been made to supplement
the education of network mem-
bers in the use of the system.

It is my opinion that public libraries exist to
serve any patron or client who comes to them for
help. This includes the young, the old, the rich, the
poor, the general public, and school and college
students. These students, whether public librar-
ians like it or not, come to us for help every day.
The network approach to fulfilling our mission
best serves those clients (i.e. students) for whom
our collection emphasis is not primarily geared.
By cooperative effort with local school and college
libraries we can help those librarians better serve
their user groups on campus or allow them to
send their users to us with a reasonable idea of
what service they can expect. In like manner,
these cooperating school and academic libraries
should welcome our primary user group, the

1986 Fall"143

general public, and with the enhanced user and
item control afforded by the union patron data
base and the courier service relax any barriers to
outside access which may have existed in the
past.

Within a service area like Cleveland County
the uplifting of any one library enhances all other
libraries. Cleve-net has brought progress in some
degree to all participants and especially has
ended the isolation of the high school libraries.
This enhancement has, in the final analysis,
brought greater access to information and pro-
fessional assistance to the publics of each and all
Cleve-net libraries. For the public, the whole is
definitely greater than the sum of its parts.

~Bp, ea

JN-GOOD READING

References

1. John Naisbett, Megatrends: ten new directions transforming
our lives (New York: Warner Books, 1982) 192.

Appendix

Cleve-net participating libraries

Burns High School, Hazel Olsby, Librarian

Cleveland County Memorial Library, Douglas Perry, Director

Cleveland County Technical College, Haley Dedmond, Dean of
Learning Resources

Crest High School, Melba Chandler, Librarian

Gardner-Webb College, Thelma Hutchins, Director

Kings Mountain High School, Sara Griffin, Librarian

Mauney Memorial Library, Rose Turner, Director

Shelby High School, Alma Carpenter, Librarian

ar)
pase

The ChildrenTs Book Council is observing the
bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution with three
striking full-color posters created by Charles
Mikolaycak. The posters depict groups of writers
whose work conveys the spirit of American let-
ters. The 17� X 22� oOur Constitution. Good Read-
ing� center piece is a sampling of American
literary notables. A precept in the Preamble of the
U.S. Constitution ties together the authors on
each 11� X 22� side poster: oEstablish Justice�
includes proponents of civil liberties and human
rights; oThe Blessings of LibertyT shows expa-
triates who appreciate the American,concern with
individual freedoms. A two-color schematic
oWhoTs Who� key, suitable for display, accompa-
nies the poster set; it identifies the authors whose
portraits appear in the posters and includes titles
and publication dates of famous works.

Charles Mikolaycak, creator of the Constitu-
tion posters, has illustrated more than 45 books
for young readers. He is a recipient of the Society
of Illustrators Gold Medal.

The full-color posters are printed on 100 lb.
cover weight stock. The set is shipped rolled in a
protective tube. The Constitution Poster Triptych

is available only as a set (three posters and the
okey�) from CBC for $27.50.

144"North Carolina Libraries

oOur Constitution: 200 Years,� a companion
piece to the Constitution Poster Triptych, appears
in the June, 1986"March, 1987 issue of CBC Fea-
tures, the CouncilTs newsletter. The piece includes
a brief, annotated bibliography of titles currently
available from many publishers on the subjects of
the U.S. Constitution, the founding fathers, and
the birth of the Republic. Accompanying the bibli-
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1986 Fall"145

The Wilson County Networking Project

Peter A. Bileckyj

The Wilson County Libraries Networking
Project is one of the five projects to grow out of
the response to the North Carolina Networking
Feasibility Study performed by King Research,
Inc. Some of the directors of libraries in Wilson
County"Josie Tomlinson, Wilson County Public
Library (WCPL); Jeannette Woodward, Atlantic
Christian College Library (ACCL); Shirley Greg-
ory, Wilson County Technical College Library
(WCTCL); Marian Spencer, Wilson Memorial Hos-
pital Learning Center/Library (WMH), and Jinny
Beddingfield, Eastern North Carolina School for
the Deaf (ENCSD)"had spoken informally among
themselves about the possibility of increased
cooperation among libraries in Wilson County
and had already begun work on a oWilson County
Libraries Brochure.� In May 1983 many of the
county's librarians met at a luncheon meeting at
the Wilson County Technical College Library to
discuss the librariesT response, if any, to the King
Study (in particular the matter of whether or not
to submit a proposal to become a ZOC [Zone of
Cooperation])and any other networking efforts
among themselves. At that meeting it was con-
cluded that most of the librarians did not feel
that their libraries were in a position to prepare a
proposal at that time; networking was a new
concept; and the King study appeared to imply a
need for very large projects, which most of the
librarians in Wilson did not feel ready to
undertake. Having made their reservations clear,
the librarians nonetheless expressed great inter-
est in joining together in local cooperative efforts,
thereby continuing in the spirit of the King study
without venturing dangerously into unknown
areas. The five libraries that had cooperated in
developing the brochure then decided that the
next useful project would be to develop a union
list of periodical holdings, the first version of
which was finally produced in early 1984.

Nineteen eighty-three and 1984 were the
years that microcomputers, mostly Apples, were
entering libraries and schools in Wilson County.
The oMicro Revolution� was having its first effects

Peter A. Bileckyj is Reference Librarian at Wilson County
Public Library and Project Director of the Wilson County
Networking Project, Wilson, NC.

146"North Carolina Libraries

on Wilson librarians, who with so many others,
were confronting a strange but potentially useful
tool. I had accepted the assignment of overseeing
the introduction of automation at the Wilson
County Public Library with its new Apple Ile and
hard disk drive; Shirley Gregory at the Wilson
County Technical College Library and Jeannette
Woodward at the Atlantic Christian College
Library were at similar stages with their institu-
tionsT Apples. All the librarians involved with
microcomputers were beginners and very soon
were confronting the sometimes exasperating
challenge of integrating microcomputers into
their institutionsT routines and of somehow also
tapping more of the potential claimed for micro-
computers. Responding as time and need permit-
ted, the librarians were able to bring word
processing and database management"at differ-
ent levels of sophistication and complexity"into
the work routines of all three libraries. The sense
remained, however, that something more was
possible.

This sense was in great part inspired by the
then heady microcomputing literature, particular-
ly microcomputing magazines. The professional
wisdom had it that to become comfortable with
microcomputers, one had to have time to oplay�
with them and that one needed to read the
literature to keep up with developments in the
quickly changing field. The more I read about
modems, baud rates, the Source, Compuserve,
electronic mail and electronic bulletin board
systems, the more it sounded as if an electronic
bulletin board system might be just the thing to
link libraries in Wilson County. Did not the letter
of the State Interlibrary Loan Code mandate a
thorough check of all local resources before
directing requests for materials and information
to the State Library in Raleigh? The longstanding
informal arrangement among WCPL, WCTCL and
ACCL whereby public services staff would call the
other libraries if they felt that another library
might have the book or information needed
demonstrated that information exchange within
the county could work. Why, then, not automate
it?

The notice of a request for proposals for the

second year of ZOC projects precipitated the
vague feelings of networking potential in the
county into something more definite. I shared my
ideas about a bulletin board system with Shirley
Gregory and Jeannette Woodward. In 1984 staff
members from the three libraries attended a
MUGLNC [Microcomputer Users Group for Librar-
ians in N.C.] workshop on telecommunications
and microcomputers, which demonstrated that
information exchange by way of microcomputers
was already being done in the microcomputing
community and in such a way that it would also
be feasible in Wilson County. To the feasibility
discussions I brought my very strong interest in
setting up a bulletin board system to facilitate
exchange information (ILL, reference, news,
notices, electronic mail) among libraries in the
county; while interested in this potential, Shirley
Gregory and Jeannette Woodward wanted to see
a networking project that would provide more
services than just a bulletin board system. The
successful union list of periodicals had demon-
strated the feasibility of producing very useful
bibliographical tools at a local level. Woodward
and Gregory saw in a countywide network of
linked microcomputers a new way to build union
lists and bibliographies, one that would make it
possible for librarians to exchange large amounts
of information without having to leave their
libraries or to exchange diskettes or hardcopy.
The three librarians, having cooperated often
before, found it easy to combine their respective
interests into what became the vision of the
proposal.

... the libraries had offered an
excellent model that was, re-
grettably, technologically un-
feasible ...

After explaining the goals and the likely
benefits to my director, Josie Tomlinson, I was
able to proceed with Gregory.and Woodward to
plan and produce the proposal. Joining the
original core group of five libraries were the three
high school libraries (Beddingfield High School,
Fike High School and Hunt High School), whose
participation was championed by Rebekah Over-
man, media supervisor of the Wilson County
Schools. The diversity of types of librarianship
(academic, public, school and special) repre-
sented and the nearness of the libraries to each
other (all in the same county and calling area)
boded well, we thought, for oZOC-ing.�

What the eight libraries finally offered was in

concept quite simple. They envisioned a network
that offered two major functions: a capacity to
exchange reference and related reference infor-
mation by way of a bulletin board system and a
capacity to build bibliographical products. The
literature abounded with references to successful
bulletin board systems, so the librarians felt
secure that they would be able to develop this
function. To show the capacity to produce useful
bibliographies, the libraries turned for a model to
the earlier success of the union list of magazines
and proposed to produce a union list of audio-
visual materials held by the eight libraries.
Because the two functions were related but
different, the planners had envisioned the net-
work as having at least two nodes. WCPL would
serve as the site for the bulletin board system
and its related activities, while ACCL would serve
as the major workstation site for any bibliograph-
ic efforts.

To understand some of the problems that the
project later encountered, one needs to under-
stand the plannersT thoughts about how to equip
the proposed network. The plannersT libraries all
had Apple IleTs, as did, for the most part, the high
school libraries. We saw the microcomputers
already in the institutions as a base for any future
network. To complete this base, each library that
did not have a microcomputer would be provided
with an Apple. All the libraries needed modems;
cables; telephone lines"which the proposal
would fund for all libraries for a specified period;
communications software; data base software and
any other hardware or software necessary to
maintain compatibility throughout the network.
Since two of the libraries, WCPL and WCTC, were
already using Condor III, a CP/M-based data base
management system [dbms], it was decided to
use that program throughout the network, this
meant that all the libraries also had to have CP/M
capacity.

During the preparatory deliberations for the
proposal, Woodward recommended that since all
the librarians in the county were still beginners in
the use of microcomputers, the planners should
also budget for a technical consultant who would
be able to guide the libraries through the
inevitable technical problems. This recommenda-
tion was incorporated into the proposal and
proved, as will be seen below, to be one of the
important safety nets for the entire project. When
the Wilson County Libraries were granted funding
in June 1984, they knew that they were embarking
on a trip into new territory; but none of the
librarians had any sense of how new new could be.
Among the earliest efforts of the consultant was
making that fact clear to them.

1986 Fall"147

The planners of the original proposal, with
the support of Josie Tomlinson, were able to send
out a request for a proposal for a technical con-
sultant by the end of the summer 1984. The
Request for a Proposal (RFP) was sent to five
organizations, only one of which, the Center for
Urban Affairs and Community Services, North
Carolina State University, responded. (The plan-
ners had decided that geographic proximity was
an important factor in the choice of a consultant
so we limited the distribution of the RFP to possi-
ble consultants in the Triangle and Piedmont
areas of the state. We reasoned that any consul-
tant from outside these areas would expend most
of the limited allotted funds in travel costs.) Need-
ing the technical assistance and seeing no reason
to expect that the center would not meet the
librariesT needs, the libraries accepted the bid as
offered by the center. With that acceptance, the
libraries began an intense nine-month relation-
ship with the center and their representative,
Gary Miller.

I met with Miller repeatedly in Raleigh, first
to explain what the libraries were attempting to
do and, as the enormity of the central problem
became clear, to learn how to correct it. Miller,
after listening to me, reviewing the proposal and
conferring with other experts at the center,
reported to me that what the libraries were
attempting to do was (1) in practice in advance
of the times (i.e., at the cutting edge of network-
ing), and (2) impossible in terms of the hardware
configuration of the original proposal. This report
announced the first crisis of the project and made
clear in dramatic terms how limited the experi-
ence of the Wilson County librarians was at that
stage.

In effect, the libraries had offered an excel-
lent model that was, regrettably, technologically
unfeasible with the equipment brought to the
project and the equipment that the planners had
thought necessary to purchase with funding from
the grant. Miller made it clear that the bulletin
board system functions of the network were not
under question; there were already hundreds of
functioning bbsTs, some at libraries, so there was
demonstrated precedent for that capacity. The
construction of bibliographic products over tele-
phone lines, however, offered problems that the
planners had not even known to consider. Our
vision saw the network allowing each librarian to
work at his or her library while building the union
list of audiovisual material at a workstation micro-
computer (at ACCL); the microcomputer in the
librarianTs library would work as a dumb-terminal
extension of the workstation microcomputer,

148"North Carolina Libraries

with the two microcomputers being linked by the
telephone lines and telecommunications soft-
ware. As Miller explained, the eight-bit technology
represented in the original proposal cannot
support the type of signal and file control that the
librariansT vision demanded. There was at least
one software package that might work as the
required intermediary between the distant-userTs
signals and the workstation microcomputerTs
operating system, but it would not work on any
eight-bit microcomputer. His recommendation
was, in short, that the network would absolutely
need to have at least one IBM PC-XT (with a 10
megabyte hard disk drive) to serve as the work-
station microcomputer. It should also seriously
consider having a second XT at the WCPL for the
bulletin board system function, since that would
provide backup coverage for the network in case
the workstation microcomputer were to malfunc-
tion and would provide the technology and
storage capacity to run a bulletin board system
adequately.

The successful union list of
periodicals has demonstrated
the feasibility of producing
very useful bibliographical
tools at a local level.

I reported the news of the crisis to the other
planning librarians. After explaining the problem
to the State Library, we received permission to
modify the original configuration in whatever
manner necessary to make the network work.
Because the proposal had already been funded,
we had to work within the total amount of the
grant. At first, this limitation was a source of
concern for us, but as we worked with the
consultantTs hardware and software recommen-
dations, we were able to recast the configuration
more easily than we had expected, in particular
because the new software recommendation ap-
peared to make the multiple copies of Condor
that the libraries had originally budgeted unnec-
essary. We found that the crisis appeared to be a
blessing in disguise.

The planning librarians and Miller presented
the results of our respective findings to all the
librarians involved with the project in a special
meeting in November 1984. Now that an all-Apple
network was shown to be unworkable but that a
mixed-type-network appeared to be feasible, the
two institutions not bringing microcomputers
into the networkK"ENCSD and WMH"had to

decide which type of microcomputer each wanted
the project to purchase for it. ENCSD chose an
Apple because of that microcomputerTs proven
capacity to serve well in an educational context;
WMH chose an IBM PC to maintain compatibility
with the HospitalTs commitment to IBM hardware.

With the consultantTs assistance, the libraries
were able to prepare the requisite bids for
hardware and software and to send them out just
before the Christmas holidays. The next few
months saw a complex round of complications
and errors. Orders for microcomputers, in par-
ticular for the two XTTs, were either lost or
Significantly delayed. Serving as the project's
fiscal agent, Atlantic Christian College Library
spent much time tracing down orders that
vendors had misdirected or misunderstood. Out
of the process of trying to sort out what happened
with the orders, ACCL discovered that one
institution ordering for another often disrupts
vendorsT ways of providing services. The delay in
receiving needed equipment inevitably slowed
down all networking efforts.

While the libraries were dealing with the
frustrations of ordering and receiving hardware,
the consultant was looking into the utility of the
software package, Softerm PC, which we hoped
would enable the libraries to build the union list
of audiovisual materials on the workstation micro-
computer. Working with Softerm PC and Condor
III, Miller and his associates discovered that the
project had been stymied by technology again.
The Softerm PC performed very well as the
telecommunications intermediary between the
outside caller and the host microcomputerTs
Operating system. It was possible to call up
Condor III, open files, etc. from another micro-
computer, but with an important restriction: the
user at the distant microcomputer could not see
anything on the screen. The designers of Condor
and of most single-user software had not intend-
ed their programs to rely entirely on calls to DOS,
which can slow down the performance of the soft-
ware; in certain functions the software bypasses
the operating system to engage the microcom-
puterTs hardware directly, thereby adding to the
Speed of operation and also effectively guaran-
teeing that the program cannot be used in a multi-
user environment. While it was possible to access
the data base management system (dbms), it was
useless to do so. The vision of building the data
base at one workstation while working at a
distant microcomputer appeared, once again, to
be an unobtainable one.

The planners had no recourse but to recon-
figure the networking arrangements yet another

time. In light of the consultantTs discoveries, we
struggled to maintain as much networking capa-
city as the then-current state of microcomputer
technology would permit. We were also con-
strained by the hardware that was already in the.
system and the hardware that had been ordered.
The power of the vision still gripped us, however,
so we looked into other operating systems, in
particular the Pick operating system and Xenix.
From the literature, it appeared that both offered
multiuser capacity similar to what the libraries
had proposed originally, so we made use of our
consultant again to see what he could find out.
His research brought news that disappointed us
again, but at least in the case of the Pick operating
system, it showed that we were looking in the
right area.

The Pick operating system had sparked much
hope because of its nature as a dbms-Ucum-
operating system and its multiuser capacity. (its
dbms capacity makes it an ideal system for
library-type applications, which is why at least
one of the major library system automation
vendors, Dynix, uses this operating system.)
Regrettably, we had to abandon this lead to fuller
networking because the consultant learned that
Apples could not communicate with an IBM PC
running Pick.

That left the other option, Xenix, a Microsoft
version of the multiuser operating system Unix,
which had become available for the IBM PC-XT.
While affording multiuser capacity, this operating
system could not guarantee that all the libraries
would have access to or compatibility with the
necessary applications software. The libraries
also had to consider the fact that all the operating
system and applications software, not at all
inexpensive, would still need to be purchased out
of already depleted funds. The consultant also
warned us of the likely steep learning curve
involved in using the system and of the lack of
technical expertise in the area to draw upon for
assistance. The Pick operating system, while
admittedly a risk, had the obuilt-in� dbms compo-
nent to commend it; Xenix had nothing similar
and offered more uncertainties than the libraries
felt comfortable in confronting.

Finally convinced that their vision of multi-
user capacity was unobtainable in terms of what
the libraries had to work with, the planners
concentrated on making the best of what they
had. After two crises and an increasing amount of
experience using microcomputers, it became
apparent that the thinking behind the configura-
tion originally offered in the proposal was quite
sound overall for what the libraries could actually

1986 Fall"149

do. The bulletin board system capacity at WCPL
had never been lost, so we knew that we had a
base for networking. To make the capacity to
develop bibliographical products a real one, we
now saw the network in terms of distributive
capacity, in which each institution would build its
own data bases, which each in turn would send to
the workstation microcomputer at ACCL over the
telephone lines using the telecommunications soft-
ware that each would need to access any of the
other microcomputers. At the workstation micro-
computer, the separate files would be joined and
sorted to produce a master union list.

The decision to standardize on one dbms
program, Condor, meant that despite the oApples
and IBMs� problem, each institution would be
producing files for the same program, either in
MS-/PC-DOS format or in Apple CP/M format. By
using the same program on different machines,
we were assuring compatibility of data files.
Experiments with the exchange of trial data
bases between an Apple Ile and an IBM PC-XT
confirmed what the planners knew in theory. But
what if the communications link broke down or
otherwise became unusable? Or what if it took too
long to transfer a very large file to the workstation
microcomputer? An article in the December 1984
issue of Byte indicated that transfers of large files
can be lengthy operations, whereby the two micro-
computers would be tied up for what could be
long periods of time. After our experiences in just
coordinating meetings among all the librarians
involved, we wondered how practical transferring
files over telephone lines would always be in the
real world of the very different types of schedules
in the eight libraries; therefore we also hoped to
find another means to transfer files to supple-
ment the telephone lines or, if that route finally
proved to be impractical, to replace it. Fortunate-
ly I had chanced upon an advertisement for a
utility card, the Apple Turnover card from Vertex,
that converts Apple CP/M files ~to MS-/PC-DOS
files and vice versa. (The literature indicated that
such a program such as Media Master alone,
which appears to offer this type of conversion for
every other (or almost so) CP/M format could not
work for Apple CP/M files because of the special
nature of CP/M for Apples. This information was
our first indication that the many parts of the
CP/M world were not as compatible as some of
the literature had claimed.) The project pur-
chased the card to test it and found that it works
well for the librariesT purposes, thereby guaran-
teeing file transfer and networking capacity
between the two types of microcomputers.

