 |
 |
The following may be of interest Dan > Tuesday, November 21, 2000 > > > > SUNY's Library-Software Contract Includes 'Ultimate > Protection': Program Code > > By FLORENCE OLSEN > > > > State University of New York officials have approved a > five-year statewide contract for library software that is > unusual because it requires the vendor to place in escrow a > complete copy of the software source code and all related > documentation. > > The escrow agreement is among many reasons that SUNY officials > give for their optimism that a $19.5-million project called > SUNYConnect will be successful. The five-year network project, > spearheaded by the system's office of library and information > services, will integrate the libraries of all 64 SUNY campuses > by creating a shared virtual catalog of nearly 18 million > records. > > The contract SUNY signed last month with the software vendor > Ex Libris Inc. was not the first in which the university has > insisted that a vendor using proprietary source code make > escrow arrangements. "We've done it before, and it has > benefited us," says Carey B. Hatch, assistant provost for > library and information services at SUNY. "In case the vendor > goes under, we still have access to the source code that makes > the system work." > > At any time during the contract with Ex Libris, SUNY can look > at the source code and documentation for the company's > library-management system. If the contract is terminated for > any reason, the source code and documentation will be released > to SUNY. "That's our ultimate protection," Mr. Hatch says. > > Not all vendors are willing to sign escrow agreements, he > adds. But library-software vendors that were unwilling to do > so "were eliminated from consideration" when the university > was accepting bids for the new contract. > > The ambitious SUNYConnect plan calls for interlibrary loans of > nonelectronic books and other materials to be processed and > delivered in 48 hours. By the time the library system is > completed, officials also expect that nearly 50 percent of all > serials and scholarly journals in SUNY's virtual library will > be online and accessible from anywhere to SUNY students and > faculty members, who can log in to the system from any Web > browser. > > The 18 million records, which will be stored on large Oracle > database servers, will represent all of the holdings in all > SUNY libraries. "There's nothing that a faculty member at > Harvard University or the University of Chicago or Stanford > University has access to that our faculty or students won't > have access to," says Peter D. Salins, provost and vice > chancellor for academic affairs at SUNY. > > SUNYConnect will also provide better access to government > data, Mr. Salins said. Most of the information is available > electronically now, but Mr. Salins says it "is messy and > incoherent." Under the new system, it will be organized and > easy to download. > > A desire for greater operating efficiency also moved SUNY > officials to create a statewide library-management system. > "Because of rising serial-publications costs and the cost of > technology, many libraries realize it's do or die," says Julie > A. Wash, who is distance- and collaborative-learning librarian > at Monroe Community College and also is president of the SUNY > Librarians Association. > > SUNY's library directors are enthusiastic about the > virtual-library project, Ms. Wash says. The library software > will create a single electronic catalog and system for > circulation, serials, acquisition, and administration for the > universities' 71 libraries, while still permitting librarians > to exercise their authority locally. > > SUNY is not the first state-university system to begin such a > project. OhioLINK -- a electronic library and information > network linking that state's university, college, technical, > and community-college libraries and the State Library of Ohio > -- served as a model for New York officials. California, > Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have > similarly ambitious statewide library projects up and running. > "If SUNY wants to stay up there with attracting students, we > really need to do something like this," Ms. Wash says. > > Six SUNY campuses have begun installing the Ex Libris library > software, known as ALEPH 500. They are Tompkins-Cortland > Community College, the colleges at Fredonia and Oswego, and > the university campuses at Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony > Brook. By 2004, all of the system's campuses expect to be > using the software. The City University of New York has plans > to follow SUNY in installing the Ex Libris software. Officials > say "electronic bridges" will link SUNY's virtual library to > CUNY's. > > SUNY officials say they would like to offer a fee-based > service for nonuniversity users, such as researchers in the > state's technology businesses and health-care organizations. > "We're looking at ways to make this a resource, not just for > our students and faculty but for the larger community in the > state," Mr. Salins says. > > >_________________________________________________________________ > >Chronicle subscribers can read this article on the Web at this address: >http://chronicle.com/free/2000/11/2000112101t.htm > >If you would like to have complete access to The Chronicle's Web >site, a special subscription offer can be found at: > > http://chronicle.com/4free > >Use the code D00CM when ordering. > >_________________________________________________________________ > >You may visit The Chronicle as follows: > > * via the World-Wide Web, at http://chronicle.com > * via telnet at chronicle.com > >_________________________________________________________________ >Copyright 2000 by The Chronicle of Higher Education Daniel Greenstein Director, Digital Library Federation CLIR 1755 Massachusetts Ave, NW Suite 500 Washington DC 20036 phone 202 939 4762