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                      CHAPTER TWO

      HOW LIBRARIES ARE USING AND MANAGING CD-ROM



CD-ROM AT THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY

Ruth Hennessy
Database Search Coordinator, Nimitz Library
United States Naval Academy



As well as being an academic institution, we are, of
course Department of Defense, and subject to the
current budget constraints as the Navy and the Academy
are downsized. The word in the Yard is "do more with
less", and you know what that means ... let it be a
challenge to you. There are some interesting issues in
managing a viable CD-ROM NETWORK in an era of
downsizing: which CD-ROMs to network, realistic
planning, staff requirements when staff can't be
replaced, justifying product selection and costs,
training costs, and continuing maintenance and security
issues.
User requirements determine how we manage and
disseminate information. Our need for the over 35
current titles on CD-ROM is justified by patron use.
Our clientele is, of course, more homogeneous than
most. Our primary user is a midshipman, young,
impatient, computer knowledgeable and highly motivated,
and curious. Mids may all look alike, but they each
have a different information need. Although most major
in Engineering, research topics run from Political
Science to Naval History to Physics and Chemistry and
English, and our indexes run a parallel course. The
first thing mids ask is, which one of these computers
has the needed index and the one thing they avoid is
ever returning to the printed index.
With CD-ROMs we have an opportunity to access journal
information at a fixed cost, and now to maximize CD-ROM
usage through networking. Enduser searching is
serendipity searching; users often find more than they
hoped. In today's jargon..."value added". Index usage
is way up, and with today's budget constraints we are
ruthlessly dropping subscriptions to print versions of
indexes we have on CD-ROM. Networking means we don't
need to duplicate subscriptions or pay for the same
system twice, or have restricted access to all of the
multiple discs mounted on single workstations.
We spend a lot of time evaluating our endusers and
their need for new skills in information literacy. As
well as the CD-ROMs mids have online enduser access to
Lexis/Nexis and to a NADN (Naval Academy Data Network)
mounted information database called Milfacts. We have
made a decision when renewals come up this year to try
to limit the number of complex software applications
mids have to deal with on any one topic. For example,
an ocean engineering paper would involve using ASFA,
AS&T, Compendex, NTIS, GPO and DTIC...currently five
separate applications for six databases. Or a paper on
African politics could mean PAIS, SSI, GPO, NTIS,
Washington Post, NTDB etc.
Our long range plan seemed viable. It included all
costs in account beyond computers and disc drives, even
including workstation furniture, printers, and cabling.
The planned budget included growth of titles plus a
percent for inflation, but not for the restricted
budgets anticipated for the next few years. I'm
grateful we thought of memory as money in the bank and
bought as much as we could afford. And we have
workstation room for future possible multimedia devices
such as the videodisc players. One of the results of
budget cutbacks is that what we already own represents
a major commitment that we will live with for a long
time. Computer equipment rapidly becomes obsolete.
Although last year's models aren't quite antiques, our
286 zenith machines purchased in 1988 are overshadowed
by our new Unisys 386s on the 1991 contract. Back to
Zenith in FY93, I understand but we won't be buying
much. We feel very fortunate to get CBIS' CD-Connection
to install and train us in their hardware and software
and to have a network with room for expansion.
Also we're finding a need to take into consideration
problems in networking multiplatforms. We are
purchasing a new integrated OPAC which will most likely
run on a Unix platform and have the ability to access
our CD-ROM network. Now we're even looking at other
systems that could be charged back like FirstSearch and
Uncover depending on how deep the cuts go. Whatever the
route, our primary goal is to have the patron leave the
library with the information he or she is looking for.
Staffing requirements are trickiest in an era of
downsizing. For most of the academic year we had a TDA
Ensign, ENS Mat Frost, assigned to us who kept things
running while waiting for flight school. He's badly
missed. Most prized was his ability to learn quickly
and an enthusiasm for new and changing technologies.
Last year I blithely said that the one thing I should
have done was TAKE CHARGE myself and to gain control by
knowing more about our system than anyone. This is all
very well, but I find that the more I know, the less
others, who already have plenty on their plates, feel
compelled to know about the system. In spite of my
carefully documented emergency plan, it's really
easiest to "call Ruth". It has become second nature to
work with the hardware, to open and add cards and
cables. We are just now migrating from our zenith 248
standalone systems to the Unysis 386s. The Unysis CD-
ROM drive is a SCSI drive which doesn't seem very
cooperative. It frequently fails to find the drive when
a new application is opened, although it sees it when
booting. In many cases, it won't find a second
application and needs rebooting between applications
... totally unacceptable. If anyone can help me with
this I'd appreciate it. Our Systems person who was so
good at walking me through the processes to a comfort
level has become a part time gov docs person which
leaves Systems one person short. To paraphrase Lew
Grizzard, if expertise were oil we'd be about a quart
low.
Backup to the administrator is essential.
Unfortunately, reassigning staff to work with the
network just hasn't happened. The greatest impact is on
Reference librarians. Call it CD-ROM stress or
technostress. Even the simplest thing like distance
from the reference desk will add stress or training in
startup and shut-down procedures, error diagnosis and
troubleshooting, software updates. This is a complex
environment for our Public Services librarians. Great
expectations are being imposed on our staff. With the
Reference staff also acting as subject bibliographers,
the network impacts collection development. Should we
buy the titles indexed in PAIS? Are CDs to be budgeted
as periodicals? Treated as monographs? When computers
are being replaced, it's hard to work in the midst of
mess and distraction, but patron demands continue as
usual.
When it comes to product selection, above all we
consider our endusers research needs. That along with
the budget will govern selection. And the biggest
budget issue is licensing. When I hear other LAN
administrators talk about negotiating licensing I feel
like I do when confronted with a car salesman ... why
does the other fellow always get the good deals? The
only database we chose with an extra network charge is
PAIS. Because it is so heavily used that we had
subscriptions to two discs. The surcharge for
networking was comparable to the two subscriptions.
Then five Wilson products, AS&T, Gen Sci, Humanities,
MLA and Social Science Index. Government documents play
a large part in student research so GPO was added, and
our favorite for Oceanography capstone projects,
Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries neither had a networking
charge when we began, and now both have a surcharge. As
an added attraction, we mounted the Maryland microcat
which we subsequently hid as too many patrons thought
it was our catalog. Then showed it again as we began to
use it with scoping software as a backup to OPAC
failures. We decided not to network the more expensive
discs like Compendex, PsycLit and MathSci and
Washington Post. Sometimes just dealing with vendors is
enough to drive you to distraction. Especially when a
title is inadvertently canceled because of a vendor's
billing practices added to a slow Fedlink billing as
happened recently to us. Vendors and librarians have
not come to terms with all the licensing issues as yet.