The matter of the bulletin board system had

150"North Carolina Libraries

almost been forgotten in the many crises attend-
ing the area of file transfers and file compatibility.
Since working within the total budgetary amount
after the networking reconfigurations had left the
project with fewer resources, it became important
for the libraries to maximize the return on what
was left. The consultant had been involved in all
the plannersT deliberations and understood our
position. His recommendation for the remaining
software needed was to use public domain and
shareware software; the low cost involved and the
reputed reliability made this route appear to be
the best course. For the telecommunications soft-
ware, the libraries would use Modem/7, an older
but well-tested CP/M program, for the Apples
and PC-Talk for the IBMs. For the bulletin board
system itself the consultant recommended
oRESPOND Bulletin Board System� (RBbsS-PC), a
very inexpensive but very functional program
from the Capital Area PC Users Group in Silver
Springs, Md. He arranged through his sources for
the libraries to receive Modem7, and the libraries
procured RBbsS directly from the source.

Once these decisions had been made, the
problems of olost� and missing hardware resolved
and the equipment brought to the right owners, it
was possible, so the libraries thought, to get down
to the matter of bringing up both parts of the
network. That meant arranging for telephone
lines to be installed wherever needed, getting the
bulletin board package running at WCPL, arrang-
ing for all the institutions to receive the needed
version of the Condor data base entry form, etc.
for the audiovisual list, preparing instruction
sheets and solving all the little problems that kept
cropping up. Fall 1985 and early winter 1986 were
devoted to this endeavor. Without the assistance
of all the librarians involved in the project and the
special assistance of Mark Turik, local dentist and
computer dealer/consultant, the project would
have fallen even more behind.

The planners aimed for a special meeting in
January 1986, to be held at ACCL, to which all the
librarians involved in the project and representa-
tives of the State Library were to be invited.
Working with the assistance of all the librarians
involved, we were able to establish the foundation
of networking capacity in the county in time for
that meeting. At that meeting all the librarians
were introduced to the operational bbss and its
potential uses and were given preliminary instruc-
tion about entering their institutionsT data into
the audiovisual materials data base. After so
many crises and interruptions, the parts of the
network had begun to come together and were
working.

This optimism was soon to prove premature,
as some of the librarians involved discovered new
problems. It had become apparent even before
the January meeting that the network might yet
experience more problems of incompatibility,
even in cases where the planners had ensured
compatibility. The first major problem involved
the CP/M cards needed by the Apple-using
libraries to run Condor and to communicate with
the bbss using Modem7. The planners all had
older Apple IleTs and older CP/M cards, for which
the version of Modem7 that was supplied to the
network was configured. With our Apple IleTs it
worked well, so we assumed that this version
would work in the other Apples in the system. The
newer Microsoft CP/M cards that the Project had
purchased were, however, so significantly differ-
ent in structure and in placement in the Apples
that the version of Modem7 configured for the
networkTs use would not work. Microsoft, the
libraries discovered, was not necessarily consist-
ent with Microsoft.

The planners immediately recognized the
seriousness of this problem and decided as a stop-
gap measure to see whether there was any
software at hand that the Apple-using libraries
could use to access the bulletin board system. The
details of transferring CP/M files would have to
wait until the more pressing problem of how to
enable these libraries to access the bbss was
solved. ACCL has been using Data Capture suc-
cesfully for its on-line searching, so we decided to
see how that program would work on the other
Apples. Wé quickly discovered that the program
would not work on the newly enhanced Apple
IleTs that had entered the network. Apple Com-
puters had changed the design of the Apple Ile by
using the 65C02 chip, a modified version of the
6502 found in the older Apples; the changes were
sufficient to make different models of the same
basic microcomputer at best only semicompatible.

While puzzling over the communications
impasse, the librarians who were to use the CP/M
version of Condor and the planners were also
confronting the arcana of CP/M as an operating
system and the logistical shuffle of running a
sophisticated dbms such as Condor on a two-
floppy-disk-drive microcomputer. Gregory and I,
who frequently went to these libraries to assist as
we could, quickly discovered that despite much
good will, the staffs at institutions such as
Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf
Library and the three high school libraries found
it difficult to find time away from their other,
often non-library-related responsibilities to mas-
ter enough of the CP/M operating system to make

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working with Condor a pleasant (or at least
tolerable) experience. Even we who had some ex-
perience with CP/M were far from expert at using
it and were occasionally stymied by CP/MTs
cryptic (and erratically produced) error mes-
sages. While the decision to bring oinherited�
microcomputers into the network necessitated
the use of CP/M and CP/M-based software, the
complexity of the operating system made it less
than ideal for training inexperienced microcom-
puter users.

In contrast to the setbacks with the Apple
IleTs, the experience of libraries using IBM PC's
were generally forward-looking and positive. As I
became more comfortable with using the IBM PC-
XT at WCPL and explored more of the software
available for it, I began to understand what the
consultant had meant when in the November
1984 meeting he had said that eight-bit micro-
computer technology was out of date. The IBC PC
users had no software problems accessing the
bulletin board system. In the beginning they used
PC Talk and later shifted to Qmodem. With both
programs, after a few minutes of instruction they
were able to access the bbsm and were ready to
explore the software by themselves to discover its
other capabilities. Their experience with Condor,
while not quite so simple, proved similar.

1986 Fall"151

Through continued reading in microcomput-
ing magazines and purchases, I soon discovered
large amounts of inexpensive, reliable free- and
sharewise programs for the IBM PC that, because
of its easiness to use, made us realize how much
simpler it would have been for all had the project
been configured to give each institution an IBM
PC-XT"or at least an IBM PC. In that way all the
libraries would be using the same hardware and
software. Learning problems, while always pres-
ent, would have been fewer and less severe
because the universe of potential problems would
be smaller and more easily addressable. Just the
increased ease-of-use factor in the software,
which would be a criterion of selection and use,
would have reduced a potentially severe problem.
The increased ease-of-use factor in the hardware
would have saved both planners and users many
frustrating and exasperating hours.

... (the libraries) have bene-
fitted from the greatly in-
creased awareness of each oth-
er and of their respective na-
tures and responsibilities.

An important, if also partial, solution to the
network's problems appeared late in the 1985-86
school year, when each of the three high school
libraries received an IBM PC-XT from the county
school administration. These microcomputers
arrived too late for the libraries to be fully
integrated into the network before the end of
classes, but barring major hardware problems
(e.g., a faulty hard disk drive), it will be a simple
process of double checking for correct cables and
of instructing the librarians in the use of the tele-
communications software (Qmodem), which the
network has tried and tested, to enable them to
access the bbs when the 1986-87 school year
begins. These libraries have already made provi-
sions to purchase the PC DOS version of Condor,
so these libraries are ready to join the network
fully. (Any files that they have already prepared
using the Apple CP/M version of Condor can
easily be converted using the Apple Turnover
Card at ACCL, so none of their efforts have been
wasted.)

The project has still to solve the problem of
the enhanced Apple Ile at the ENCSD, which will
not be replaced by an IBM PC of any kind. At
absolute minimum, the planners need to find a
telecommunications package that can connect
ENCSD with the bulletin board system and that is

152"North Carolina Libraries

inexpensive. (Since July 1985, the effective end of
the grant, the project has had no funds.) More
desirable would be a program that also would
enable ENCSD to transfer Apple CP/M files over
the telephone lines; this capacity is not absolutely
necessary, however, since the network can, as
noted, already translate Apple CP/M files into MS/
PC-DOS files.

Much of this case study has dealt with the
problems of the project. I have dealt openly with
them because the project has had to confront
what has sometimes felt like an overabundance of
problems, and the libraries would like to save
other libraries working with networking from
similar problems. The final story about the project
in Wilson County, however, concerns its successes,
which have been real and exciting.

In the more than two years since networking
has come to the libraries, they have benefited
from the greatly increased awareness of each
other and of their respective natures and respon-
sibilities. Real acquaintance and honest, useful
professional exchanges have grown out of the
interactions to bid for the project and all the
trials to build the networking capacities. The idea
of cooperation has taken on a prominence among
the libraries that it never had before 1984. This
does not mean that the county librarians no
longer have their differences or that everyone
involved in the project is always excited about
everything that is being done. For example, there
still are problems with getting everyone who can
access the bbs to use it frequently, and no one
knows how much the high schools and ENCSD
will be able to use the bbs once they can access it.
But overall the librarians in the county have
moved closer to each other professionally, which
has meant that we have been able to exchange
more with each other and to help each other
more readily.

The project has forced the libraries to
confront the new technology in ways that,
without the impetus of the project, many of the
libraries probably would not have considered. The
planners and other librarians alike have had to
learn from all the problems. While none of us is an
expert in microcomputers, our efforts against the
otechnological odds� have been remarkably suc-
cessful. The libraries have worked out feasible,
effective means to deal with the problem of
operating system and file incompatibility; while
not as oideal� as any of us might like, the measures
do work. Our experiments with transferring files
led to some practical observations. One of the
most useful is that it is possible to transfer files
from a local library to a larger utility, in our case

the VAX system of North Carolina Educational
Computing Services (NCECS), and then to down-
load the file to another microcomputer in the
county from NCECS"only it is too expensive to
do so with the current rate structure. The use of a
local bbs, such as the one at WCPL or the
duplicate one that can be set up at any time at
ACCL, makes much more sense for unattended
file transfers.

Continuing in this vein, the libraries are
getting ready to experiment with file transfers
using null modem cables. In this arrangement,
two computers, either of the same type or
different, are connected by a null modem cable, a
special cable that permits data to move from one
microcomputer to the other without the use of
modems. The libraries have produced two union
lists of periodicals for the first five libraries that
worked together. The planners have decided,
however, that the next updated version will list
the periodicals holdings of all eight of the libraries
and will not be done on an Apple Ile using
General Manager, a cumbersome approach in
light of the newer hardware and software options
available in the network. But what of the files that
the five libraries have already developed, which
with relative ease could be updated instead of
being redeveloped on another package? Once
again the literature offered a suggestion, the null
modem route. Why not stream the fixed-length-
field data files from General Manager into
Condor, also a fixed-length-field dbms, on the IBM
PC-XT at ACCL, on which we shall have dupli-
cated the General Manager form? If it works, five
of the libraries will have saved themselves a great
deal of work; if not, they will know that they have
tried and will have to redo their records using
Condor. Either way, all the institutionsT records
would end up in the same (or close enough) file
format. If not successful with that particular
combination of packages, the approach might
work with other, more closely related packages.
Out of the challenge of adversity, the libraries
have shown themselves willing to address the
challenge.

None of the planners would deny that had we
the opportunity to take what we know now and
address the project anew, we would configure
everything very differently from the way we did in
May 1984. We knew that we were inexperienced
then"just not how inexperienced. The efforts to
develop the project into a working Zone of
Cooperation have forced all of us to react and to
learn, and thereby to become much more knowl-
edgeable. Gregory, Woodward and I have learned
from each other; we have also learned much from

WoodwardTs special assistant at ACCL, Joann
Rago, whose natural affinities for microcomput-
ers should be the envy of any microcomputer
expert and whose efforts were often crucial in
determining the results of our experiments and in
solving problems. We four in turn have profited
greatly from working with Mark Turik, the local
dentist who also is an expert on IBM PC's. This
teaming interaction has in turn made it possible
for us to assist the high school librarians, the
librarians at WMH and the librarian at ENSCD. As
these librarians have become more secure in
using microcomputers, they have been able to give
us new insights into how microcomputers can be
used by all of us. Even when there has been
friction or misunderstanding among us, it has
been a creative process, since it has forced the
parties involved to look at the other library's or
librariesT needs in another light and to invoke a
variant of the oGolden Rule� of behavior and
expectation.

Before the proposal was sent out in 1984, a
librarian confronted me with a question about the
oworth� of a certain type of library in the system:
What could they possibly give if they do not have
many ... etc.? The experience of the project has
shown that the giving has actually gone both
ways. It has been possible to give in time and
expertise and still take away new professional
knowledge. The fact that the oconsulting� and
exchange of ideas has been given freely and
received openly (but not without questions and
criticism) has forged a mutually respectful atmos-
phere among the librarians and has made the
project anything but stale or routine. The libraries
have grown to expect this sense of cooperation
among themselves even as they may disagree
about details. The exchanges during planning
sessions or over the bbs show this.

The efforts to develop the proj-
ect into a working zone of
cooperation has forced all of
us to react and to learn, and
thereby to become much more
knowledgeable.

Apparently the experiment is working, since
libraries outside the county have also been
availing themselves of the potential. The State

Library has been a very active user of the bbs
and thereby has demonstrated that a bbs is a

very effective means to avoid telephone tag when
trying to leave someone else a message, something

1986 Fall"153

that those of us who have been able to access the
bbs within the county have long known. Other
librarians, both near to and far from Wilson
County, have also ovisited� the bbs, and with one
of these I have had talks about the possibility of
more exchange of ILL and reference information
between that librarianTs county and the libraries.
On a still broader statewide front, the willingness
of three of the libraries, ACCL, WCTC and WCPL,
to accept the State LibraryTs offer to join the new
networking arrangements (OCLC, ILL and the
state-wide electronic mail/bulletin board system)
derives in good part from the strides the libraries
have made in networking in the county.
Networking has not come easily to Wilson
County, as this study has made clear, but it has
come and will stay. With more experience at the
beginning, the libraries might have had fewer
problems developing capacity; but despite the
early inexperience, the libraries have developed
the double capacity that they proposed to
develop. In the process, all of us who have been
working on the project have been able to develop
new skills and prepare ourselves and our col-
leagues better for the technological and concep-
tual changes that have already made themselves
felt throughout the profession.

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154"North Carolina Libraries

Instructions for the Preparation
of Manuscripts

for North Carolina Libraries

1. North Carolina Libraries seeks to publish articles, book
reviews, and news of professional interest to librarians in
North Carolina. Articles need not be of a scholarly nature,
but they should address professional concerns of the library
community in the state.

2. Manuscrips should be directed to Frances B. Branburn, Edi-
tor, North Carolina Libraries, Central Regional Education

Center, Gateway Plaza, 2431 Crabtree Boulevard, Raleigh,
N.C. 27604.

3. Manuscripts should be submitted in triplicate on plain white
paper measuring 8%Tx11".

4. Manuscripts must be double-spaced (text, references, and
footnotes). Manuscripts should be typed on sixty-space lines,
twenty-five lines to a page. The beginnings of paragraphs
should be indented eight spaces. Lengthy quotes should be
avoided. When used, they should be indented on both
margins.

5, The name, position, and professional address of the author
should appear in the bottom left-hand corner of a separate
title page.

6. Each page after the first should be numbered consecutively
at the top right-hand corner and carry the authorTs last
name at the upper left-hand corner.

7. Footnotes should appear at the end of the manuscript. The
editors will refer to The Chicago Manual of Style, 13th edi-
tion. The basic forms for books and journals are as follows:

Keyes Metcalf, Planning Academic and Research Library
Buildings New York: McGraw, 1965), 416.

Susan K. Martin, oThe Care and Feeding of the MARC
Format,� American Libraries 10 (September 1979): 498.

8. Photographs will be accepted for consideration but cannot
be returned.

9. North Carolina Libraries is not copyrighted. Copyright rests
with the author. Upon receipt, a manuscript will be acknowl-
edged by the editor. Following review of a manuscript by at
least two jurors, a decision will be communicated to the writ-
er. A definite publication date cannot be given since any
incoming manuscript will be added toamanuscript from
which articles are selected for each issue.

Issue deadlines are February 10, May 10, August 10, and
November 10.

The Western North Carolina Library
Network: oWell Begun is Half Done�

Deborah B. Babel

a ce ER

This is the story of the beginning of a net-
work. The libraries of the three western campuses
of the University of North Carolina system agreed
in 1983 to cooperate and form a network which
would enable all three to have on-line catalog and
circulation systems. The institutions are Appa-
lachian State University (ASU) in Boone; the Uni-
versity of North Carolina at Asheville (UNC-A);
and Western Carolina University (WCU) in Cullo-
whee. The network they formed is called the
Western North Carolina Library Network
(WNCLN).

The article describes the origins of the net-
work, how it came to be, and the reasoning that
went into its creation. The network itself is then
described, how it functions and what it purports
to do.

This story has only just begun. Early profiling
for the local system has started, yet at the time of
writing, the central computer has not been deli-
vered, and the telecommunications have not been
connected. The reason there is a story to tell at all
is that the Western North Carolina Library Net-
work has been a project well thought out and
carefully planned. As the libraries encounter the
early stages of implementing the local system,
they already see the value in the hours spent in
discussions and planning. They have faced deci-
sions, and discussed problems and solutions that
many libraries do not encounter until the ques-
tions are asked by the project manager.

This article is intentionally non-technical,
and of necessity refrains from in-depth analysis
and discussion. Its purpose is to describe how the
network came to be, and what it is.

How Did the Western North Carolina Network
Come About?

It would be nice to say that the network
emerged because cooperation makes sense and is
in itself an admirable, achievable goal. This was
not entirely the case with WNCLN. As with so
many other ventures, this one emerged as the

Deborah B. Babel is Head, Catalog Department & Coordinator
for Library Computer Applications at Hunter Library, Western
Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723.

result of several less lofty factors. The others
fueled it. That the participants are inclined to
cooperate anyway helped tremendously during
the formative stages of the network.

Primary Factors

There were four main factors that contrib-
uted to the formation of the network. These were
timing, common sense, economics and support.
Timing

Each of the libraries was already committed
to preparation for an automated system. In 1983,
when the initial talks took place, ASU had issued
a request for information for an automated
library system, and had completed more than half
of a retrospective conversion project. UNC-A had
begun a recon project, with the intention of clos-
ing the card catalogs. WCU had completed a
recon project and was beginning to write a
request for proposal for an automated library sys-
tem. During the various interchanges that accom-
panied these events, it was evident that each
school would need, within a relatively short time,
a large infusion of money to support the purchase
of an automated system. As each is a state-sup-
ported institution, the primary source of funds
was the same for all. That is where common sense
came in.

Western North Carolina Library Network



4, Boone (Appalachian State

cé University)
, Asheville (UNC-Asheville)

*Cullowhee (Western Carolina University)

Figure 1

Common Sense

It was obvious that the requests for automa-
tion should be coordinated. Each library under-
standably wanted full funding, and each wanted
to keep its request in line with the others.
Moreover, the libraries needed to convince the leg-
islators that this would be money well spent. This

1986 Fall"155

last consideration led to the third of the primary
reasons for the network, economics.
Economics

In seeking to justify automation, the libraries
suspected they might be able to afford a better
system collectively than they would be able to
purchase individually. General cost figures gath-
ered during 1984 supported this theory. The
initial figures showed that for the same amount of
money it would take to put an on-line catalog in
each library, a shared on-line catalog with circu-
lation systems for each library could be pur-
chased.
Support

Without early, whole-hearted support from
the library directors and their respective adminis-
trations, the network would have remained a
dream. Convinced by the factors listed above, the
administrations of the three institutions have fos-
tered the wide-reaching implications of coopera-
tion by their support for this additional service to
the western part of North Carolina. This support
has been essential to the early success of the net-
work.

Secondary Factors

Three secondary factors fueled the progress
of the network. These were the similarities of the
collections and the cataloging histories, and
external events.

Similarities of the Collections

Each school supports a basic undergraduate
curriculum, and is mandated by the state to have
these materials available on campus. While this
does not permit the libraries to save money by
purchasing fewer copies of the books, it was
thought that there was substantial overlap
among the titles of the three collections. Storage
requirements for an automated system would be
greatly lessened in a union catalog where only one
bibliographic record would appear for each title,
regardless of how many copies were held in the
network. Preliminary title counts showed a grand
total of 750,000 titles in the combined collections.
With the duplicates eliminated from a machine-
readable tape in which all three collections were
merged, the title count dropped to close to
600,000.

Similarities of Cataloging

The cataloging departments of the three
libraries share similar policies in that they use
Library of Congress classification and subject
headings for current cataloging. Each has applied
current cataloging rules and LC interpretations,
and each was a charter member of SOLINET.
That the policies were similar has not insured uni-

156"North Carolina Libraries

formity of practices. The foundations were similar
enough so as not to preclude cooperation because
of incompatible or unresolvable differences in
cataloging records. Since the network is based on
the idea of a union catalog, it was mandatory that
the cataloging departments cooperate. The degree
of cooperation that has taken place among these
departments has been outstanding, and is becom-
ing characteristic of the network.

External Events

At approximately the same time that early
planning was taking place in the west, the Univer-
sity LibrariansT Advisory Council, a committee of
the library directors of the UNC system, began to
explore the possibility of a coordinated request to
the state legislature for funding to automate all
the libraries of the UNC system. The reasons for
this were essentially the same as those which
propelled the western network. The result was a
coordinated request for library automation fund-
ing from the UNC libraries. Funding was approved
for this state-wide project in 1985. Receipt of this
funding gave life to the Western North Carolina
Library Network. Two years of planning an idea
gave way that year to reality.

