LIAS Gets "Enhanced"

A new icon was added to the LIAS on the Web home page (http://www.lias.psu.edu) on March 01, 200l; it contained this text:

These simple words belie the incredible effort generated during the past eighteen months to evolve the existing CAT into a fully integrated Web product that includes an online catalog with full authority control, circulation, cataloging and acquisitions, a strong report generation capability, and more.

Members of both Library Computing Services (LCS) and the University Libraries worked jointly on this effort. First they shifted direction from creating these LIAS software components locally to the selection and acquisition of commercial software to perform these same functions. This shift in focus--using a service to supply commercially available library components--frees staff within LCS and the University Libraries to engage in truly value added digital initiatives for ongoing Libraries automation.

Since contracting with Sirsi Corporation in Summer '99 for its academic library product called Unicorn Academe, staff have been engaged in migrating 20+ years of LIAS to its new environment: this effort required analysis, problem resolution, code writing, data migration for millions of records for multiple databases, testing, documentation, training, assessment, and meetings, meetings, meetings.

Concurrently, we migrated a new operating system (from Compaq VMS to Compaq Tru64 UNIX) and new hardware (from Compaq ALPHA 8440 to Compaq ALPHA GS160), necessitated by our switch to Unicorn software. In addition, Oracle 8.1.7 was installed to perform database operations. Three separate UNIX servers were employed for testing, development, and production purposes. And, just to mix it up a bit, the migration was conducted while working our way through two releases of Unicorn's software. In the meantime, it was business as usual for users of Penn State Libraries, with the current version of LIAS continuing to run without interruption on the VMS production machine.

Official Release Date

Between March 01 and May 20th, users can visit The Enhanced CAT by clicking on the icon found on LIAS on the Web. Through this portal, they can view the working laboratory of a system in development. On May 21^st, the new LIAS will be publicly released, and the existing components retired. Note: the online catalog will continue to be called The CAT, but during this preview period it is being referred to by its temporary moniker, The Enhanced CAT.

What's the Same?

Much of what you see in the new product will be familiar to you. The job of a library catalog remains the same: to organize and index information about the Libraries' collection, make it easily searchable by users, and provide up-to-the-minute circulation information. The CAT, our current online catalog, has been doing this well since its inception in 1983, with a Web-based version of that same product introduced two years ago. So our first task was to LIAS-ize the Unicorn product so that many of the user-friendly features now evident in The CAT would not be lost in the new online catalog. Of particular importance were patron-initiated functions such as the "I Want It" feature (placing Personal Reserves and Recalls on materials).

This fine tuning of the commercial product has been very helpful in two ways:

• for patrons the heavily tailored product hopefully will seem familiar and easy to use.
  
  
• the many members of the Libraries who worked on fine tuning have gained in-depth knowledge about the new online public access catalog (OPAC). The insight they have gained into exactly how it works, and why, would not have been possible otherwise.

What's Different?

Keyword Search as Default Page

Many LIAS users have expressed interest in starting their searching from a default Keyword page (words searched in any order). While the present CAT supports Keyword, it defaults to Browse-style searching, in left-to-right word order; users must go to the Detailed Search page to conduct Keyword searching.

The Enhanced CAT will default to Keyword searching, with Browse as a selectable alternative. In other words, the default searching power will be reversed. The Keyword Search page is shown in the image; a yellow tab takes users to the Browse screen.

Searching Library Groups

Penn State Libraries encompasses dozens of libraries within its system, both across University Park and across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The ability to search individual libraries, or groups of libraries (such as all libraries at University Park) has been a valuable feature in The CAT. The new system currently supports the ability to search only a single Library at a time. However, the good news is that this limitation will be changed soon: group searching may be implemented by the time of the public release in late May. If not, it will be released later this year.

Call Number Browsing

Users will continue to have the ability to search for an item by its call number, the classification that resides on the spine of the book and is used to sort and shelve materials. However, they must first select an individual library in which to conduct the Call Number search; it won't be possible to search across multiple libraries for a call number. For users who currently use this feature in The CAT, this will be disappointing. However, a feature of the new Call Number searching is that users can limit retrieval to
particular types of materials, such as Dissertations or Audio Materials.

What's New?

There are lots of exciting new features in The Enhanced CAT. Here are some highlights:

• "Authority Control" standardizes Name and Subject entries. Authority control in a library catalog provides a means of managing all the Name and Subject entries so that any permutations used over the years are tied together. For instance, "Samuel Clemens" and "Mark Twain" are the same author; authority control links these names so that a single search by the user yields all possible works. Without authority control, the user has to conduct two separate searches, with no pointer to tell the user that the other name exists. Authority control shows relationships among headings, such as earlier and later names of a corporate body, broader and narrower subject terms, etc. This maximizes a single search by pointing in other logical directions to continue the search.
• Journal Titles a separate index. Users can pre-define their searches so that only serials are retrieved. With nearly forty thousand serial subscriptions, this is good news indeed. Journals can be difficult to locate in an OPAC, and this feature is sure to be frequently used. The Enhanced CAT will continue the trend started in The CAT with the addition of 'hot links' to many serial records that take the user directly to the full text or Web site.
• Serials (Journals) Issue Check-In Information will be integrated. Without the need to go to the shelves, patrons will be able to determine which issue volume/number is "Latest Received." Previously, this information, contained in a separate database, was not visible in The CAT. The integration of the check-in function will benefit patrons as well as staff who are responsible for managing the thousands of journal titles received weekly.
• Keyword searches in greater detail. Keyword now indexes more portions of a record. In addition to indexing Authors, Titles, Subjects and Series, the "Notes" fields in the record are also included. This enriches the Keyword indexes considerably since they contain descriptive data elements not always found in the other indices. For instance, records that describe Motion Pictures may include cast members in Notes fields; these cast member names will now be indexed and retrievable.
• Keyword searching can be limited to a single field. This feature, aimed at the more advanced library researcher, lets retrieval be limited to a single field of a record, permitting results to be pared to eliminate any false hits. In the Motion Picture example above, retrieval can be limited to only the Performer note.
• Ability to sort results. The default sort for lists of titles is by Publication Date (latest first). Patrons also have the ability to alter the sort to any of the following: Author, Title,

• Optional Limits. These Limits can be applied, either before or after a search is initiated: Library, Publication Date, Sort order, Language, Type of Material

• Course Reserves. This module, which is visible and accessible from The Enhanced CAT, supports searching for Reserve materials by faculty name, course name and number. Although the Reserve module is a separate database, its look mimics that of the OPAC. Circulation of Reserves materials is also possible through this module. Penn State faculty will be able to use this vehicle to establish their reserve lists for courses they teach.

• Reports module. A Reports module works in the background, supplying on-demand or scheduled reports. For the OPAC, sample reports functions include: tracking of statistical information, creation of subject-oriented bibliographies, generation of patron notices, and housekeeping tasks such as updating indexes and patron files. This feature empowers the librarians who will be able to gather information about catalog and collection usage that will assist them in ongoing planning and collection development.

Are We There Yet?

Much of the migration work has been completed. Technical Services components (Cataloging, Authority Control, Serials Check-In) and
Circulation will begin concurrently in late April. The online catalog, which has been the focus of this article, will be released in late May, along with Academic Reserves. Acquisitions (materials ordering, receipt and payment) begins in July, following the start of Penn State's fiscal year. While we cannot yet say "Yes, we're there," we can see an end to this particular journey.

However, like any computing operation, Libraries computing is always a work in progress. We are looking forward to the completion of this phase of our work lives so that we can engage in the many new projects that await us. Stay tuned: those projects will be the focus of future articles.