... the Western North Carolina
Library Network has been a
project well thought out and
carefully planned.

What Is the Western North Carolina Library
Network? x

The description of the network will fall into
two broad categories. The first is the purpose of
the network; the second, its form and structure.

Intent and Purpose of the Network

The bylaws of WNCLN state three objectives
for the network: to establish and maintain an on-
line catalog and circulation system for the librar-
ies of its members; to increase access of students
and faculty of each institution to the resources of
the members; and to investigate and pursue other
avenues of cooperation.

On-line Catalog and Circulation System

The primary purpose of WNCLN is to auto-
mate the catalogs and to provide automated cir-
culation for the libraries. This has been met
through the acquisition and installation of the
LS/2000 system. As implementation of the system
takes place, careful consideration will insure that
future cooperative agreements may take place

without technical interference from the profile.
For example, although cooperative circulation is
not in effect among the libraries, the profiling
and planning for bar codes is being done so as
not to preclude its taking place in the future.
Increased Access

The second objective is to increase access to
the librariesT collections. By taking advantage of
advances in automation and telecommunications,
the three universities can expand access to their
resources to a much broader area than has been
possible traditionally. By making records avail-
able on-line, the collections of the universities will
be available for the first time to one another.
Access to the catalog will also be possible from
outside the library buildings. Those with access to
microcomputers equipped with modems will be
able to dial into the system and search the hold-
ings of the three libraries. Access will also be pos-
sible from terminals on each campus that are
connected to the campus mainframes. Once this
is done, the stage is set for the third objective,
further cooperation.
Further Cooperation

Other services which will add value to the
network include document delivery, a network
interlibrary loan agreement, cooperative circula-
tion agreements, and possibly cooperative collec-
tion development to support the research needs
of graduate students and faculty. These are pos-
sibilities and do not necessarily constitute a plan
of action.

Form and Structure of the Network

The network exists mechanically and techni-
cally through the data base, telecommunications,
and governance structures.

Data Base.
The central product of the network is a data

base of some 600,000 bibliographic records, or
titles, with nearly 1,000,000 items, or volumes. The
on-line catalog will provide for public access and
bibliographic maintenance, and is integrated with
a circulation subsystem that will operate inde-
pendently at each library.

The libraries share a Data General MV10000,
which is located at Appalachian State University,
in Boone. OCLCTs LS/2000 software will enable
creation and maintenance of the union catalog.
Holdings of the three libraries will be accessible
from terminals located in each library. The union
display will be complemented by an institution-
only default, which will first display to the user
the titles housed in that institution.

The libraries will download cataloging
through the OCLC interface, directly into the local

system.
Telecommunications

The network wouldnTt exist if it had no way to
connect the libraries. The connection system used
by WNCLN is the state-wide data communications
network operated by the University of North
Carolina Educational Computing Service (UNC-
ECS), an agency which also offers services to non-
UNC institutions. The telecommunications net-
work is known as LINC NET, and will provide
access to the libraries of the UNC system, once all
are on-line.

Telecommunications of WNCLN
with LINC NET (Western N.C.)

Winston-Salem

SP ngs
: bt

ie 4)
~Charlotte

""""" Western NC Library Networ
--------- LINC NET (UNC-ECS)

Figure 2

WNCLN will add additional high grade lines
between the institutions, and use quad switching
multiplexers (QSMs) to communicate between
the libraries. The QSMs automatically calculate
the most efficient route for message traffic. There
will also be two lines connecting ASU to each of
the remote locations, WCU and UNC-A. A single
line will run between WCU and UNC-A to provide
additional backup.

Redundancy is characteristic of LINC NET.
The redundancy in the library network is consid-
ered crucial to the success of the shared system.
All three libraries are well aware of the quirks of
nature that periodically disable telephone con-
nections and cause power outages. These inter-
ferences are perilous to electronic messages
under any circumstances. To carry messages suc-
cessfully over hundreds of miles of mountainous
terrain requires several levels of backup. The two
remote institutions are particularly sensitive to
the potential problems, and view the redundancy
as essential, and not at all frivolous.

Governance

The governance of WNCLN consists of even
representation, not only institutionally, but across
library functions. The structure is neither unique
nor revolutionary. It functions. Although the cur-
rent membership of the network contains three
state-supported universities, the bylaws do not
preclude membership in the network by other
libraries.

1986 Fall"157

Documentation for the network consists of a
set of bylaws and a memorandum of understand-
ing agreed to by the administrations of each insti-
tution. These two documents describe the struc-
ture outlined below.

The executive board directs and controls the
affairs of the network, and is responsible for
financial decisions. It is a six-member group,
composed of the library directors of each library
and a representative appointed by the chancellor
of each institution.

Western North Carolina Library Network
Governance Structure

EXECUTIVE
BOARD
(6 members)

UNCA

Chancellor-
designate

ASU \ Librarian

WCU

NETWORK ADVISORY COMMITTEE
(6 members)

ASU
UNCA } 1 Public Ser.
WCU 1 Tech. Ser.

Sob raagidd Phat, Fo aR ace ta

TASK FORCE TASK FORCE TASK FORCE

Cataloging Reference Circulation
ASU 2 ASU 2 ASU 2
UNCA 2 UNCA 2 UNCA 2

WCU 2 WCU 2 WCU 2

The network advisory committee is com-
posed of a public and technical services represen-
tative from each library, appointed by the
director of each library. The network advisory

158"North Carolina Libraries

Book Week

November 17-23

committee deals with operational and technical
issues, and is advisory on all matters to the execu-
tive board. The chair of the network advisory
committee attends meetings of the executive
board.

A network librarian, hired by and reporting
to the executive board, is responsible for opera-
tional aspects of the central computer, in addi-
tion to supplementing training and maintaining
communication about the network with the staffs
of the libraries.

Areas of specialized or technical interest are
monitored by task forces, which are authorized by
the executive board. These task forces report to
the network advisory committee, and consist of
even institutional representation, usually two
delegates from each library. The task forces func-
tion as long as they are required. There are cur-
rently three task forces authorized: cataloging,
circulation, reference.

Conclusion

This is the end of the beginning of the West-
ern North Carolina Library Network. Its origin
has been described, the reasons why it came to be
outlined. Its structure, purpose and plans have
also been explained.

No one would be so rash as to pronounce this
network a complete, unqualified success, espe-
cially when it has only just begun. The sense of
accomplishment that goes with seeing that job
well begun and the sense of pride in watching the
library staffs become accustomed to the idea of
being a part of something larger than the library,
has been gratifying. They have seen the time and
energy devoted to planning and to maintaining
communication pay off. Without communication,
wide open, the good with the bad, a project like
this could not have reached the first agreement,
let alone manage to write a proposal for a system.
If the axiom owell begun is half done� holds true,
the Western North Carolina Library Network is
halfway there.

Decision Points
in Small-Scale Automation

Don Beagle

Automation has traditionally been seen as
the province of large libraries. Only recently have
advances in mini and super-mini computers
brought the potential benefits of automation
within reach of small to medium-sized libraries.
Software companies are increasingly attentive to
this market segment and it seems likely that many
smaller libraries will automate within the next
ten years.

Networking is another olarge library concept�
now finding its way onto the agenda of smaller
libraries, partly through the efforts of such agen-
cies as the North Carolina State Library and its
North Carolina Information Network. Large scale
networks are sometimes compared to highway
systems carrying traffic between cities. But high-
ways rarely take people to their actual final desti-
nation. This vital task is left to rural roads and
municipal street systems. The individual library's
automated system thus corresponds to a munic-
ipal street grid where most of the library's oinfor-
mation traffic� will flow.

This article will describe some of the deci-
sions facing the manager of a small public library
during the course of automation, and will explore
how those decisions may affect eventual interac-
tion of that automated system with external net-
works. My examples will best represent choices
made in Lee County, particularly the decision to
run library software on an off-site central comput-
er already serving other departments of local
government. This is not the standard scenario for
library automation, which I take to be the turnkey
hardware/software package. But the large library
with an on-site central processing unit (CPU) will
probably extend automated operations to its
branches, and large branches accessing main
library computers may face problems similar to
those of smaller central libraries using off-site
equipment. In addition, the use of an off-site cen-
tral computer creates a small-scale network
potentially expandable to other libraries within a
local jurisdiction, and I shall discuss the possibil-
ity of networking the Lee County Library and the

Don Beagle is Director of the Lee County Library System,
Sanford, NC.

Central Carolina Technical Colleage LRC. My local
examples are not meant as ideal models, for we
have learned some things through trial and error.
They simply form a convenient case history of
goals, achievements, compromises, and mid-
course corrections.

Why Automate?

Library managers must justify the decision to
automate, and while specific arguments may vary,
I would make some general observations. Justifi-
cations probably fall into two categories: problem-
solving and service enhancement. By itself, the
problem-solving approach may unnecessarily lim-
it the potential benefits of automation. The most
obvious risk is that one will simply turn snarled
paper transactions into snarled electronic ones.
Beyond this, the need to solve a current problem
may narrow the manager's perspectives when
considering the range of options available. Auto-
mation can help eliminate an overdues backlog or
streamline circulation procedure, but it can do
other things as well, and some options will allow
greater flexibility down the road than others. This
especially applies to small libraries with corre-
spondingly small budgets. One hears of large
libraries moving to their second or third auto-
mated system, which is another way of saying
that money can re-open options for decision-mak-
ing. The manager of a small library would do well
not to think of initial decisions as being easily
reversible or correctable. Finally, an orientation
toward problem-solving may lead one to the con-
clusion that problems must reach crisis propor-
tions before such a drastic step is taken.
Automation as a last resort, in an operational cri-
sis, might create more problems than it would
solve.

Of course, the service enhancement ap-
proach offers some risks as well. There is rapid
and continual innovation in the whole field of
information processing. TodayTs finest system
may seem overpriced and underequipped tomor-
row. But to be too concerned may lead to what
might be termed the surferTs syndrome: he who
waits for the perfect wave can spend life treading
water.

1986 Fall"159

Our specific justifications included both solu-
tions and enhancements. We started with the
need for better access to, and control over, the
book catalog. Our two small branches had never
enjoyed their own catalogs, limiting their value to
students. Our main catalog had never been
coded to indicate branch holdings, causing extra
steps in every book search and uncertainty about
the whereabouts of missing volumes. These and
related problems could have been dealt with
manually, but automation offered solutions along
with significant enhancements. Many libraries, for
example, report that book selection based upon
better analysis of borrowing patterns can lead to
large circulation increases. Fine, but detailed
feedback about book use is hard to obtain when
staff already pressed for time must manually sort
and count book cards and pieces of paper. Orrin
B. Dow, Director of the White Plains Public
Library, recently described automated circulation
systems as providing o... definitive book-use data
for the ultimate in responsive collection manage-
ment.�!

Figure I.
Lee County Library System

CATLOGING MODULE
ERO RR RR RES TE SY

Call number table: DDC

19 Jun 86 10:48 AM

# Begin Call #Group Description Count
49 720 Architecture 81
50 730 Plastic Arts/Sculptu 113
51 740 Drawing, Decorative Art 604
52 750 Painting & Paintings 189
53 760 Graphic Arts/Prints 25
54 770 Photography & Photogra 65
55 780 Music 292
56 790 Recreational & Perform 1096
57 800 Literature 251
58 810 American Literature in 1126
59 820 English Literatures 455
60 840 French 33
"more"

#, New group, Delete (#), Quit, Up, cr:

Ascreen print showing relative collection size by Dewey #.

A glimmer of this promise is already discerni-
ble, even though we have only finished converting
our adult non-fiction collection. Figure one is a
print-out page showing titles held by Dewey
number, giving us for the first time a statistical
picture of collection strengths and weaknesses. A
better view will emerge when automated circula-
tion begins and we can compare circulation by
Dewey number with respective collection size.
Similar breakdowns will be available on patrons,
including figures for library use by census tract.

Better book selection based on better analysis
may increase circulation, which ordinarily trans-

160"North Carolina Libraries

lates into even more cards and slips of paper.
Automation, of course, offers dramatic improve-
ments here, with circulation and cataloging
modules sharing a common data base of MARC
records tracking the book collection and registra-
tion records describing the patron population.
Such arguments may seem self-evident to librar-
ians, but must be stated simply and effectively in
the justification process. After some communica-
tion lapses, I found an effective analogy between
libraries, supermarkets and banks. Like a super-
market, a library faces problems of inventory con-
trol. Just as a supermarket automates using bar
code labels on goods, a library bar codes its books.
But where the supermarket oforgets� an item after
customer purchase, the library must continue to
track it with a patron account, comparable to a
customerTs account in a bank. And just as a bank
gives you a machine-readable card to access your
account through an automatic teller, a library
gives you such a card to access your library
account.

How to Automate?

Our first opportunity to automate in Lee
County actually came in 1984, when the county
had available ports on its computer, a Microdata
Reality. (A port is a piece of equipment which
allows remote terminals to communicate with the
central processing unit, or CPU.) I was placed on
the county's data processing advisory committee,
which consists of department heads whose
employees used the system. I visited with the
State Library's Operations Consultant, and long
discussions followed. The committee was pre-
pared to recommend a computer upgrade to the
Board of Commissioners due to lagging response
time. Some involved in the process viewed library
participation as an opportunity to justify a major
upgrade. Others expressed concern that since the
system was already deficient, library participa-
tion would oeat up� any memory and response
time improvements that an upgrade would
provide. Attempts to document the likely effects
of library use were difficult because library soft-
ware for the Pick operating system was literally
brand new and relatively untested. (Pick is a rela-
tional data base operating system designed for
compact storage and flexible handling of large
chunks of data.?) After viewing the limitations of
installed hardware and lack of available soft-
ware, the idea of library participation was tabled.
But the experience had several positive results.
My fellow department heads and the DP manager
came away with a better understanding of a
library's automation requirements. And I came
away with a better understanding of how depart-

ments providing different services can effectively
share a CPU. Central to that sharing is the inter-
departmental computer committee, which in Lee
County is now larger and more important than
ever.

While the committee did win an upgrade to
the more powerful Microdata Sequel, the question
of library use remained tabled while alternative
options were explored. The major alternatives
included: 1. run library software on the county
computer; 2. buy a turnkey package with a library
CPU; or 3. install a micro-based system tied in
with a service bureau.

A fair number of smaller libraries have
already purchased service bureau equipment. A
library microcomputer temporarily stores circu-
lation records and uploads them each night into a
remote CPU owned by the bureau. The bureau
processes the records, and may even handle
overdues mailing. Advantages apparently include
low initial cost, transfer of some clerical work
elsewhere, and a fairly painless conversion of
records into machine readable form. Presumably
a bureau could also provide public access catalog
searching by way of Computer Output Microform
(COM) or Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-
ROM). Disadvantages would include high on-go-
ing payments to the bureau, loss of immediate
local control over certain clerical tasks, and per-
haps limitations on checkout points, since check-
outs are performed by smart, expensive micro-
computers rather than by dumb, cheap terminals.
Finally, any searching via CD-ROM cannot provide
the real-time status of an item in question.
Library materials are constantly in transit; the
most popular ones are those most likely to be
checked out at any given time, and also are the
ones most likely to be searched by any given
patron. Only a system which integrates public
access and circulation can tell the searcher
whether the item at that moment is on the shelf,
checked out, at a branch, overdue, at the bindery,
on reserve, on order, in the story hour, in the out-
reach program, and so forth. With a service
bureau, this information is batch-processed and
stored hundreds of miles away. Since maximum
catalog access and control was our main justifica-
tion, we elected not to consider a service bureau.

The question of an off-site versus an on-site
CPU was the main issue for us, and apparently for
others as well, because some local governments
urge libraries to access central computers with-
out careful consideration of the librariesT real
needs. The obvious advantage of accessing an
installed CPU lies in saving the purchase price,
as well as on-going expenses such as hardware

maintenance, insurance, and support staff. There
is almost no cost advantage to an on-site CPU
when adequate data processing is available else-
where. But oadequate� is the vital adjective. Many,
probably most, local government CPU's lack suffi-
cient disk space, memory, and ports to accommo-
date even small libraries. Those which could
accommodate on paper will suffer degradation of
response time to all departments. Since this
affects employee productivity it must be consid-
ered a cost. Local officials should take extraor-
dinary care before inviting a library on-line; they
will almost surely pay an indirect price in
response time or a direct price for upgraded
equipment to handle the load. Some central
upgrades might cost as much as a smaller library
CPU purchased under a favorable turnkey con-
tract. But again, the governing authority may
offset upgrade costs in the long run by limiting
itself to one hardware maintenance contract, one
insurance payment, and one office of operating
personnel. It may also be able to negotiate large-
scale purchases of peripheral equipment and
installation fees as more users are added.

Some conventional wisdom about off-site
CPUTs needs rethinking. One frequently hears
worries about departmental priorities: if some-
thing breaks down, won't the tax office get prior-
ity over the library? I would suggest that if the
CPU goes down, it goes down for both the tax
office and the library. It would be difficult to fix
selectively a computer. If the CPU you share with
the tax office does go down, the problem will
probably receive rapid attention by local officials.
The more likely question of priority would be that
a library having trouble with its own CPU might
not get the speediest possible help from local data
processing personnel working on separate tax
office support.

Library managers must justify
the decision to automate ...

Response time problems could be more diffi-
cult to resolve. A slow shared computer would
inconvenience both the library and tax office, and
if public complaints resulted, action would need
to be taken. The obvious corrective would be an
upgrade. But one can imagine a financially
strapped Board of Commissioners asking one or
more departments to go off-line during peak peri-
ods, and the tax office would not be a sacrificial
lamb. Again, then, careful preparation is impor-
tant. Lee County is currently upgrading for the
second time in four years, partly to accommodate

1986 Fall"161

use by the library. Each upgrade has involved the
top-of-the-line Microdata available at that time.
The County, under the leadership of its Manager
and Board of Commissioners, has deliberately
embarked upon a course of maximum use of data
processing facilities and seems prepared to follow
up on its investment. Finally, I would comment
that response time is a relative concept. A comput-
er must slow to a virtual crawl before it proc-
esses a circulation transaction more slowly than
having a patron sign book cards while staff man-
ually check registration files for overdue books.
And no one should suppose that an on-site CPU is
proof against response time problems; there are
more than a few sad stories in the library litera-
ture proving otherwise.

One potential cost advantage of a shared
CPU not often mentioned is that the library may
be able to utilize software purchased for and by
other departments. The procedure for logging off
library software and onto some other module is
typically one of keying in four or five commands
and passwords at any terminal. The Lee County
Recreation Department is considering an expen-
sive package for meeting room bookings which
could also be used by the library. Word processing
and spreadsheet software purchased for other
departments is available to library staff and can
pull data out of the library accounts for such
purposes as form letters and budget reports.
Electronic mail among departments is a reality.
The Lee County Elections Office is on-line and
since library staff must register voters, we will
consider training in this. The County Planner
maintains a file of updated street and mailing
addresses shared by several departments; library
access could mean better updating of our regis-
tration files for overdues.

Security

Networking departments with shared soft-
ware on a central CPU raises questions of secur-
ity. What access to library accounts, if any, shall
other county personnel have through their termi-
nals? How can this access be restricted? When, if
ever, should the library accept or divulge any data
on county residents for or from its patron file? In
public access searching, how are patrons pre-
vented from entering overdues files, or for that
matter, tax office software?

The DYNIX Automated Library System uses
several levels of security which make it acceptable
for shared CPU operations. The first and most
powerful level is port access clearance. Any user
with a terminal communicates with the CPU
through a port. Each port is numbered, and port

162"North Carolina Libraries

access to any module is blocked unless specifically
cleared by the system administrator. Public
access terminals are cleared for the on-line
catalog module only. Any attempt to access the
circulation module (which includes overdues
accounts) from such a terminal has virtually the
same result as pulling the terminalTs plug. We
have decided to allow other county departments
access only to the on-line catalog if specific
requests are made.

We started with the need for
better access to, and control
over, the book catalog.

If an outside user does find a terminal
cleared for port access into circulation, that user
must still log on through a system password fol-
lowed by a personal ID number and password.
Passwords and ID numbers for separate modules
can be assigned separately. A volunteer with per-
sonal clearance into the cataloging module can
still not enter the circulation module, even if using
a terminal with port access to circulation. In
addition, each staff member is assigned a security
level one through five, with a sixth reserved for
the system administrator. Once into a module,
each staff member can access only those function
menus appropriate to his or her security level.
Within the menus, certain sensitive functions like
global authority file changes require confirming
passwords. If the system administrator does not
agree with the layering of functional access under
these levels, access can be customized for each
password. No doubt the challenge for vendors is
to incorporate such security features without
making the whole system cumbersome to use. It
seems that DYNIX and others have succeeded
well enough that administrators need not be too
concerned about interdepartmental security with
a shared CPU. Of course, data sharing over com-
puter networks should be subject to at least the
same ethical standards applied to the sharing of
other types of information involving both individ-
ualsT right to privacy and the publicTs right to
know.

Beyond the interdepartmental level, however,
a shared CPU does present some security prob-
lems with respect to software maintenance.
DYNIX offers 24-hour software support from its
headquarters in Provo, Utah. The vendorTs techni-
cian uses a remote terminal and modem on the
regular telephone network to access a dial-up
modem hooked to the CPU. But to keep a dial-up
modem active on an.open telephone line 24 hours

per day would mean that any person with a micro-
computer and modem who learned that tele-
phone number could access the county computer
and try to enter any departmentTs software. The
regular security measures described above are
probably ample for public access terminals within
staff view and for other departmental staff work-
ing under normal supervision. But hackers enjoy-
ing nightly unsupervised entry to a system
through a dial-up modem might defeat any
security measures. For this reason, our county
asks DYNIX staff to signal a request for modem
hookup. During regular business hours this pre-
sents no real problem, but our circulation software
will be up and running on evenings and weekends
when DP staff are off-duty. One solution might be
for library staff to go to the DP office and hook up
the modem when emergency software support is
needed. Obviously, such concerns are less serious
with an on-site CPU.

Software Options

The decision to access a county computer
immediately restricts the choice of software
vendor, since software packages are designed for
specific operating systems. In June of 1985, with
the county upgrade in place and at least two
vendors offering Pick library software, I spent the
ALA Summer Conference in the exhibition area,
comparing systems with two questions in mind.
First, would the restriction to Pick deprive us of
any significant features offered by vendors using
other operating systems? And if not, which Pick
software seemed best for our needs?

A detailed comparison of software packages
is beyond the scope of this article; both DYNIX
and McDonnell-Douglas offered sophisticated sys-
tems fully competitive with any non-Pick soft-
ware, in my opinion. (A third vendor, Advanced
Library Concepts, has since entered the field.*)
The decision in favor of DYNIX was based on a
number of considerations, including visits to
other DYNIX installations. (Accessing the county
CPU eliminated the need for a formal bid proce-
dure since software is considered a service and
since our initial peripheral equipment totaled less
than bid regulations required.)

Installation planning proved to be the most
challenging aspect of the project, in that it pre-
sented us with a multitude of decisions which had
to be made up front, but which would shape the
course of the project for its duration. Since we
were learning as we went along, it meant that
some of the most important decisions had to be
made at the point where we seemingly knew the
least. The decisions included:

1. Should the project be phased in or imple-
mented at once? It is possible to begin circulation
immediately, and ask staff to input brief records
for books and patrons during checkout and
check-in. This has the advantage of getting the
most popular items and the most active patrons
into the system first, immediately easing some
circulation paperwork. But it delays each circula-
tion transaction and puts greater pressure on
staff to master two software modules at once. It
also would have meant patron orientation and
new library cards immediately, which threatened
to overwhelm our limited resources. We elected
to spend a year with the cataloging/conversion
module, allowing staff (some of whom had never
touched a terminal keyboard) to feel more com-
fortable before circulation training began.

This also allowed us to stretch our yearly
budget by purchasing the software over time. The
DYNIX package includes modules for cataloging,
circulation, and public access; they also offered a
conversion module which actually was a limited
training version of cataloging. Purchasing the
conversion module in effect increased the price of
the cataloging module, but this was offset by the
fact that software maintenance is not charged
during the conversion process.

2. Should we bring the main library on-line first
and add branches later? Ordinarily we would
have preferred to bring the main library on first,
but branch catalog access was so central to our
justifications that we felt obliged to include them
from the outset. It is a less than ideal use of
equipment because the small branch collections
will be converted far in advance of the main
library, and their equipment will essentially sit
idle until the main library conversion is complete.
On the other hand, the branches have proven to
be excellent for trial and error test runs of certain
procedures; their small collections mean that few
records need revision when we correct errors or
simply change our minds about form of entry. As
we have proceeded through the non-fiction col-
lections in shelf-list order, problems peculiar to
each class (especially collective biographies) have
been resolved at the branches well before their
appearance at the main library. We now plan to
implement circulation first at the Broadway
Branch, where we hope to encounter and resolve
any glitches with circulation procedure (espe-
cially holds and overdues) in a relatively slow,
low-volume situation.

In addition to these broad decisions, we faced
many specific questions as we worked through
the DYNIX Pre-Installation Planning Guide. Soft-
ware variables such as city codes, patron loan

1986 Fall"163

types, item loan types, collection codes and tables,
screen formats, and stop word lists are best re-
solved prior to installation. But again, the choices
are challenging because they will affect both sys-
tem performance and future policy. Item and
patron codes and types, for example, will deter-
mine the content and format of statistical
reports. Stop word lists contain those extremely
common words (articles, pronouns, and so forth)
which could ooverload� system searching if in-
cluded in key word indexing. Item and patron
priority levels will determine restrictions in bor-
rowing privileges; by assigning, for example, a
juvenile card a 40 and a videocassette player a 50,
one encodes into the system a page from the
libraryTs rule book. Many variables can be revised
by the user, of course, but the initial installation
virtually demands a wide-ranging review of circu-
lation policy.

B/16
7/31



Get final price
figures:
McDonnell-Douglas
& Dynix



Visit ALA
Convention

& compare
systems

Order
conversion
module,
codelabels,
and training

bar

Call about phone
line hookups

Hire

part-time

staff

proved particularly effective, sometimes called
~critical path planning,T is taught in the County
Administration Course at the Institute of Govern-
ment in Chapel Hill. At its most basic, critical path
planning requires only pencil and paper and is
essentially a glorified flow chart. I used a micro-
computer version called MacProject. Developed
for the Macintosh, it is a powerful but simple
planning and budgeting guide. One enters a series
of tasks to be accomplished on a task entry table.
Each task can be assigned a duration and a dead-
line. When the tasks are put in boxes on the flow
chart, the computer calculates the total schedule.
Lines between the boxes specify which tasks are
dependent upon others, and which can be
handled separately [see Figure two]. Boxes and
lines can be added, deleted, or rearranged, and
the computer recalculates the whole schedule
accordingly. Another advantage of the software



26 9/30

Order
4 WYSE SO
terminals

amend
174

light
pen

1/15

Install
software

Staff
training

Make circ
desk
modification
if needed





Have 3
terminals
& modems

installed

Order lines
installed:
reg. lines
ML & JB;

data circuit

Send staff &
Board to demo.

Figure II. A portion of the project plan laid out with MacProject, and meant to be continually reviewed and revised.

Hardware Planning

Unlike a turnkey package where one vendor
can be expected to handle all arrangements, our
contract with DYNIX is strictly for software, and
responsibility for hardware selection and installa-
tion (which had to be completed prior to software
installation) lay with us. This was complicated
further by the fact that the DP office had dealt
with one vendor for the CPU and with various
other vendors for peripheral equipment. Add to
this the installation by the local phone company
of dedicated lines between the three libraries and
the county office building, and problems with
electrical power and protection, and a better pic-
ture of the challenges we faced emerges.

We faced so many problems with coordinat-
ing the sequential installation of power, phone
lines, and peripheral equipment, as well as sched-
uling payments for these, that some formal out-
line was needed to organize it all. A tool which

164"North Carolina Libraries

version is that each task can also be assigned a
cost [and/or a revenue], and the computer will
forecast the cash flow for the project over its
future course. We have tried to enter our entire
schedule as phased in over three fiscal years, and
it has proven to be a valuable aid to planning and
implementation.

The basic hardware installation works as fol-
lows: a library terminal is hooked to a modem
which sends the signals over a phone line. In the
DP office, a corresponding modem receives the
signals and sends them into the CPU by way of a
port. For installations requiring multiple users,
the terminals send signals into a multiplexor or
data concentrator, which packs the signals into a
stream and sends them onto the modem; again,
the DP office modem receives the stream whose
signals are unpacked by a corresponding multi-
plexor. These signals then enter the CPU through
a series of ports corresponding to the original

circulation terminals

gt iba eee de)

public access terminals

cataloging
terminals, CL)
TAP. & O
ee
interface
A multiplexor Koolhaas
oO i. =m line FF arta y
ars
modem -
multiplexor
system oy
printer

LAL EY

Figure III. Lee County Library's hardware installation layout.

number of terminals. (Our early estimate of port
needs, made during the absence of a DP manager,
was based on a mistaken assumption that
because a multiplexor packs data for transmis-
sion over one line it would enter the CPU through
one port. Far into our budgeting process we dis-
covered that we would need not four ports but
fourteen; an expensive discovery since a package
of eight ports costs over five thousand dollars.)

Some of the decisions made during hardware
installation planning involved staff and patron
convenience, redundancy in case of failure, and
capacity for future expansion. Figures four and
five show the two main hardware options we con-
sidered, which I would like to discuss in some
detail.

Figure three shows twelve peripherals wired
to twelve-channel multiplexors whose signals
travel over one phone line. Such an installation
has five links: two modems, two multiplexors,
and one telephone line. The failure of any link
would bring down the chain. And a failure could
be difficult to diagnose. We would have no backup

modems or multiplexors to swap, because it takes
two of each to complete the chain.

Figure four shows twelve peripherals hooked
to one pair of four channel Instamuxes on one
phone line and one pair of eight channel Insta-
muxes on a second line. An Instamux is a new
multiplexor/modem combination, and is so much
less expensive that four Instamuxes would be
cheaper than two multiplexors. A further advan-
tage would be redundancy. There would be two
chains with each having three links. The failure of
one chain would leave a second providing essen-
tial services. And Instamuxes could be swapped
between lines in case of a failure, allowing us to do
quick self-diagnostics. (When self-diagnostics are
not possible, a vendor technician may need to
make one trip to learn the cause of a problem and
a second trip to repair or replace equipment.)

We preferred the Instamux option and
installed these first on one line. But Instamuxes
have an important limitation; they cannot send
signals over long distances. Since both the main
library and the county office building are within

1986 Fall"165

four blocks of the telephone switching center this
option seemed feasible. But the Instamuxes failed
to provide a clear signal over more than two
channels at any one time. It turns out that the
library is on a phone circuit that winds away from
town for several blocks before it returns to the
switching center, too far for an Instamux signal.
Fortunately, the vendor had forewarned us and
had agreed to exchange the Instamuxes for mul-
tiplexors with no price penalty in advance. We
have settled, then, for the first installation option.
Some capacity for self-diagnostics does remain
because the multiplexors have self-test capability,
and because the DP office can also swap equip-
ment between departments for testing.
Redundancy also played a role in branch
installations. The Broadway Branch is nine miles
distant, and requires an amplified line as well as a
long-haul modem. A cheaper short-haul modem

circulation terminals

SS ss ae

could have sufficed at the closer Jonesboro
Branch, but our desire to swap equipment for
testing led us to choose long-haul modems for
Jonesboro as well. The branch library lines, inci-
dentally, go directly to the central computer, not
to the main library installation.

A last point involves the library telephone
system. Even the smallest library considering
automation should plan for a phone with a confer-
encing feature, because self-diagnostics requires
direct conversation among library staff at one or
more terminals, DP personnel at the CPU, and
sometimes a technician at the vendor's office. We
have had two minor failures (one modem crystal
and one multiplexor wire) in nine months, and
both fixes were greatly aided by quick conference
telephone calls. Conferencing also helped in
installation planning, when we had to iron out
details with phone company and vendor techni-
cians simultaneously.

public access terminals

ihe See fe)

cataloging
terminals, 8
ieee 4 Hy channel
; Sameer Instamux
interface aa
" 0A ,
Cl line
on line
system
printer 4 channel § channel
Instamux Instamux

Figure IV. An alternative layout for greater redundancy. Instamux limitations made this unworkable.

166"North Carolina Libraries

Conversion Options

Retrospective conversion is the advance price
we pay for the later benefits of automation and
networking. It, too, carries with it an array of
choices which will shape the project, but which
seem to admit few absolute rights and wrongs.
The manager must decide:

1. Should records be input from shelf-list cards
or books? When conversion is done oon the fly�
during circulation, one obviously must work with
books. But such a procedure risks confusion if the
system goes down or if records are lost, because
the chronological sequence of records is presum-
ably at random. When books are converted in
shelf-list order one can recreate the history of the
conversion from any given date, making it much
easier to go back and correct a chronic mistake.
We chose to work from books rather than cards,
but to proceed in shelf-list order, while converting
circulating books under appropriate Dewey num-
bers as they were returned and new books as they
were purchased. When DYNIX reported that a
problem with a new release may have caused us
to lose certain fields for records input on
December 14th and 15th, for example, we were
able to study quickly those records and determine
that no fields had in fact been lost.

One potential cost advantage
of a shared CPU ... is that the
library may be able to utilize
software purchased for and by
other departments.

A conversion done from shelf-list cards
would also have included records for many books
which had owalked out the door� over the years.
Our ohands on books� procedure essentially
turned our conversion into a shelf inventory. The
hope is that the on-line catalog will thus be as
close as possible a representation of what a
patron could actually expect to find on our
shelves as of 1986. Finally, a shelf-list card con-
version does not eliminate the need to handle
books, since bar code labels must be affixed.

2. Bar code Iabels: smart or dumb? Smart
labels tagged to specific titles can be generated for
collections already having machine-readable rec-
ords, but these require staff to pull and verify
titles for labeling. I am not qualified to comment
upon a conversion with smart labels, but dumb
labels (not tagged to specific titles prior to being
placed on books) do have certain clear benefits.
Any labels may be placed on any books in any

order so long as staff members enter the bar code
number (manually or with light pens) at the cor-
rect prompt. Torn or soiled labels can be imme-
diately discarded. Lost or misplaced label sheets
can be forgotten; they do not leave oholes� in any
inventory sequence. Staff members and volun-
teers entering records in different shifts can grab
sheets of labels in any order, and move sheets
from terminal to terminal without fear of inter-
rupting proper sequence. Books with labels torn
out can be given replacement labels in a quick
onew bar code� procedure. But bar code linking
procedure varies so greatly from vendor to
vendor that the quick and easy technique for us
may not be so for others, and vice versa.

3. Where to put labels? Everybody may have
a preference, and its importance is questionable.
But an automated system does not eliminate the
need to somehow mark a book for its due date. We
decided to continue using date due cards in the
book pockets (though book cards will be pulled)
and to place bar code labels on the same page, so
as to not make circulation staff look in two places
at checkout. Exterior bar code labels offer the
promise of quick electronic inventory in the
stacks; our interior labels will require staff to
open each book for such an inventory. On the
other hand, exterior labels may get torn or soiled
more easily. Transparent tape might be placed
over labels, but some report that tape inhibits
code readings by light pens.

4, Which fields to enter, which fields to buy?
We decided to streamline our work and enter the
absolute minimum for each book: LCCN and title.
This constitutes an abbreviated bibliographic
record for the title which is then linked to a hold-
ings record for the particular volume. The hold-
ings record includes bar code, collection code
(AF, ANF, and so on), item type (B for book, A-V
for audiovisual, etc.), copy number, price, source,
and location (M, B or J). We also asked DYNIX to
customize our holdings records by adding fields
for memorial and donor. These fields will be
indexed so that, for example, we will be able to
search all books donated by Dr. John R. Dotterer
or given in memory of Douglas Wilkinson. (We
have never accessioned books and probably
would not enter accession numbers in any case;
but contrary to what a speaker once stated at a
conference in this state, it is perfectly possible to
enter, index, and retrieve records by a local
accession scheme.) Figure five shows the biblio-
graphic record for the title Fatal Vision. This sin-
gle bib record is linked in the system to nine
different holdings records corresponding to the
nine volumes currently held by the library. FigureT

1986 Fall"167

Bibliographic Record
Enter BIB # : 65
1 LCCN 82-24127
2 Title Fatal vision
3 Added Title
4 Imprint New York: G. P. PutnamTs Sons, 1983
5 Pub Date 1983
6 Author 1/McGinniss, Joe
7 Call Number 364.1M
8 Edition

9 Contents Note(s) 1/
10 Collation

11 ISBN

12 Subject Headings

0-399-12816-6
1/MacDonald, Jeffrey R.
2/Crime and criminals"United

States"Biography

3/Murder"North Carolina
13 Series
* Added/Modified 1/10 Dec 85
2/23 Jan 86

### End of Record ###

#, File, Quit, Delete, Update(#), cr:

Figure V. A sample bibliographic record for a title. Most records
include only LCCN and TITLE until MARC matching is complete.

six shows one such holdings record; each is keyed
to the bar code number affixed to its volume.

For books without LCCNs we enter nearly
complete bibliographic records; consequently
these are set aside by front desk workers for later
work by professional staff. Otherwise all work on
the conversion thus far has been done at the front
desk by regular circulation assistants. When the
new upgrade is installed, additional terminals will
be placed in back rooms and other staff members
and volunteers will begin work.

When our conversion is complete, copies of
the records will be downloaded to tape and will be
mailed to a vendor for MARC record matching.
The tape will be returned with complete records
for whatever percentage (we hope at least 80%)
have matched. Work will then commence on
completing the unmatched records. This proce-
dure seems to have worked well with the adult
non-fiction collection, but for fiction we are con-
sidering having staff also add author entries. This
complicates matters due to the on-line authority
file check for each author, but will greatly facili-
tate use of the computer catalog until MARC
records can be purchased.

6. What about customization? The initial
installation seems a confusing time to consider
customization. But if the vendor offers it, installa-
tion is the proper time because the vendor may
include a deadline on free customization and
because such refinements should be in place
before too many records are entered. We asked
not only for the memorial and donor fields de-
scribed above, but also for contents indexing
under keyword title searches. This means that

168"North Carolina Libraries

collections can be retrieved by the title of any
story, poem, essay or play included in the books.
Collective biographies can be retrieved by name of
any person listed. While it certainly lengthens the
conversion process, the results while searching
the catalog are already impressive. Figure seven
shows how a keyword search for AMADEUS has
retrieved a book which includes selections from
the play, but whose title does not include the
search word. Contents indexing can also produce
some searching oddities. A Boolean oor� search
using the terms BLACK and NEGRO retrieved all
the expected titles, as well as a book on Rem-
brandt which included a contents note about
black and white illustrations!

7. How will new records be added? The tape
downloading procedure described above can be
repeated periodically to add new records to the
system, but this presents special problems for a
small library. Most vendors require a minimum
number of records (usually 1,000) for such a
tape-run. Since we purchase only some 3,500
titles per year our catalog could only be updated
quarterly.

DYNIX markets OCLC and MARCIVE inter-
faces which use an IBM PC to copy records over
phone lines and enter them into the cataloging
module. We are looking at these as well as a new
Bibliophile interface which does essentially the
same thing with MARC records on optical disks.

Local Networking Options

The Lee County Library and the Central
Carolina Technical College (CCTC) LRC have a

GS SE SP AA SRE

Holdings Record

Enter Barcode : 3326200055712 33262000055712
* Title Fatal vision
2 Collection Adult Non-fiction
3 Call # 364.1M
4 Copy # Cl
5 Volume #
6 IType Book
7 Price $14.36
8 Source CBS
9 Donor
10 Memorial
11 Agency-scndry M
* Agency-main LCLS
* [Stats 1/Social Pathology & Services
* Added/Modified 1/09 Jan 86

2/09 Jan 86
* Use Count 0

* Last Used
### End of Record ###

#, File, Quit, Delete, Update(#), cr:
a RE REE SSE SRE LSS

Figure VI. A sample holdings record for a volume. Records may
be revised and updated using FM (file maintenance) commands.

aD

25 Jun 86 Lee County Library System 09:02AM
Cataloging Module

Call # 808.82B DYNIX #4937

Title The Best Plays of 1980-1981

LCCN 20-21432

Contents 1) A Lesson from Aloes
2) 42nd Street
3) Zooman and the Sign
4) A Life
5) Lunch Hour
6) Amadeus
7) Crimes of the Heart
8) Translations
9) The Floating Light Bulb

10) Cloud 9

Enter: Amadeus

|, ge NR SN 2 EE TT EO
Figure VII. An example of keyword title searching retrieving a

contents note.

long history of cooperation. The two issued a.

combined book catalog for most of the 1970's. It
was dropped due to increasing workload at both
institutions. But automation is again bringing the
possibility of a combined catalog to the point
where managers at both libraries face some prac-
tical decisions.

Through fortunate circumstance, the CCTC
computer (manufactured by PRIME) also runs
the Pick operating system. CCTC administrators
will soon have the option of running DYNIX soft-
ware on their computer or on the central comput-
er owned by Lee County.

It would be entirely possible to run both
agencies discreetly on the same computer with
the same software modules. Patron records could
be maintained in one file, or two files could be
partitioned. Similarly, the MARC database could
be collective so that any search would retrieve
titles in both institutions, or could be partitioned
so that a search from one library would access
the otherTs collection only with a secondary com-
mand. Patrons could enjoy one combined regis-
tration and could search either collection from
any public access terminal. Borrowing privileges
could automatically be suspended at both institu-
tions pending resolution of overdues at either.
Staff could exchange electronic messages. Be-
cause the Lee County Library software is already
installed on the county computer, this option
would require the LRC to access this same CPU
with multiplexors and phone lines.

At first, it may seem strange that two librar-
ies five miles apart, with a history of cooperation,
would even consider running identical software
on separate CPUTs, but in fact there are sound
arguments in favor of this option. It would allow
the LRC to access other accounts in the college
system including student records and budgeting.

An on-site system would eliminate the need for
costly multiplexors, phone lines, and ports. It
would relieve the problem of response time re-
strictions should CCTC wish to place remote ter-
minals in neighboring counties for extension
classes. Nor would this option preclude coopera-
tion. Each library could still place a terminal in
the otherTs facility for on-line searching. Or, com-
bined on-line searching could be possible by peri-
odically cross-loading MARC tapes. And each
could honor the otherTs bar-coded patron cards,
relieving patrons from having to carry two cards
(the patronTs registration accounts would be
separately maintained on the two systems, but
would be tagged to the same bar-code number on
the library card.)

The questions surrounding such local net-
working are now near the top of our agenda as
each library completes its retrospective conver-
sion. The decisions facing us in the near future
will shape library service in Lee County for many
years to come.

Conclusion

At the outset I stated that automation has
traditionally been the province of large libraries.
Managers of smaller libraries may be excused for
feeling like proverbial poor cousins. But this may
be changing. In fact, the smaller library may well
turn out to be the most exciting environment for
the innovative efforts at automation. Unencum-
bered by the massive collections of research
libraries whose sheer size place enormous de-
mands on computer memory, storage, and re-
sponse time, small public libraries may be better
able to explore such features as keyword contents
searching, electronic inventories, and book circu-
lation at remote locations with portable bar code
scanners. Better indexing of childrenTs literature
by illustrator or reading level, better access to fic-
tion by genre or historical period, better access to
local history and genealogical material by bar cod-
ing vertical files"all these are real, practical
options for smaller libraries in the course of
automation. As smaller libraries automate they
will also network, and their patrons will enjoy
increased access to resources across the state.
The process of automation and networking now
under way may transform public library services
in North Carolina in ways we cannot foresee. Oy

Ss

References

1. Dow, Orrin B. oAn Opportunity for Vension,� Library Journal,
111 (February 15, 1986); p. 133.

2. Cook, R. and J. Brandon. oThe Pick operating system: infor-
mation management,� BYTE, 9 (October 1984): pp. 177-8.

3. Matthews, Joseph R. oGrowth and consolidation: The 1985

automated library system marketplace,� Library Journal, 111
(April 1, 1986); p. 27.

1986 Fall"169

Going On-line at the Public Library:
A Very Human Endeavor

Barbara L. Anderson and S. Joy White

The Forsyth County Public Library can now
retrieve information and citations of pertinent
sources from data banks in distant cities through
computerized searching and a telecommunica-
tions network. We have extended our information
services beyond the resources of the library's own
collection to include well over two hundred on-
line data bases that cover subjects ranging from
business, environment, and demographic projec-
tions to AP and UPI wire service stories, educa-
tion, psychology and export information. For
now, we subscribe to the information retrieval
services of two vendors, DIALOG and BRS. Our
on-line service is free to our public.

Our library decided to go on-line first of all
because of its premier information role in the
community. Moreover, it is usually appropriate to
try a new experiment, to take on a new adven-
ture, at the library.

The Story

The county commissionersT approval of our
on-line budget allowed us to proceed with the
plan to offer on-line reference service to our
community. The budget was necessarily drafted
without knowing how much we would use on-line
reference or which vendor or which data bases we
would use most. It has turned out that in fiscal
year 1985/86 DIALOG has billed us for just under
$5000.

We did not anticipate the costs of training
and support literature like the DIALOG UserTs
Guide, the BRS Reference Manual and data base
thesauri. Our administration was able to provide
funds for these absolutely essential expenses.

Our next step was to select computer hard-
ware and software. The computer that met our
needs and yet was within our price range was the
Apple Ile. At that time we had the glimmer of an
idea we have had little time to investigate: per-
haps at some future time we could perform
searches at the main library and display our work
at the branches, via their Apple microcomputers.

Barbara L. Anderson is Reference Librarian, and S. Joy White
is Head of the Business, Science & Industry Department of

the Forsyth County Public Library, 660 West Fifth Street,
Winston-Salem, NC 27101.

170"North Carolina Libraries

Also arguing for the oApple� decision was the suc-
cess of Apples in our library's public-use micro-
computer project. The computer could always be
used ultimately in a public-use setting. The Apple
does the job as an on-line terminal with odown-
loading� capability. The cost of the Apple Ile with
two disk drives, monitor, printer, and modem,
with system saver and all necessary cards, was
about $2230.

Finding communications software compati-
ble with the Apple Ile had its frustrations. It was
difficult at the time, in 1983, to find librarians
performing on-line searches with an Apple or to
find much literature on using personal computers
for searching. We found that the computer sales-
people knew nothing about data base searching
and could not advise us. Finally, we were advised
that professionals at the University of South Caro-
lina School of Library Science were using Apples
for on-line searching. The SchoolTs librarian
recommended ASCII Express Professional, which
we purchased. The software handles all the
details of accessing an on-line system, including
dialing the telephone number and ologging on.�
The cost of the software was about $130.

The vendors, DIALOG and BRS, offer many of
the same data bases. We had planned to use
them equally and attended basic training sessions
offered by both. As we began performing searches,
we found ourselves using DIALOG almost exclu-
sively because of its greater offering of business
data bases. BRS is adding more business data
bases, but DIALOG is still the best source of busi-
ness information.

We decided to concentrate on DIALOG. We
found the differences between the two vendorsT
rules for searching would force each staff member
to concentrate on learning one system well before
attempting to become skillful at searching two
systems. As we began trying to use the data bases,
each search was a separate challenge and very
time-consuming. We felt very much the need for
further training, beyond the basic DIALOG system
seminar, and were able to attend a three-day
workshop at the University of Pittsburgh School
of Library and Information Science for intensive
DIALOG system training. This session gave us pro-

ficiency and confidence in using the DIALOG lan-
guage. Going on-line no longer intimidated us.
This does not mean that we knew everything
about DIALOG or could omit careful planning
before accessing unfamiliar data bases. Far from
it! But we had made the first big step toward suc-
cessful on-line searching, gaining a feel for the
system.

Training sessions offered by individual data
base producers are often free. In general though,
training involves considerable cost. Usually, travel
is required. The cost for the DIALOG basic system
seminar is $125 per person, for the BRS introduc-
tory session $95 per person, and for the University
of Pittsburgh three-day training session $200 per
person. The training is well worth the cost. Skilled
searchers are not only more effective in finding
the needed information but also more efficient in
terms of time spent on-line, thus reducing on-line
charges.

Our training continues here at FCPL as we
try to keep current with vendor and data-base
changes by reading as much of the vendor and
data base updates as we can, by exploring new,
unfamiliar data bases, and trying new search
strategies on familiar data bases.

We have extended our infor-
mation services beyond the
resources of the libraryTs own
collection...

We began publicizing the on-line reference
service only after the librarians were comfortable
searching DIALOG. Six months after the February
1984 University of Pittsburgh training session, we
began publicity with a brochure mailed to busi-
nesses in Forsyth County. The Chamber of Com-
merce membership list served as the basis for the
mailing list. (Our new computer with List Handler
software was used to prepare the mailing labels.
The very same computer that we use for on-line
searching is used by several of our librarians for
reference support functions.)

Press releases were issued to newsletters of
local associations"e.g., the Chamber of Com-
merce, the Better Business Bureau, and the Retail
MerchantsT Association. Bookmarks were distrib-
uted to all branches and displayed at the Main
Library. Future publicity plans include posters
and an article in the business section of the Win-
ston-Salem Journal.

Public response has been slow. A few callers
have wanted massive searches or have had
otherwise unreasonable expectations of what on-

line searching can achieve. A few farsighted
callers have asked if we could display information
on their office or home monitors. Even now, two
years after we began searching at FCPL, most
searches are initiated by the librarian.

Policy

Now, when to search? How much to search?
For whom to search? Our points of view and phi-
losophy evolved as we began our work with the
new service. We drafted broad guidelines that
reflected rigidity on only one point: our on-line
service was to be an extension of our reference
service. The spirit of our mission was clear in
guidelines that have served us well through a
wide range of situations.

In terms of our operations, this means essen-
tially that we consider on-line searching when the
information needed is beyond our print resour-
ces. Also, we consider on-line searching when tra-
ditional forms of searching would be unlikely to
yield a good answer or would involve an unaccep-
tably great amount of time.

When a patron requests a computer search,
we evaluate the request, consider all our library
resources and perform a search if the librarian
judges the request appropriate for data base
searching.

We do receive requests for data base search-
ing that are in fact inappropriate for on-line
retrieval. Some are completely inappropriate in
terms of the subject content of the data bases.
Some are impossible to translate into the okey
word� format required by the computer. Perhaps
bibliographical citations would be completely use-
less for the particular patron or situation. Cer-
tainly on-line searching is not magic nor the
solution to every problem. Some individuals have
requested an amount of searching that is clearly
above average, thus making their requests inap-
propriate in terms of the basic mission of our on-
line service, which, after all, operates on a fixed
annual allocation.

The instances of inappropriate requests have
been relatively infrequent. We can handle these
requests well because we have other library serv-
ices to offer, and we can refer patrons to other
libraries for paid searches. We always give library
service, whether or not we give a computer
search.

Our Use of the Service

The on-line service is part of our Reference
Department. Experienced reference librarians
bring to the on-line searching knowledge of the
full range of our reference services and bring to

1986 Fall"171

our traditional reference services knowledge of
what computerized data bases have to offer.

Many libraries recognize the time and con-
centration required of a successful on-line effort
by assigning to a librarian the full-time job of
managing the service. In some libraries, on-line
searching involves a separate department. These
libraries make a strong point about the time
commitment involved.

We believed at the outset and through our
first two years of searching that making the on-
line service part of the Reference Department was
right for our library. If we gave up a little on the
side of searching expertise, we gained terrifically
on the side of quality reference choices. Certainly,
we, as professionals who treasure the broadest
possible work orientation, would not choose to be
confined to only one area.

Most data bases offer information in the form
of bibliographical citations. Occasionally, the
abstracts are so full that the information need is
met by the computer printout alone. It is usually
the case, though, that the citations indicate
enough about the full document that the patron
can decide to pursue, with our advice, procuring
the entire document. Sometimes it is available in
our collection; sometimes we make an ILL
request; if ILL does not seem promising or quick
enough, the patron may choose to order the doc-
ument directly from the data base producer for a
fee. Other data bases offer their information in
the form of directory listings, which we use quite
frequently; and still others, which we have hardly
used, offer statistical tables.

We believe our use of specific data bases, out-
side the special library setting, is fairly unique.
Most librarians tell us they search ERIC and
PSYCHINFO most. We suspect these would be
favored in situations that meet many academic
demands. We use business data bases, for short
searches, often. Dun and Bradstreet Market Iden-
tifiers provides us a directory listing, including
sales figures, that may be the only information
other than an address that we can find on a com-
pany. Often the patron is overjoyed with the D&B
directory listing. Trade and Industry Index, and
the very current Newsearch give us descriptive
news, beyond financial statistics. Again, it may
very well be the case that this is the only informa-
tion we can find for the patron. Electronic Yellow
Pages, undergoing changes at the moment of this
writing because of its recent acquisition by Dun &
Bradstreet, gives us benefits equivalent to having
yellow pages for every city and town in the US.,
and, of course, the information can be sorted in
any way. The patron who wanted real estate firms

172"North Carolina Libraries

in several sparsely populated North Carolina
counties that our exhaustive telephone book col-
lection did not cover could be easily served. And
the Predicasts data bases are excellent for keep-
ing up with new company developments, espe-
cially products, technologies, and market infor-
mation. ABI Inform gives full abstracts on
business concepts and often very practical infor-
mation, for instance, the benefits and disadvan-
tages of a telephone Centrex system. Each of the
data bases mentioned has a toll-free number. The
staff at Predicasts, ABI Inform, Dun & Bradstreet,
and Information Access, producer of Trade and
Industry Index and Newsearch, give excellent tel-
ephone advice on search strategy. This support is
invaluable.

... our on-line service was to
be an extension of our refer-
ence service.

Also, to meet requests for practical technical
information the on-line service gives us the
benefit of massive technical libraries at our fin-
gertips. We were surprised to find that we did not
have to be technical geniuses to provide this kind
of information. (And again the data base produc-
ers give priceless support.) One patron wanted all
the particulars on extracting precious metals like
gold and silver from scrap metal. The Metadex
data base turned this into a very manageable
request. A local businessman needed to study the
economic advantages of variable speed motors in
a manufacturing setting. The Compendex data
base, an Engineering Society product, turned this
into a request filled by the local public library.

Subjects we are hard pressed to find in print
indexes are possible on-line because of the com-
puterTs ability to search for any word or combina-
tion of words in the bibliographical record,
whether or not these words are official subject
headings. A request for the most recent informa-
tion on Hopi Indian recipes is easily filled with an
on-line search.

The on-line ability to manipulate numerical
data in all possible ways brings us quick answers
to extremely difficult questions. We can easily find
that there are 1,677 companies in North Carolina
with sales of at least ten million dollars. Also, we
can find that zip code area 27612 in Wake County
has the highest quality of life score of any area in
North Carolina.

A local attorney was looking for information,
a few days after the fact, on a California Supreme
Court reversal of a conviction. It was still too early

for the legal reporting to be available at the law
libraries. The day after the news is reported in the
respective media, the public library has access to
the full text of the AP and UPI wire service stories,
as well as the bibliographical citations to the New
York Times or Wall Street Journal articles, and in
a day or so more, we can provide bibliographical
citations for the Los Angeles Times, Washington
Post, and Christian Science Monitor articles. The
on-line service gives us a degree of currency we
could only achieve otherwise by daily reading of
major articles in these newspapers. Although not
as dramatically current as the news data bases,
other on-line data bases are significantly more
current than their print equivalents.

We have available to us on-line data bases like
ABI/Inform that have no print equivalent. Also,
PredicastsT Regional Business News, a new data
base of locally written articles from regional
newspapers and business magazines is available
only on-line.

The BIP and LC Marc data bases give us tre-
mendous bibliographical capabilities. If we are
asked to find full-length books on starting a travel
agency, or to produce a correct book title and
author with only the benefit of a garbled title, we
have information power.

The on-line service allows us to create special
reference sources. The Donnelly Demographics
full record on Forsyth County (or any geographic
area down to the unincorporated place), a neat
packaging of census data with 1985 estimates and
1990 projections, is a new source of demographic
information. The Disclosure search for all the
publicly-traded companies in our area, by stock
exchange, is a valuable reference tool.

The on-line service brings us the benefit of
print resources we could not afford to purchase
for our collection. Our library has, through the
years, purchased the MoodyTs Manuals instead of
the Standard & PoorTs Corporation Records. We
now have on-line access to the Corporation
Records and can, for a small fraction of the cost of
purchasing the set, provide the Corporation
Records data, when needed, for our patrons. For
reference works that would be used only infre-
quently by patrons, on-line access can easily take
the place of purchasing the print edition. In some
libraries, having on-line access to the Foundation
Directory, the American Statistics Index, or the
MLA Bibliography would be more than sufficient.

We perform about fifty searches each month.
We have chosen for this writing some of our inter-
esting uses and some of the benefits of computer-
ized searching. Next yearTs list of examples would
probably be somewhat different. We are always

learning new ways to use the on-line service.

There is the potential for abuse of the service.
We are not completely comfortable with perform-
ing free on-line searches for consultants or infor-
mation brokers who would be charging other
parties for their services. Even in our regular ref-
erence service, this is not a situation that we
enjoy"i.e., to provide information for someone
elseTs paid information agent. However, it does
seem to us that in the case of the on-line service,
which so obviously costs dollars by the minute
and involves a considerable amount of staff time,
one needs to hesitate and assess. These requests
may be completely out of bounds.

Time is a tremendous problem. The fact that
we are on-line for just three minutes in a typical
search is hardly expressive of the time commit-
ment involved. Each search involves considerable
preparation time. Deciding whether or not to go
on-line, deciding on the proper data base, framing
the request in the oDIALOG� language, often call-
ing DIALOG or the data base producer for advice,
explaining the results to the patron, and explain-
ing options in securing entire documents, when
appropriate, all add up to much more than three
minutes. And, as we have said, time required to
learn the basics is considerable. Ultimately, time,
in the form of hours and days of manual search-
ing, is what you save by computerized searching.

A problem accompanying any library's new
on-line effort would be not knowing answers
ahead of time. This applies to small details as well
as the big picture. It was very difficult for us,
ahead of the event, to make the right hardware
choice, the right software choice, to guess at on-
line costs per month. How could one know how
much time it would take for librarians to learn, to
be comfortable? How could one know what role
the new service would assume in a library? Would
on-line reference be part of the background that
is taken for granted or a major show in itself? We
believe this last problem is truly an opportunity.
We would advise librarians considering on-line in-
formation retrieval to be open to whatever unique
role the on-line capability takes on at their
libraries.

Even now, ... most searches
are initiated by the libraries.

Elements of our Success

The flexibility we have brought to our on-line
decision making as well as to our use of precious
time, now allocated among an even greater

1986 Fall"173

number of jobs, has been extremely important to
the success of the operation. We have been able to
evaluate special circumstances and make deci-
sions consistent with the spirit of the project. If a
patron needs an expensive search, which would
turn out to provide us with a new reference
source for future inquiries, then we would proba-
bly decide to perform the search. We did not spell
out at the outset the position on-line searching
would have at our library. Not knowing what lay
ahead of us, we wisely avoided hard and fast
prescribing.

We gradually integrated on-line service into
traditional reference service. The formal publicity
effort has been slow. We found that we had to
absorb a changed work environment, understand
a new range of options, and make significant
adjustments. While we did this absorbing and
adjusting, we needed to convey to our public on a
one-to-one basis, with enthusiasm, the purpose of
something they hardly understood. The slow
approach was the right appoach.

Our on-line service is free to our public.
Surely, this is one of its most special qualities and,
we believe, a large part of its success. This allows
the reference librarians to try the on-line option
whenever it seems an appropriate way to meet
the publicTs need for information. On-line data
base searching is just another way to find infor-
mation at the local Public Library.

The fact that the Library absorbs the cost of
the searches has made all of us in the Reference
Department clear on the basic mission of the ser-
vice. It is not the vehicle for amassing all possible
references for someoneTs research paper. It is not
a proper research tool to serve the same individ-
ual continually. It is a powerful tool in the public
libraryTs information service to the community.

Our judgment is a key factor in the use of the
service; if patrons were paying, this, would not be
the case. It seems to us that our use of the on-line
service is the most professional possible. The ref-
erence librarian, who may sometimes consult
with other librarians in the department, with
DIALOG, or with the data base producer, decides
whether or not to perform an on-line search.

On-line service, for a very reasonable fee, is
offered at other libraries in the Triad area. We
know we are fortunate that this is part of our
library environment. If someone needs to have
printed out every citation for his dissertation
topic, all the companies with sales over one mil-
lion dollars in several states, or all foundation
grants involving churches and youth, his need can
be accommodated nearby. The relationship be-
tween the libraries in Forsyth County is friendly.

174"North Carolina Libraries

The other libraries are delighted to know they can
advise inquirers to call us to discuss their infor-
mation needs and the possibility of on-line search-
ing and we are delighted that we can refer search
requests which are inappropriate for the public
library, to other libraries.

At our library, the on-line service enhances
traditional reference services. Our regular refer-
ence work and our on-line work complement and
strengthen each other. We would not choose to
make the on-line service the major focus of the
Reference Department nor permit it to diminish
in any way our regular reference services and all
related activities.

Now that we have made our initial invest-
ment in hardware, software, introductory train-
ing sessions, and learning time, we are earning
dividends. Certainly, there are hidden dollar sav-
ings in print sources that now need not be consi-
dered for purchase. Our on-line information
retrieval brings to our public an information ca-
pability that is not possible through traditional
searching. The computer printout we present the
patron usually represents huge time savings. Our
on-line reference service brings to our patrons the
benefits of massive collections of periodicals,
reports, and documents that our library could not
possibly house and index. Certainly, our position
as our communityTs information specialists has
been enhanced.

SERRE
Terminal

Happiness
Computer
Know-How

The North Carolina Information
Network " A Vital Cog
in Economic Development

Howard F. McGinn, Jr.

In 1978 Winston-Salem based Piedmont air-
lines faced a crucial decision. The Federal
government had just begun the deregulation of the
airline industry and Piedmont, then primarily a
local carrier in the Carolinas and the Southeast,
had to choose between competing with the larger,
established carriers like Delta and Eastern, or
maintaining its local routes and hoping for the
best. Piedmont did both. It rapidly redesigned its
entire route structure, expanded its fleet of
planes and established ohubs� at Charlotte, Day-
ton, Ohio and Baltimore, Maryland. The net effect
was that Piedmont was propelled to major car-
rier status (it is now planning flights from Char-
lotte to London); and the airline has enhanced
service to the many small to medium sized cities
that it had traditionally served in North Caro-
lina. Piedmont, United, American, Eastern, Delta
and other airlines bring prompt, regular service
to a variety of North Carolina towns in addition
to the ~first tier� cities of Greensboro, Charlotte,
and Raleigh. More importantly, Piedmont has
provided improved service to Fayetteville, Ashe-
ville, Wilmington, Greenville, New Bern and to
smaller North Carolina cities.

Piedmont Airlines recognized that it was
able to carve out a market niche for itself in the
highly competitive airline industry. Piedmont
also recognized that a symbiotic relationship
existed between the company and the North Caro-
lina cities it served.

The local economy improved and the citizens
had more money to spend on the services pro-
vided by Piedmont Airlines. There was, however,
an important third party involved in this process
" the North Carolina Department of Transporta-
tionTs Division of Aviation. In a recent interview
in the magazine, We The People of North Caro-
lina, Willard G. Plentl, Jr., Director of the Di-
vision of Aviation, stated that oin order to
successfully recruit business and industry, rural

Howard F. McGinn, Jr. is Coordinator of Network Deveiop-
ment in the State Library of North Carolina in Raleigh, NC.

communities have to have reasonable access to a
general aviation airport.�

For many years the banking industry in
North Carolina operated within tight geographic
and other regulatory constrictions. In the late
1970's, these regulations began to ease and a slow
metamorphosis began to take place in the struc-
ture and services offered by the major banks in
the state. Growth of financial services in North
Carolina became closely entwined with financial
services being offered in other Southeastern
states. Major state banks like NCNB, Wachovia,
First Union and Southern National began to
acquire subsidiaries in Florida, South Carolina
and other states. Charlotte has, as a result, con-
tinued its rapid development into one of the
major financial centers in the country. This
growth in financial services has benefited all of
North Carolina. The financial infrastructure so
necessary to local industrial, agricultural and
small business development and operations has
been strengthened.

Information Infrastructure

Information dissemination, like finance and
transportation, is one of the underpinnings of
economic development. But while state, federal
and local governments have taken direct, often
creative, steps to assure that transportation and
financial services are available to private and
corporate citizens, almost no planning or resul-
tant action has been taken to create an informa-
tion infrastructure in our communities. Common
sense and the gurus of the future tell us that our
economy is now well into an information age, yet
we treat information in a helter-skelter manner
that is designed to assure that valuable data is
obtained and used in the most inefficient manner
possible. Why?

Part of the reason for the lack of information
policy is the American fear justified by the
numerous movements toward censorship. Al-
though we donTt want somebody controlling our

1986 Fall"175

access to information, we must not let this fear
cloud our perception of the need for a rational,
coherent policy of information distribution. It is
just as vital to assure the efficient, free flow of
information as it is to assure that free access to
that information is made available.

Information distribution systems abound in
the United States. Major television and radio net-
works regularly pipe information about all sorts
of goods and services into our homes and auto-
mobiles. Specialized information networks exist
to transmit news, financial, police, weather and
credit data. Much of this information is general in
nature " we all need and use it. Much of this data
is institution-specific. It is owned by the institu-
tion and really wouldnTt help us much in our daily
lives. Much of this data we donTt want. All of this
data gathering and transmission is out of our
control. Here is where an information distribution
policy is needed. Information gathering and
transmission is now limited to those able to pay.
The reception of much of this information is
limited to the more affluent individuals. How do
we assure that all citizens have access to the
information needed to conduct daily lives and
develop communities? We look to our library sys-
tems and services.

Libraries, especially public libraries, are the
necessary building blocks of the information
infrastructure and have been here for many years
distributing information and entertainment, help-
ing solve the illiteracy problem, and educating
users. But how active have librarians become in
working with other professionals in their com-
munities in industrial recruiting, in promoting
economic development? The answer is not clear-
cut. The answer also needs to be formed in the
context of the information needs of the local bus-
iness community.

Writing in the Jowa Library Quarterly Daniel
H. Carter notes that oof great interest to local
manpower and economic interests are the data
relating to the community trade balance and the
gross community product.� Herbert S. White,
Dean of the School of Library and Information
Science at the University of Indiana, discussing a
related topic in his oWhite Papers� column in
Library Journal, puts this need in a library con-
text. oIt takes no genius to recognize that the
emphasis of municipal and state government
concern these days is on economic growth, some-
times seen as economic survival. Librarians and
their public libraries are superbly qualified to
contribute to this effort.T Library services are
vital to economic growth. The acceptance of this
fact by library and business communities is a
problem.

176"North Carolina Libraries

Information and Economic Development

A close correlation exists between informa-
tion availability and economic growth. There has
not been much direct discussion of this point in
the library literature, yet glimpses of the inter-
relationship appear in the general business litera-
ture. A Wall Street Journal story discussing
British economic policy reported that oBritainTs
Mr. Baker said the program was of vital impor-
tance to Europe. Our future prosperity ...
depends on the success of building up an infor-
mation technology industry.�* Discussing the
impact of information technology on odeveloping
countries�, Vladimir Slamecka of the School of
Information and Computer Science, Georgia
Institute of Technology, writes othrough automa-
tion, the industrialized countries which developed
and first applied information technology, have
registered substantial increases in manufacturing
productivity.� Slamecka further notes that oin
industrial societies the applications of informa-
tion technology are driven by the market, not by
its designers or vendors; it is the customer who
evaluates the cost and utility of a product and
either accepts it or rejects it.�6 In another article
the Wall Street Journal states: othe explosion in
data processing technology now has vastly en-
hanced the speed and volume of the flow of
information and made it more accessible. And
this in turn has drawn attention to its value. In
many countries governments now regard infor-
mation as something like wheat. It is something to
export or import at a price; you can tax it, restrict
its flow for reasons of national policy, subsidize it
or paralyze it, erect barriers against it.��

Libraries, especially public li-
braries, are the necessary build-
ing blocks of the information
infrastructure ...

Libraries and Information Distribution

How, then, can libraries take the lead in the
establishment of an information distribution pol-
icy? How can we respond to the information
needs of the business community as outlined by
Carter and White? How do we allow the consumer
to determine the development of information
technology, yet make sure that the market place,
in its rush to relevancy, doesnTt ignore the poten-
tial future value of a particular source of informa-
tion? How do we realize the full value of the
investment we have been making in the develop-
ment of information resources (libraries) for

decades? A starting place is a library network.

A quick return to the history of transporta-
tion in North Carolina is necessary. In 1921, North
CarolinaTs Governor Cameron Morrison worked
with the State Legislature in the passage of a $50
million bond issue to build roads in the state.
Governor Morrison believed that his largely rural
stateTs farmers and local businessmen needed the
roads to gain access to regional and national
markets. The roads were built, the markets
became accessible and North CarolinaTs long
climb toward its growing technological economy
began. Through this process Governor Morrison
became known as the oGood Roads Governor� and
North Carolina came to be called the oGood Roads
State�.

The North Carolina Information Network is
the oGood Roads� of the 1980Ts and 1990Ts. State
government and private enterprise have been
investing in the transportation and financial
infrastructures needed to support economic
development in the communities. Strangely
enough, federal, state and local governments have
also been investing in the creation of an informa-
tion infrastructure in North Carolina for a long
period of time, particularly over the past twenty
years. This disjointed investment in information
has been created to meet the needs of a specific
library clientele. The advent of relatively inexpen-
sive telecommunications and the present availa-
bility of powerful, inexpensive microcomputers
has suddenly made it possible to link all of the
oinvestment sites� so that information resources
can be shared effectively and rapidly.

The North Carolina Information Network

The North Carolina Information Network,
however, is taking this sharing one step farther. It
is working with librarians and libraries of all types
to develop programs that aggressively deliver,
market if you will, information services and prod-
ucts to the various segments of the community.
What are these programs, these products? Why is
aggressive marketing necessary? What is the
North Carolina Information Network and who
will it aid in local economic development?

The North Carolina Information Network, an
umbrella organization directed by the Division of
State Library, works with all of the cooperative
library-based information services in the state to
coordinate services and fill in the gaps where ser-
vices are needed or missing and, through LSCA
and other funds, to enhance existing programs.
Specifically the work includes these projects:

1. North Carolina Online Union Catalog. On
May 21, 1986, the North Carolina Online Union

Catalog came into operation. Housed at OCLC,
the catalog consists of the records of all current
OCLC full users in North Carolina and represents
all types of libraries. The catalog also includes the
holdings of the seven federal libraries in the state.
The State Library has worked with OCLC in profil-
ing all libraries in North Carolina not currently
using OCLC and is encouraging these libraries to
become dial-access oSelective Users� of the North
Carolina Online Union Catalog and the OCLC
Interlibrary Loan Subsystem. By the end of 1987 it
is anticipated that over 500 libraries will be using
the North Carolina Online Union Catalog. An
extensive tapeloading program is also underway.
The State Library is coordinating the loading of
non-OCLC MARC records into OCLC. These
records have been created by public, community
college and academic libraries as part of local
automation and retrospective conversion proj-
ects but have not yet been added to the OCLC
data base.

2. North Carolina Union List of Serials. This
data base will also be maintained at OCLC.
Accessible online through the North Carolina
Online Union Catalog, the Union List of Serials is
scheduled to begin operation in early November,
1986. The initial program will be built on the
Health Science Union List of Serials that is being
created by twenty health science libraries in the
state. A second union list of serials data base, the
Western North Carolina Union List of Serials, will
be added to this file. Procedures have been
worked out for the long term addition of serials
records and for the daily maintenance of the data
base.

8, Business, Technical, and Educational Data
Bases. The North Carolina Information Network
will be working with commercial data base
vendors to arrange favorable group contracts for
the provision of services to all libraries in the
state.

4, Electronic Mail/Bulletin Board Service. This
program operates on two levels. The State Library
will maintain a statewide electronic mail system,
accessible to all librarians, that will create and
maintain electronic bulletin boards which carry
information for librarians and non-librarians. The
Bulletin Boards will be open to the general public
and will include job openings, calendars, financial
information, state and federal legislative updates
and the like. The electronic mail will serve a refer-
ence and a general communication function.
Since 1984 the State Library has been work-
ing with local library consortia in the creation of
local electronic mail/bulletin board programs,
and the local systems operating in Wilson County

1986 Fall"177

and Cleveland County are described in this issue
of North Carolina Libraries. Additional local sys-
tems will be installed over the next few years.

5. Document Delivery Services. This program
operates on two levels. Pennsylvania, Oregon, New
York and Massachusetts have been working in
conjunction with national commercial package
delivery firms to supply interlibrary loan delivery
services to their states. The same arrangements
are being discussed in North Carolina, and the
State Library is working with manufacturers of
telefacsimile equipment to arrange favorable
rates for the purchase of this equipment by all
types of libraries in the state. These units would
be used for the rapid transmission of journal arti-
cles and other documents.

In general, the North Carolina Information
Network will act as a cooperative agency and pro-
vide personnel, equipment, purchasing and over-
all professional services to libraries in North
Carolina. Many of these services are, of course,
geared to meeting the needs of librarians. The
combination of services, the excellent collections
in the stateTs libraries and the skilled librarians
administering these libraries form the backbone
of the system. The people, services and materials
form the information infrastructure, the ogood
roads� needed by North Carolina to pursue eco-
nomic development.

Library - Business Community Relationship.

The pursuit of economic development will
require an all-out educational and marketing
effort to the business community and state and
local governments. Two crucial changes in per-
ception are needed. Librarians will need to
change attitudes toward the omarketing conceptT;
the business and government communities, in
turn, will need to change attitudes toward the
nature of library services. Herbert White has a
good account of this situation. Speaking about
librarians he says, oIf we canTt convince ourselves
that marketing libraries is marketing for the pub-
lic good, that individuals really need what we
donTt now provide for them, we certainly aren't
going to be able to convince anyone else.� Speak-
ing about the business-government community he
states olibrarians and their public libraries are
superbly qualified to contribute to this (informa-
tion providing) effort. That they donTt make this
contribution is due in large part to the fact that
bankers, corporate leaders, chamber of com-
merce officers, and municipal officials donTt know
what information is lacking but attainable for
their deliberations. They donTt even know that
they donTt know, yet they are natural enough

178"North Carolina Libraries

clients, because they are information users who
place a value on information. They just donTt get
it from libraries.�

Libraries and the business community, there-
fore, need to form a partnership if the informa-
tion structure is to be formed, and the libraries
will have to take the initiative in the formation of
the partnership. As White notes, the business
community historically has existed without a
close relationship with the libraries. As a result,
librarians need to become aggressive in the for-
mation of these partnerships. W. Randall Wilson,
Director of the Parlin-Ingersoll Library in Canton,
Illinois, in a recent Library Journal article des-
cribes the initiative taken by his library in forming
a partnership with the business community to
promote industrial recruiting and economic de-
velopment in that city.!° Efforts like Mr. WilsonTs
will be needed over along period of time if the
business community is to view the library as an
important economic institution in the commun-
ity. This perception does not exist now.

Personal Networking

In North Carolina the Information Network

will be providing the necessary information serv-
ices to serve the business community. Since per-
sonal as well as technological linkage is necessary
for effective networking, steps need to be taken to
merge the Information Network with the oBusi-
ness Network�. The merger should take place on a
local and statewide basis, and some recom-
mended actions to create a strong partnership
with the business community on a local basis fol-
low.
1. Present a United Front. In a county or com-
munity with libraries of several types (e.g. public,
school, community college, special, etc.), develop
business information services jointly among the
libraries. To the business community, a library is a
library. The labels applied to different types of
libraries by the profession are irrelevant to non-
librarians. If all segments of the community are to
be served, libraries developed to serve these spe-
cific segments need to coordinate services to
assure that patrons or businesses donTt fall
through the oinformation safety net.� This coordi-
nation is networking on a local level and will
require the formation of local consortia and
resource sharing. Responsibility cannot be passed
by one library to another in the community
because of a claim of lack of funding, staff, inter-
est, or a olack of time " we're too busy now� atti-
tude. Resource sharing that shows results will
bring more dollars, resources and community
recognition but will also bring more work.

2. Participate in Business Oriented Civic Organ-
izations. The contacts formed through participa-
tion in civic organizations like Rotary, Kiwanis,
Lions, and the Junior Chamber of Commerce and
other organizations is essential if local networking
is to succeed. Unfortunately these organizations
do not welcome women. Until these practices
change it will be difficult for female library direc-
tors to ocrash� the oold boy� business groups. In
the meantime, however, there are ways to become
involved in the business life of the community.
Local Chambers of Commerce provide the best
avenue. The good ones do not discriminate; they
welcome women on an equal basis. Main Street
and downtown revitalization development efforts
provide an excellent opportunity to participate in
local business development efforts. Other organi-
zations like small business centers, regional
development organizations, and SCORE (if you
are retired) provide opportunities to inject ideas
and efforts into the community's business life. It is
important, too, to participate aggressively in
these organizations. In most cases these groups
are searching for leaders and will support aggres-
sive participation directed toward community
development efforts.

3. Work with the Community College. In North
Carolina the community colleges have developed
an excellent reputation for participation in local
industrial recruiting and economic development.
The system was created, of course, with this pur-
pose in mind, and the colleges have been very
careful to nurture this role. Public libraries, in
particular, should begin to foster this type of
image. It is just as important for the director of
the public library to be on the local industrial
recruiting team as it is for the local community
college president to participate in such activities.
Develop a close relationship with the community
collegeTs library staff and the members of the col-
legeTs small business center if one exists in the
local institution.

4. Learn the Language of Business. Take basic
business courses. Librarians constantly take con-
tinuing education courses. Most of the courses we
take, though, are in the field of librarianship or in
topics geared toward library administration. It is
just as important to become familiar with the
vocabulary and practices of the business com-
munity. Since there is no perceived benefit to the
business community to become familiar with the
vocabulary and practices of the library profes-
sion, the burden to cross cultures is on the librar-
ian. This process of familiarization will carry a
secondary benefit " it will help us in the man-
agement of our own institutions.

5. Become Consumer-Oriented. We do this to a
great extent now. Our efforts, though, may be too
constrained by the traditional areas of library
service such as adult, young adult, and children.
The University of North CarolinaTs Small Business
and Technology Centers, the community collegeTs
small business centers and business departments
in the private and public colleges will help in
developing and implementing full scale marketing
plans. Marketing of information and library servi-
ces means more than the library's creation of
bumper tickers and t-shirts with snappy sayings,
more than the printing of posters showing celeb-
rities holding a book, more than the hiring of
mimes and clowns with balloons to promote a
specific program. These advertising tools are fine
when used in conjunction with an in-depth mar-
keting plan devised to meet consumer informa-
tion needs. When not geared to this purpose, they
become frivolous gimmicks and demean the
serious business of librarianship.

6. Befriend a Special Librarian. Special librar-
ians, especially those who work for corporations,
understand the needs of the business community.
They know how to make information work so that
it contributes to the bottom line of the corpora-
tion. Special librarians can help librarians work-
ing in other types of libraries contribute to the
bottom line of the local business community. They
are a good source of information about business-
oriented data bases, reference materials, practi-

ces and culture.

The North Carolina Informa-
tion Network is the oGood
Roads� of the 1980Ts and
1990's.

There are steps that can be taken by the
statewide Information Network to support local
efforts in addition to the provision of access to
basic data base services. Some of these steps are:
1. Work with Other State Agencies. The Net-
work's provision of business information services
needs to be made in conjunction with services
offered by other state agencies like the Depart-
ment of Commerce or the Department of Agricul-
ture. These agencies, in turn, have departments
that specialize in tourism, regional development
or service to distinct groups in the small business
community. In North Carolina the Department of
Commerce has an industrial recruiting program
that enjoys an excellent worldwide reputation.
The Information Network should become an inte-

1986 Fall"179

gral part of the economic development and over-
all service offered by these agencies.

2. Work with Statewide Business Organiza-
tions. Data base services, marketing efforts and
overall business information programs should be
developed in conjunction with the efforts of
statewide business organizations like the Cham-
ber of Commerce and the North Carolina Citizens
for Business and Industry. These important asso-
ciations are crucial to our becoming an accepted
member of the business community. They are po-
litically powerful and can be of enormous help in
assuring that the Information Network receives
public and private financial support. They are
also a prime source of program development.
Because they represent major corporations as
well as small businesses, their input in the devel-
opment of a program of business information serv-
ices is essential.

3. Conduct Regional Marketing Surveys. Be-
cause of the diverse geographic and economic
nature of North Carolina, comprehensive regional
market surveys need to be made to pinpoint,
develop and provide information sources to meet
the specific information needs of a particular
region of the state. Several good regional library
associations like the Metrolina Library Associa-
tion or the Western North Carolina Library Asso-
ciation have already formed onatural� regional
organizations to serve library needs in a specific
area, and surveys can be conducted with the help
of these associations.

4, Develop Business Expert & Consultation
Services. Implementing business oexpert� pro-
grams and consultation services will assist local
communities and state administrators in estab-
lishing effective business information services.
Assistance of this type has traditionally been pro-
vided successfully in other areas such as chil-
drenTs services. Business-librarian consultants can
achieve the same results in the promotion of local
business information services.

5. Coordinate Planning. Ensure that all state-
wide business information development efforts
are made in conjunction with the development
plans and policy of the Governor's Office and the
state agencies dealing with business affairs. This
step will assure that business information serv-
ices will be gradually integrated with the work of
the other agencies and aid in the ongoing acquisi-
tion of funding for the Information Network.

Conclusion

In summary, in order for a state, region or
local community effectively to pursue economic
and industrial development on a long term basis,

180"North Carolina Libraries

three important oinfrastructures� are necessary:
transportation, financial and information. North
Carolina has well developed transportation and
financial infrastructures. The state needs to
develop an information infrastructure. The state
and local communities have been investing in the
development of library resources for a long period
of time and, due to recent rapid developments in
telecommunications and computer technology,
the necessary building blocks of the infrastruc-
ture are already in place. The North Carolina Di-
vision of State Library, moreover, after many
years of planning and study, has begun the
implementation of the North Carolina Informa-
tion Network. The Network will function as a co-
op and provide access to basic services to libraries
across the state. It will also help in the creation
and development of local networks. The Informa-
tion Network, though, has to become an integral
part of the Business Network. Personal and tech-
nological networking on a local and statewide
basis are vital for the permanent creation and
deployment of business information services.
Librarians must take the initiative to reach out in
new ways to the business community to assure
the merger of the Information and Business Net-
works on a local and statewide basis. The final
success of the construction of the Information
Network, while crucial to state development
goals, can be of great value to the library com-
munity. Herbert White, invoking the name of Peter
Drucker, sums it well: oPeter Drucker, with his
Churchillian gift for short and memorable
phrases, said it all a long time ago. Managers (and
of course librarians who control resources are
managers) only get credit for two things, innova-
tion and marketing, because successful continua-
tion of the status quo is assumed and earns no
credit. Even more to the point, it is boring. In
politics, ~boringT is a synonym for ~fatal.T�!!

References

1. oState Air Service. NORTH CAROLINA Interview: Willard G.
Plentl, Jr.,� We the People of North Carolina, July 1986, p. 52.

2. Daniel H. Carter, oCommunity Information Services and the
Public Library,� Iowa Library Quarterly, Spring 1986, p. 27.

3. Herbert S. White, oPublic Libraries and the Political Process,�
Library Journal, June 15, 1986, p. 50.

4. Wall Street Journal, February 29, 1984, p. 33.

5. Vladimir Slamecka, oInformation Technology and the Third
World,� Journal of the American Society For Information
Science, May 1985, p. 179.

6. Ibid. p. 178-179.

7. oWorld Trade Grows In Bits and Bytes,� Wall Street Journal,
December 17, 1984, p. 1.

8. White, op. cit., p. 51.

9. Ibid. p. 50.

10. W. Randall Wilson, oPartners In Economic Development,�
Library Journal, March 15, 1986, p. 32-34.

11. White, op. cit., p. 51. al
CU

Bibliographic Data Bases
from the Network Point of

View " In Kathmandu!
Marjorie W. Lindsey

oSeminar On Bibliographic Data Base� read
the headline in the Rising Nepal! that caught my
eye. The article went on to announce a five-day
regional seminar on the obibliographic data base
from the net-work point of view ... to be held here
(in Kathmandu) under the joint auspices of (the)
National Computer Centre, Nepal, and UNESCO
Regional Office of Science and Technology for
South and Central Asia from November 18 to 22
(1985). About 30 persons from 11 countries of
South and Central Asia including Nepal will
attend ... (as well as) representatives of libraries,
archive centres, communication media, computer
experts and international agencies based in
Nepal.�

This was something I especially wanted to
attend! Typically, the article did not give a contact
person, telephone, or even indicate where in
Kathmandu the seminar would be held. I asked a
friend, a librarian and British Volunteer (similar
to our Peace Corps Volunteers) who was develop-
ing a union catalog for the Forestry Department
of Nepal, to find out if we could both attend as
observers, and where and what time the seminar
would open. He found that we would be welcome
as observers and that we should be at the
National Computer Centre inside the government
compound promptly at 10:00 am November 18.

When I arrived I was greeted cordially and
invited to remove my shoes and join the seminarTs
other participants for a tour of the CentreTs com-
puter facilities, preceding registration. We were
shown the computer room, disk storage room,
training rooms, and rooms where data are
checked, coded and entered.� Data are received in
many forms, mostly handwritten with various
levels of legibility, all of which must be checked as
carefully as possible before entering. At the time
of our visit they were printing out a list of eligible
voters in one of the 75 districts of Nepal. We also
saw their power supply system which controls the

Marjorie Lindsey retired in 1985 as consultant for multitype
library cooperation at the Division of State Library. She lived
in Kathmandu from 1962-1968, and returned to Nepal July
1985 to January 1986.

electricity supply from the city, has a 30 minute
battery backup system and a 375 KVA diesel
generator.T The rest of the Centre includes class-
rooms, meeting rooms, offices and a cafeteria for
the staff.

At the end of the tour we donned our shoes
and proceeded to our meeting room where each
participant, including observers, was given a reg-
istration tag, which also served as a pass into the
government compound, and a handsome hand
woven book bag with paper, pencil, the agenda,
and some of the papers to be presented. Each
participant sat at assigned places marked by
name signs placed on tables arranged in a circle
around the room; chairs for observers were set
behind those of the participants so everyone
could see and hear who was speaking.

The director of the National Computer Cen-
tre, Mr. Devi Prasad Chapagain, opened the
seminar, welcomed all of us, and then introduced
the participants and resource people. First was
Dr. Aram Akopov, Programme Specialist in Engi-
neering Sciences with the UNESCO Regional
Office for Science and Technology for South and
Central Asia, based in New Delhi, India, and chief
sponsor of the seminar. Next were the resource
persons: Mr. Alan Hopkinson, Information System
Manager, The Institute of Development Studies at
the University of Sussex, UK; Mr. Lim Chee Hong,
Mamarant University, Penang, Malaysia; and
Mrs. B. Wilcox, Australian Bibliographic Network,
National Library of Australia, Canberra, Austra-
lia. Other participants included representatives
from Afganistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Paki-
stan, the Republic of Maldives, and Sri Lanka, as
well as Nepal. Concurrent with the regional
seminar was a national seminar for a number of
Nepalese librarians, lecturers, and government
officials, who were introduced. Next came the
ofaculty� for the regional and national seminars.
Nepalese librarians and computer specialists
whom we came to know well through their papers
and formal and informal discussions, and last, we
observers were recognized and asked to introduce
ourselves.

1986 Fall"181

Following an elaborate Nepalese luncheon
buffet we moved to the garden for the opening
ceremonies which featured keynote speaker Dr.
Mohan Man Sainju, Vice-Chairman of the National
Planning Commission of Nepal, who received his
doctorate in political science from UNC-Chapel
Hill. Dr. Sainju observed that othe developing
countries that missed the opportunities of the
industrial revolution of yesterday should not miss
the revolution of informatics which is taking place
today.� He also noted that NepalTs seventh five-
year plan, beginning this fiscal year, contains a
national computer development policy for the
first time.

Our first session featured a paper entitled
Library Scene in Nepal+ by Mr. Kamal Mani Dixit,
Librarian of the Madan Puraskar library of about
12,000 books and 2,400 periodicals in the Nepali
language. Beginning with early stone inscriptions
of the 5th-8th centures AD, Mr. Dixit described
the historical development of temple and private
libraries. Beginning in the 1950Ts, under the Minis-
try of Education, there was a surge of public
library development across the country, but it
was short-lived, beset by financial and political
constraints. Presently libraries must be registered
as associations, undergoing careful scrutiny of
any police and political records of the sponsors.
oOnly after the Home MinisterTs approval can an
association be registered in Nepal... it is an uphill
task indeed for an ordinary man or a group to
open a library anywhere in the Kingdom.� Mr.
Dixit went on to describe the Tribuvan University
Central Library of 186,000 volumes and the sixty-
six campus libraries scattered over the country;
the few libraries in middle and secondary schools;
government departmental libraries; and some of
the special collections in Nepal. None are auto-
mated but the academic libraries are probably in
a position to begin. He also noted the very popular
foreign mission libraries in Kathmandu whose
reading rooms are heavily used. Mr. DixitTs key
comment, and one later taken up by the seminar
as a whole, was that othere is not one authority in
the Government who is really in charge of librar-
ies.�

Session II opened with brief reviews of the
library scene in each of the other participant
countries, Mr. Faroug, Member, State Committee
for Culture in Afganistan, was absent, so we began
with Mr. Muhammad Anwarul Haq, Chief, Docu-
mentation, Library & Publication Division, Ban-
gladesh Bureau of Educational Information and
Statistics of the Ministry of Education, Dhaka,
Bangladesh. Besides the efforts of his department
to automate, other national libraries such as the
National Medical Library and the Central Public

182"North Carolina Libraries

Library are considering automation. They hope
for acommon format, but at present his agency is
trying to develop an original format to meet their
special needs, using Roman not Bengali alphabets.
He noted the value of the MARC format, especially
in producing and exchanging national bibliogra-
phies, but cited the shortage of trained manpower
in system engineering and programming as a
handicap to automation in Bangladesh. He also
noted that there is no central organization to
develop a common format.

Mr. N.K. Pandey, Systems Analyst, National
Informatics Centre, Electronics Commission, New
Delhi; Dr. S.S. Iyer, Scientist Incharge, National
Information Centre for Drugs & Pharmaceuticals,
Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow; and
Dr. T.A.V. Murthy, Head, Library Service, Indian
Agriculture Research Institute, Pusa Campus,
New Delhi, spoke on the library scene in India.
They noted that there are public libraries in the
major towns, most with limited services; there is a
steady growth of special libraries, such as the
National Library of Medicine and the National
Information System for Science and Technology
Library; and that there are some library schools.
They are trying to develop software that can be
shared among IndiaTs libraries regardless of the
kind of computers they have. They too noted that
the development of libraries is closely allied to
legislation.

Presently libraries must be
registered as associations, un-
dergoing careful scrutiny of
any police and political rec-
ords of the sponsors.

Mr. S. Hussain Razavi, Systems Analyst,
Member of the High Council of Informatics, Tehe-
ran, Iran, noted two developments in Iran con-
cerning data bases: 1) The Academy of Linguistics
is developing a system for all languages and
alphabets, and 2) research activity is underway
for a common software. He noted further that
Iran does not have a central national library;
rather, the university library is the most impor-
tant library.

Mr. Mohamed Imad, Technician, Computer
Centre, Ministry of Planning and Development of
the Republic of Maldives called attention to the
communications problems of 183,000 people
scattered over their multi-island country. He said
they have no national library, only one public
library, and only one private library in the coun-
try. There are few publications in their native lan-

guage, and they lack skilled manpower. Foreign
embassies help meet information needs with their
libraries. The Ministry of Planning and Develop-
ment is undertaking the collection of statistics,
such as the census, for the country, and a compu-
ter centre has been established.

Mr. M.A.R. Khan, Systems Analyst, Pakistan
Computer Bureau, Islamabad, Pakistan indicated
that a national library as such does not exist in
Pakistan, but they have two nationally ranked
libraries. A natural history museum library has
just begun, for research only; scientific and tech-
nical libraries are located mostly in universities.
The Punjab Public Library, the starting point of
the library movement in Asia, and now part of
Pakistan, has 500,000 books and old manuscripts,
the latter being microfilmed. Computerization has
not yet begun in PakistanTs libraries, but they are
considering beginning with the National Assembly
Library. Mr. Khan emphasized that education and
literacy are key elements in the development of
libraries, noting that of PakistanTs 90 million peo-
ple, 85% are in villages, with only 10% literate.

Ms. Indra De Silva, Librarian-Documentalist,
Natural Resources, Energy and Science Authority
of Sri Lanka, Colombo, presented a paper on the
various bibliographic data bases in Sri Lanka. The
Parliament has designated the Computer and
Information Technology Council as the overall
body in computer organization in Sri Lanka to
advise the government in formulating, co-ordinat-
ing and implementing policy, functioning directly
under the President. The Sri Lanka Scientific and
Technical Information Centre functions as the
national focal point of scientific and technical
information, has a network of about 100 scientific
and technical libraries, and is the only organiza-
tion in Sri Lanka which uses computer techniques
for bibliographic data processing. Three data
bases have been created: 1) Union Catalogue of
Scientific and Technical Books, 2) Union List of
Scientific and Technical Periodicals, and 3) Sri
Lanka Science Index. Ms. De Silva described the
process of developing first a manual union
catalog, and later moving to automation with all
the problems of establishing standards accepta-
ble to all participating libraries, finally choosing
AACR 2, the Dewey Decimal and Universal
Decimal Classifications, and the OECD (Office of
European Cooperation and Development) Macro-
Thesaurus. Catalog support services are offered
to participating libraries. Her description of
developing the Union List of Scientific and Tech-
nical Periodicals, with information coming from
participating libraries in all sorts of manual for-
mats, with various levels of completeness, was a
strong reminder of the experience of North Caro-

linaTs Western ZOC! The Science Index includes
published and unpublished scientific and tech-
nical documents relating to Sri Lanka, scientific
and technical periodicals published in Sri Lanka,
and a collection of scientific and technical articles
published in local newspapers. They have a Wang
2200 MVP computer, have developed their own
software, and have formulated a transliteration
scheme to overcome the inability of the computer
to use diacritical marks. They are fast running out
of storage space!

... actually nowhere in the
world is there absolute agree-
ment on a thesaurus...

Over the remaining sessions several informa-
tive papers were presented provoking much
comment. Mr. Saket Bihari Thakur, Documenta-
tion Officer of the Centre for Nepal and Asian
Studies described AGRIS, the international infor-
mation system for agricultural sciences and tech-
nology under the Food and Agriculture Organiza-
tion of the United Nations, with 90 member
countries. He also described DEVSIS, an experi-
mental Development Sciences Information Sys-
tem program of the International Development
Research Centre in Ottawa, Canada, which has
received experimental input from several coun-
tries including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Indo-
nesia, and the Philippines from southeast Asia.
Mr. Thakur then noted several major issues in the
formation of a regional bibliographical data base
and network: 1) lack of common bibliographic
format and subject heading list; 2) financial con-
straints; 3) inadequate trained manpower; and
4) need for study to prepare a ostatus paper on
each participating country, for an expert consul-
tation�.

During the discussion Mr. Hopkinson noted
that actually nowhere in the world is there abso-
lute agreement on a thesaurus; Mr. Iyer suggested
that each country can modify for its own use a
standard thesaurus already available, and cited
MESH as an example. Mr. Hopkinson also pointed
out that terminology is not as firm in the social
sciences as in pure science, and suggested using a
general thesaurus with key word in title search
techniques.

Mr. Krishna Mani Bhandary of the Tribhuvan
University Central Library elaborated on the
libraries in Nepal, particularly the university sys-
tem and several research libraries, noting again
the lack of public libraries and the poor quality of
the few school libraries. He pointed out the
advantages of sharing national bibliographies,

1986 Fall"183

and the necessity of networking in the modern
world. But he was realistic in pointing out that for
Nepal the prerequisite is to convert records to
machine readable form. In closing, he said: oThere
is a great and immediate need for formulating
library policies at the National level. This may
require a high expert committee.�

During the discussion it was pointed out that
no librarians are involved in drafting and submit-
ting library policies for Nepal, and that this
seminar could make a strong recommendation in
that regard. Mr. Thakur pointed out that Bangla-
desh and Pakistan also lack library legislation
regarding a national depository of government
publications, whereupon Mr. Iyer noted that
India has six such laws! Mr. Iyer further suggested
that Nepal should develop a strong library associ-
ation, noting that more can be achieved through
such an organized effort. Mr. Murphy pointed out
that to further enhance the clout of librarians,
there must be an opportunity for librarians to
upgrade their skills and be exposed to new tech-
nologies.

Mr. G.A. Pradhan, Systems Analyst, National
Computer Centre, Kathmandu, Nepal, then pre-
sented a paper outlining his design for olibrary
circulation and a bibliography system�. While the
paper was useful in showing graphically what a
system might look like, it soon became apparent
that he had not consulted any librarian at all.
Several persons pointed out that it would be more
cost-effective to modify packages already avail-
able and proven than to design a circulation sys-
tem from scratch, and that a standardized
package would be needed to network.

Mr. Prabhat Krishna Kansakar, Computer
Engineer, National Computer Centre, Kathman-
du, presented a technical paper discussing var-
ious computer communication networks, such as
local and wide area networks, and describing
functions of various hardware needed, protocols
and switching methods, flow control, and net-
work security. He took note of various communi-
cation channels available via telephone, satellite,
and microwave, concluding that satellite might be
best for the region using INSAT, the Indian satel-
lite located over the Indian Ocean.

Mrs. Wilcox, noting that library cooperation
has always been strong in Australia among all
types of libraries, gave a detailed description of
the Australian Bibliographic Network, oan auto-
mated national bibliographic service based on a
cooperative on-line shared cataloguing facility�
using WLN software on IBM compatible equip-
ment. She further noted that the WLN software
was a proven system with a high standard of
records, could be used with their computer

184"North Carolina Libraries

equipment, and was used in New Zealand and
Singapore as well as in other countries, making it
a logical system for them to choose. WLN is devel-
oping a new version, and when available Australia
will need to reconcile their system with the new
one. When WLN develops a module for on-line
interlibrary loan, Australia plans to implement
it as well. The network began in 1981 with 8
participants, and now has 109 participants on-
line, with 3.5 million holding statements, an aver-
age of 3 per title. Mrs. Wilcox commented that
although their national library is a legal de-
pository for government publications, they do not
get them all automatically and have to ogo after�
many. She observed that the South Asian region
needed the ability to interface in order to share
national bibliographies " to use the same for-
mats and protocols in order to share tapes even if
lacking a telecommunications network.

Mr. Hopkinson discussed the need for stand-
ards, and described in detail the UNESCO Com-
mon Communication Format. He noted the
several kinds of standards available and indicated
that a library system should choose one and then
stick to it, before automating. With regard to for-
mats, he suggested that if a country does not have
a national MARC, they adopt UNIMARC, an
international MARC. He noted the importance of
the ISBN and ISSN for countries to establish and
use. He describing filing rules, indicating that one
has to tell the computer what alphabetic and
chronological order mean. For the future he saw
open systems communications, universally agreed
upon rules for developing authority files, and
conversion programs between formats.

Mr. Lim described the MALMARC (Malaysian
MARC) system developed in 1978 with UNESCO
funding, and headquartered in Panang. There are
seven participants currently, five of which are
state libraries, and one additional participant
outside Malaysia, namely Singapore. Member
libraries combined have 1.2 million books and
periodicals. They have developed data bases for
each institution, including audio-visual materials.
They use the university computer center for com-
puter resources, but library personnel to run the
system. Software is from the British Library, a
well-tested package. Library of Congress and
UKMARC tapes are used. Fees are based on the
number of full records and amount to about $1.20
per full record. They have two types of members,
founding and subscribing. They use common
standards such as AACR2, LC classification, LC
subject headings, and NLM and MESH where
appropriate. Their network is a bi-directional
star-shaped structure. They use an IBM computer
with remote terminals connected to the center

through modems and telephone lines. Approxi-
mately 65,000 records are processed per year,
and 130,000 volumes added per year. Approxi-
mately 75% are found on LC MARC tapes, 55% on
UK tapes, and 30% created locally for local mate-
rials. At present they do not provide an on-line
catalog system for the whole country, but they are
looking into this. Mr. Lim hopes the National
Library will take the overall responsibility for the
network, which resides presently in the univer-
sity. He called attention to the need for proper
design and planning, and the training and updat-
ing of personnel for successful system implemen-
tation. He noted that there are enough tested
packages available now that it is not worth doing
them on your own. He then observed that if done
in-house, computer people will have to be trained
as librarians; but the corollary is also true, that
librarians need at least basic training to be com-
puter literate. Mr. Lim closed emphasizing that
the willingness to cooperate is the main ingre-
dient for success in networking.

oThere is not one authority in
the Government who is really
in charge of libraries.�

Next we toured three libraries in Nepal:
1) the National Agricultural Documentation Cen-
tre of the Agricultural Projects Services Centre
under the Ministry of Agriculture, which has 4,200
catalogued documents, 5,000 cataloged books,
and 200 journals and serials, and serves as the
AGRIS input center and liaison office for Nepal.
We also observed the Apple computers being used
in the Agricultural Projects Services Centre,
under the guidance of an American Peace Corps
Volunteer. 2) the National Archives of Nepal
where we saw ancient records carved in stone or
engraved on copper sheets, and manuscripts
handwritten on palm leaves, all carefully wrapped
in cotton fabric for protection. The rest of the
collection houses edicts of the King of Nepal and
other official papers from the Palace. Printed
government publications are housed in the uni-
versity library, not in the National Archives.
3) the Tribhuvan University Central Library, the
most outstanding collection in Nepal, cataloged
according to standards, and providing full serv-
ices to faculty, students, government, and re-
searchers, under the directorship of Mrs. Shanti
Mishra, who has her MLS from the United States.

The last session of the seminar provoked vig-
orous discussion of recommendations from the
oexpert meeting�, held the afternoon before with
the resource persons and selected participants.

The first recommendation was that ostatutory
provision for the establishment and management
of libraries and information centres and their serv-
ices should be made in countries in the region
which do not yet have them. Statutory provisions
should also be made for the legal deposit of publi-
cations.� Another was that oUNESCO provide a
consultant/ consultants to study the situation in
each country, to investigate and make proposals
that will satisfy the needs, with respect to stand-
ards to enable each country eventually to partici-
pate in a regional bibliographic network. The task
is to be accomplished before the end of 1986.�
Further recommendations addressed the need
for financial and technical assistance in training;
urged each country to identify a national ofocal
point� for establishing procedures, standards, and
training needed to prepare for a regional net-
work; and requested oUNESCO and respective
national governments and educational institu-
tions of member countries to investigate with the
International Telecommunications Union the pos-
sibility of lower tariffs for the use of telecommuni-
cation facilities for the transfer of information
within the scope of network activity.�

These countries have a long way to go to
achieve a regional network, but a seminar such as
this one can raise awareness of the problems and
the possibilities; can broaden the understanding
of automation, of the value of standards, and of
the uses of different kinds of data bases; can
develop dialog among statisticians and computer
and library professionals in the region; and can
stimulate enthusiasm to continue trying for
national legislation, responsibility and support as
well as the cooperation and support of profes-
sionals within each country.

References

1. The Rising Nepal is the English language edition of the
government newspaper of Nepal.

2. Full information describing computer facilities and services
can be found in the pamphlet National Computer Centre, at the
service of the nation, National Computer Centre, Singha Durbar,
Kathmandu (Nepal), June 1985.

3. Ibid., p. 6.

4, Unpublished papers presented at the seminar are as follows:

Bhandary, Krishna Mani. Library system in Nepal.

De Silva, I.R. Bibliographic databases " Sri Lanka.

Dixit, Kamal Mani. Library scene in Nepal.

Haq, Muhammed Anwarul. Country paper of Bangladesh
on educational information: needs and issues of a data-
base in Bangladesh.

Kansakar, Prabhat K. Introduction to computer communi-
cation networks.

Pradhan, Gem A. Database designs for library circulation
and bibligraphy system.

Thakur, S.B. Mechanization of library/information serv-
ices; bibliographic control for information networking

" a regional perspective. al

1986 Fall"185

Rural Teenagers Are Reading!

A Study of the Leisure Reading Patterns of Rural Ninth Grade Students

Carroll Harrell, Annette Privette, and Constance Mellon

In 1984, NCASL created a special committee
whose purpose was to acknowledge library media
coordinatorsT skills and expertise while respond-
ing to their interests in pursuing new ideas and
projects. The committee now grants financial
awards annually in support of its membershipsT
research projects that provide for professional
growth, improve media program effectiveness,
and enhance student learning. The research
grant discussed in the following article was
awarded in October, 1985. This is the second in a
series of articles published in North Carolina
Libraries reporting the research findings of
grant recipients.

Applications for the 1987 grants are avail-
able from Beth Rountree, Thompson Staff Devel-
opment Center, 428 West Boulevard, Charlotte,
NC 28203.

Beth Rountree, Chairman
NCASL Research Grants Committee

There is evidence among librarians of increas-
ing interest in services to young adults: lists of
recommended materials, books on young adult
services, state standards for public and school
libraries, and research studies on relevant aspects
of adolescence are appearing more and more fre-
quently in the literature of librarianship. A major
concern consistently reflected in these writings is
whether our teenagers, raised on television, carry-
ing their music with them in boom boxes or
walkmans, and wrapped up in the complexities of
adolescence, will ever become reading adults. To
examine the facts behind this concern, a study
was designed to explore the leisure reading pat-
terns of young adults. Since our area of concern is
eastern North Carolina, a predominantly rural
area, we were particularly interested in rural teen-
agers, whose leisure reading patterns, we sus-
pected, differed greatly from those of urban
teenagers. Due to the distance between home and
libraries (public and school), reading material
would be less readily available for the rural teen-

Carroll Harrell is media coordinator at Perquimans High
School, Hertford, NC and Annette Privette is an English
teacher at Bunn High School in Bunn, NC. Constance Mellon
is on the faculty at East Carolina UniversityTs Department of
Library and Information Studies.

186"North Carolina Libraries

ager; however, there might be more leisure time
to be filled since the amusements and other dis-
tractions of a large city would be missing.

The Setting

Our study was conducted in two rural high
schools well-matched in all aspects but one: prox-
imity to a large city. While one school is located in
a sparsely populated coastal area, the other is less
than thirty-five miles from one of the stateTs larger
cities. The high schools are centrally located to
the areas they serve and include grades nine
through twelve. The populations of both schools
are similar with over 90% of the student enroll-
ment classified as rural. Ethnic distribution is
approximately equal, black and white, with no
other groups represented. Between one-third and
one-half of the families have incomes at or below
the poverty level with most of them in agricultural
occupations and with little formal education
beyond high school.

Students at both schools are grouped for cer-
tain classes and courses of study. Five groups are
used: Academically Gifted, College Preparatory,
General, Chapter I, and Special Education. Aca-
demically Gifted students are identified by state
guidelines, which include intelligence and stand-
ardized achievement test scores and grade point
average. College Preparatory students, those
planning to attend college, and General students,
those with no further academic plans, are deter-
mined by student choice. Special Education stu-
dents, also determined by state guidelines, are
those with limitations which may include physi-
cal, mental, or behavioral. Chapter I students are
determined differently at the two high schools.
One defines them by reading scores below the fif-
tieth percentile on the California Achievement
Test while the other identifies them using three
criteria: C.A.T. scores below the forty-fifth percen-
tile; teacher recommendation, and performance
in school.

The Study

Data Collection
A five-page, 28-item, questionnaire was
devised, focusing on factors related to reading by

choice: whether or not teenagers read in their
leisure time; if they do read, what and where they
read and how they obtain their reading material;
if they do not read, why not. The questionnaire is
a modified checklist with space provided for
comments and includes several open-ended ques-
tions. Ninth grade students were selected for pre-
liminary study, since they fall into the category
described by G. Robert Carlsen in Books and the
Teenage Reader as omiddle adolescence.� Ques-
tionnaires were duplicated in five colors for easy
identification of the five groups described above
and were administered to 20 English classes, 10 at
each school, by their classroom teachers. A total
of 362 questionnaires were collected, with group
distribution as shown in Table I.

TABLE I. Breakdown of Respondents by Group.

Profile of Respondents
(N = 362)
Gifted College Prep General ChapterI Special Ed
22 (6%) 156 (48%) 72(20%) 76 (21%) 32 (9%)

Data were analyzed to determine what per-
centage of respondents, both overall and by
groups, claimed to read or not to read in their
spare time. For non-readers, reasons given for not
reading were examined. For readers, factors were
analyzed relating to types of reading material
chosen for leisure reading, where reading mate-
rial was obtained, what types of reading materials
teenagers purchased, and where and when teen-
agers read for pleasure.

Data Analysis

A surprising 296 of our 362 respondents
(82%) answered oyes� to the question, oDo you
ever read in your spare time.� By sex, 72% of the
males surveyed and 92% of the females surveyed
chose reading as a leisure activity. Analysis by
group was even more surprising. It was antici-
pated that the Gifted and College Preparatory
groups would have a high percentage of spare
time readers, and they did: 100% of the Gifted
group and 82% of the College Preparatory group
responded oyes.� However, 70% or more of the
General and Chapter I respondents also indicated
that they read in their spare time. (Table II shows
a breakdown by group.)

TABLE II. By-Group Responses, o~Do You Ever Read In Your
Spare Time?�
CTL SR ORLY TN ESA BERN GL PAE LET EE TITS RE ATRL
College
Gifted Prep General Chap.I Sp. Ed.

Total % oYes� 100% 90% 77% 75% 59%
% Females oYes� 100% 95% 86% 86% 79%
% Males oYes� 100% 82% 72% 70% 45%
DO, ESE TE MEE REN DEO ELSE MEE ES 6A ESE BOLE TE ESS, HMI EESTI

Less than 20% of the total respondents
claimed they did not read in their spare time. As
might be anticipated, none of the Gifted, and only
10% of the College Preparatory students were
included in this group. Twenty-five per cent or
less of the General and Chapter I students indi-
cated no leisure reading activity, as opposed to
forty per cent of the Special Education students.
A breakdown by sex indicated that twice as many
males as females in each group claimed that they
did not read in their spare time. The two most
frequent responses checked by non-readers for
not reading (over fifty per cent) were working
after school and hating to read. In addition, 75%
of the General students who claimed not to read
in their spare time checked the response, oreading
is too hard.� Other reasons given for not reading
included, otoo much on my mind,� otoo much to
do,� and obothers my eyes.�

On questions relating to materials chosen for
leisure reading, a difference was observed be-
tween the responses of males and females. For
males, the top three categories of reading mate-
rials across groups were magazines (72%), sports/
sports biographies (68%), and comic books (54%).
It is interesting to note that only 29% of the female
respondents read comic books. For females, the
top three categories were romance (90%), mys-
tery (73%), and magazines (73%). Specific maga-
zines favored by boys included Hot Rod, Field and
Stream, and Sports Illustrated. Girls favored
Teen, Seventeen, Jet, Ebony, and Young Miss.
Twenty-two per cent of each group, male and
female, claimed to read non-fiction with boys
specifying books on sports, hunting, and war
while girls chose biographies. (For a specific break-
down of preferred materials across groups, see
Tables III & IV.)

TABLE III. Preferred Reading Material of Girls by Group

College
Gifted Prep General Chap.I Sp. Ed.
Romance 95% 90% 92% 100% 55%
Mystery 84% 76% 83% 58% 36%
Magazines 84% 74% 83% 58% 46%

Science Fiction 42% 32% 17% 11% 0%

TABLE IV. Preferred Reading Material of Boys by Group

College
Gifted Prep General Chap. I Sp. Ed.

Magazines 67% 70% 67% 66% 89%
Sports/Sp. Bio. 33% 52% 48% 100% 100%
Comic Books 33% 54% 45% 55% 78%

Science Fiction 100% 63% 51% 26% 22%

An interesting contrast in choice of leisure
material is provided by science fiction. While forty

1986 Fall"187

per cent or more of students in the Gifted, College
Preparatory, and General groups claim to read
science fiction, 20% or less of the Chapter I and
Special Education students selected it. Among
those who read science fiction, twice as many are
males as opposed to females.

The primary source of reading material is the
school library. Almost 90% of the students, male
and female, checked the school library in re-
sponse to the question, oWhere do you get the
things you read?� Girls borrow books from friends
(71%) more readily than do boys (48%), while boys
appear to read the magazines in their homes
(71%) somewhat more often than do girls (63%).
More girls than boys use the public library (66% as
opposed to 41%). An equal percentage (68%) of
males and females read the books in their homes
and over half of them buy books at grocery, drug,
and discount stores. The major contrast across
groups appears to be in the use of the public
library. Eighty-two per cent of the Gifted and 59%
of the College Preparatory students use the public
library while less than half of the remaining
groups do. (For a breakdown of library use across
groups, see Table V.)

TABLE V. Libraries As Sources of Leisure Reading Materials

Group School Library Public Library
Gifted 82% 82%
College Prep 79% 59%
General 75% 46%
Chapter I 100% AT%
Special Education 100% 40%

In opposition to the image of the teenager as
a non-reader is the fact that 83% of both male and
female respondents who read in their leisure time
spend their own money on reading material.
Seventy-four per cent of the boys buy magazines,
their top choice for purchased reading materials,
while nearly seventy per cent of the girls surveyed
buy both paperbacks and magazines. Across
groups, the Gifted buy the most paperback books
(77%) and the fewest comics (5%). The greatest
percentage of comics (37%) is purchased by the
General students, while Special Education stu-
dents buy the most newspapers. (For a by-group
breakdown, see Table VI). Most of the respond-
ents who spent their own money on reading
material indicated that their purchases were of
the types listed above. A few respondents, how-
ever, indicated that they also spent money on
hardcover and on book club books.

The final factors of interest to this study were
where and when leisure reading occurred. Across
categories, most leisure reading occurred in the

188"North Carolina Libraries

home (78% of the males and 94% of the females),
usually taking place in the bedroom or living
room. Slightly more than half the respondents,
both males and females, indicated that they also
read for pleasure during school. Approximately
half of the girls and a fourth of the boys also read
on the school bus. Males read mostly on week-
nights (89%) while females frequently read both
weeknights (97%) and weekends (84%). Summer
vacations were less popular leisure reading times
for boys (36%); however, girls continue to read for
pleasure during the summer (85%).

TABLE VI. By-Group Percentage of Types of Reading
Materials Purchased
aE FAN ET SA EB Et
College
Gifted Prep General Chap.I Sp. Ed.

Magazines 50% 79% 77% 61% 45%
Paperback Books 77% 59% 47% 40% 20%
Comic Books 5% 21% 37% 33% 25%
Newspapers 5% 11% 14% 23% 15%
NS RM

Implications for Practice

Three findings from this study are particu-
larly significant to the practice of young adult
librarianship.

First, the most surprising, and most hopeful,
finding of our study is that teenagers are reading
in their leisure time! Moreover, the high percen-
tage of those who enjoy reading is not limited to
the college bound; even among the Chapter I stu-
dents, those identified by low reading scores, 75%
chose reading as a leisure activity. However,
comments and responses to open-ended ques-
tions indicate that teenagers consider oreading�
and oreading for pleasure� to be distinctly differ-
ent activities. oReading� is equated with home-
work while oreading for pleasure� is described as
othe things I choose myself.�

The second finding relates to the materials
teenagers choose for leisure reading. Popular
magazines are the favorite type of reading, with
paperback books a close second. Many teenagers
enjoy reading magazines and paperback books
enough to spend their own money on them. The
types of books preferred include romance, mys-
tery, and sports/sports biographies. Here, too, in
the choice of reading material, a similarity across
groups can be found. The gifted and college-
bound girls are just as enthusiastic about ro-
mantic stories as their peers. And, while fewer
Chapter I and Special Education students men-
tioned magazines than did students in other
groups, they are still preferred as leisure reading
material by approximately half the respondents
in these groups. While the groups divide on

science fiction, it is popular with over half the
boys in both the college-bound and general
groups and with a third or more of the college-

bound girls.
The third significant finding is that almost all

the young adults in our study borrow leisure read-
ing materials from their school libraries. Once
again, this finding is across groups with more
than three-fourths of the college-bound and
general respondents and all of the Chapter I and
Special Education respondents mentioning the
school library as a source of their leisure reading

materials.
When we combine the findings about pre-

ferred leisure reading materials with the fact that
the majority of rural youth obtain the things they
read from the school library, implications for
selection and circulation are clear. If school
librarians want to encourage reading as a leisure
activity, they must include in their collections
these materials of choice. Popular magazines that
can be circulated, including, but not necessarily
limited to, the ones specified in our study, should
be considered an appropriate use of acquisition
funds. Paperbound books, including the series
romances deplored by most book selection guides,
but beloved by teenage girls, should be included in
the collection. Ephemeral materials that encour-
age leisure reading, while insufficient in them-
selves to form a school library collection, should
receive precedence over hardbound copies of
ogood young adult literature� that collect dust on
the shelves.

A related finding of this study is the fact that
young adults tend to purchase magazines and
paperback books or to read the ones available in
their homes rather than borrow materials from

the public library. While this may be due in part to
the distance rural youth live from their public
libraries, the availability of preferred leisure read-
ing materials in the librariesT collections should be
considered. It is interesting to note that only a
little over half of the college-bound and less than
half of those not planning to attend college found
their leisure reading materials in the public
library. Even so, these statistics are above the
national statistics for public library use and argue
the examination of policies and materials to
encourage the use of public libraries by rural
youth.

Much of value can be gleaned from this study
of teenage leisure reading patterns for the prac-
tice of both school and public librarianship. Fre-
quently, librarians operate from a philosophy
which dictates that a library collection should
consist of only the obest� books; the obest� books
being those so defined by the selection guides and
reviewing sources of the profession. The idea
behind this philosophy is that exposure to ofine
literature� will serve to educate and to improve
the patrons a library serves. Unfortunately, how-
ever, to paraphrase an old adage: oYou can lead a
patron to a book, but you canTt make him read.�
Instead, the patron seeks more satisfactory read-
ing materials elsewhere or, worst of all, just
doesnTt bother to read. If librarians want a popu-
lation of reading adults, they must provide what
young adults consider to be enjoyable reading.
And if we slip some ogood� young adult authors
(in paperback, of course) in among the series
romances, or shelve The New Yorker Magazine
along with Seventeen and Sports Illustrated,
whoTs the wiser? a

Keep your Mind in Shape

Go for it! Use your library!

1986 Fall"189

A New Headquarters Public Library
for Cumberland County

Jerry Thrasher

Jerry Thrasher is the director of the Cumberland County Pub-
lic Library and Information Center, Fayetteville, NC.

190"North Carolina Libraries

On a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon on
June 1, 1986, the Cumberland County Public
Library & Information Center opened its new
80,000 square foot headquarters library in Fayet-
teville, North Carolina. Over a thousand people
were present while local dignitaries gave brief
remarks on the importance of this new facility to
the community. At 3:30 p.m. the ribbon was cut as
hundreds of colored balloons rose in front of the
three floor structure. The long awaited Headquar-
ters Library was a reality!

Local architectural firm MacMillan and Mac-
Millan designed an open and flexible facility on a
challenging two acre site that overlooks the
downtown waterway named Cross Creek. A total
of 82 parking spaces were squeezed onto the site
adjacent to the library. Over a hundred additional
parking spaces are available across the street ina

scity-owned parking area.

Library construction consultant Aaron Co-
hen of New York worked with the library staff and
architect to help develop an effective and efficient
design on each level of the facility. Interior design
consultants Michaels Associates of Alexandria,
Virginia did a fabulous job with the limited fur-
nishings budget. Furniture bids were awarded for
Aetnastak shelving, Library Bureau tables and
carrels, and Madison lounge furniture.

Landscape designer Richard Bell of Raleigh
created a realistic yet beautiful concept for main-
taining existing trees along the creek bank in con-
junction with new shrubbery, plants and trees.
Barry Holton of the Center for Urban Affairs and

~Community Services at North Carolina State Uni-

versity reviewed our communication needs, deve-
loped specifications and completed in-depth
evaluation of our bids. Executone/Coastal Caro-
lina of New Bern provided our Mitel SX 200 PBX
system of 48 instruments.

The new facility concentrates public services
on the main and top floors. Staff and expansion
areas are located in the lower level of the facility.
The main public entrance to the library is on the
middle floor. Due to the sloping site to the rear of
the building, the lower level has an excellent view
of the creek and the extensive landscaping.

On entering the public entrance one will find

a large multipurpose meeting room just off the
lobby that will seat 215 persons comfortably. This
room has a stage, projection booth, remote con-
trol projection screen over the stage, microphone
and video cable outlets. Fayetteville Cablevision
provided cable outlets free of charge for the multi-
purpose room, the three public conference rooms,
the childrenTs storytime room, and the executive
conference room. The multipurpose room also
includes a kitchenette with refrigerator, stove,
sink and microwave oven. The lobby of the new
Headquarters Library also contains public rest

rooms, water fountain and bulletin board.
One discovers that the major emphasis of this

level is information services. On entering the
library proper, one can immediately see the
information services desk. This desk and the
other public service desks were manufactured by
Unique Furnishings Limited of Pinellas Park, Flor-
ida. This desk can seat up to four reference librar-
ians, who handle all the walk-in and telephone
inquiries to the library.

Immediately behind the service desk are the
reference collection, index tables, study tables
and carrels and COM readers that hold the
libraryTs microfilm catalog. Nearby is the libraryTs
periodical collection. Ample lounge seating over-
looks Cross Creek through many spacious win-
dows strategically placed next to the periodical
collection. Bound periodicals are shelved adja-
cent to the photocopiers behind the public eleva-

tor.

The microform area, which is only a few steps
away, contains four new microfilm reader/print-
ers and three new microfiche reader/printers.
This area houses the libraryTs newspapers, maga-
zine holdings and microform. The adult non-fic-
tion collection is located on the main floor with
many COM readers located throughout the stack
area.

For the convenience of library users who are
most interested in current best sellers and
recently published books, a new book area was set
up just inside the entrance on display shelving.
Popular hardback and paperback books, both fic-
tion and non-fiction, are displayed there. The cir-
culation desk is located a few feet away, where all
materials are loaned and returned, except for
audiovisual materials and equipment.

On the second level, which can be reached by
the public elevator or the large stairwell, is the
audiovisual services desk. Here patrons can bor-
row 16mm films, filmstrips, slide programs and
video cassettes in VHS and BETA formats. This
department does a booming business in lending
projectors, screens, video cassette players, cas-
sette players and other equipment to the public.
The audiovisual services department also moni-
tors and schedules four microcomputers and two
printers for free public use. There are also four
listening stations (three cassette and one turn-
table) next to the library sound recording collec-
tion.

1986 Fall"191