We provide a good front end interface. Direct Access'
counter keeps statistics for each product which
documents growing use and justifies purchases. We are
constantly weighing and justifying how we spend our
money--more CDs and fewer paper indexes? How does the
title fit in the curriculum? What are product costs,
network fees, ongoing supplies and renewals? Do we own
the discs after we purchase or are discs leased? How
easy is it to use this product successfully? How many
of the titles indexed are titles that we own? How old
is the data? To use technology successfully the user
must conform to its patterns. It helps to have many
discs like Wilson products that all use the same
software. As well as not yet levying a surcharge for
their products, Wilson Company gives added value in
their training tools. Their videodiscs are excellent
both for patrons and for staff. We consider staff
knowledge and comfort level with the products. We've
found that use increases after staff training. And
finally, how efficient is that index in sending the
patron to the material he wants and to the material he
can access easily?
When it comes to training, we were guaranteed a crash
course in LAN operation just by paying attention when
our LAN was set up and while installing NOVELL. The
real training comes under fire ... like using pconsole
and stopping a print job for 2000 citations that are
merrily scrolling the paper to the floor. We try to
train staff first! Give them an overview and product
information, develop overall publicity pieces and mini-
guides and handouts. Demonstrate and document all
aspects of the network. We're fortunate to have a
workstation in a somewhat isolated area to learn and
practice. The truth is though, they too only learn an
application when necessary and under fire. Training
Reference Librarians and installing a disc on the
network will dramatically increase usage as shown in
the NTDB chart. Librarians were trained before the
increase in January, then the title was networked in
March.
Also when do you teach? Everyone who sits down at a
computer wants to play first and will only read
something not on the screen when they get stuck. The
better the product is designed the better off our
patrons and our Reference librarians are.
Unfortunately, systems do not make undergraduates
independent. They need to be guided to the right
databases as well as instruction in interfaces. The
real problems mids have are pretty basic ... how to
formulate search strategy rather than how to use menus.
Somehow they always feel that if there are low hits the
answer is to add terms. Students can be taught in class
as part of regular BI (subject specific or specific to
that database). BUT IT HAS TO BE AT POINT OF USE. We
use individual training sessions, small group, faculty
individuals and class sessions.
Mids and faculty prefer electronic indexes and use
those we have heavily, and want more and more products
which seem to mean more and more interfaces. Users
prefer to go directly to the product rather than help,
but we've found simple handouts to be most effective
with the Reference librarians keeping the documentation
behind the Reference desk. But we still see poor
searches abandoned on the screen. Teach users to be
self sufficient to begin searches, understand commands,
formulate a search, isolating concepts as they search
through different databases. User handouts and ongoing
training to Reference librarians helps keep us current.
We use a variety of aids: formal search training vendor
supplied videos, laminated cards, small note folders or
templates. Wilson supplies an excellent video. UMI
templates are superior. Silver Platter cards are very
useful. Documentation. Informal search training is
effective too. The large majority of our patrons will
walk away with what they need, with only a rare user
who can't locate enough material.
LAN management support takes at least 20 hours per
week. Install hardware, trace and correct problems,
call repair persons, contact vendors, install new
software, train staff in the use of the network, keep
staff informed on new capabilities of LAN. Installing
new software and discs is exacerbated by the
proliferation of government information on discs. We're
getting great information on disc, but wouldn't it be
even greater if those discs had a standard search
engine?
Problems can arise from our conditions of use.
Midshipmen always take precedence which is sometimes
hard for visitors to understand. Who can use discs and
for how long and how much can they print or download is
frequently questioned. Downloading saves paper, but
patrons downloading in network setting can introduce
viruses. Faculty requirements may vary. One faculty
member wants all possible citations, another wants only
spreadsheet compatible material. When all else fails, I
read the documentation, then call the 800-number. The
best documentation is self-created. Above all when
everything is running well, I make backup copies of
whatever I've done and then document it and keep
documentation in a safe place. I record volume and
pattern of use, the time required for trouble shooting,
what worked and what didn't.
Security is considered the number one problem for LAN
managers. Although because of the honor code and the
nature of midshipmen, our security needs may be
different. Unfortunately, even though access to DOS is
passworded our patrons introduce their own software.
They like to boot up with their own discs after hours.
Even our building itself is relatively secure in its
limited use by only mids, faculty and those with
serious research needs. We are not open to the general
public. Passwords are essential to prevent intruders
from access. We keep discs behind the scenes limit
access to the file server, to prevent tampering with
software for product. Hackers enjoy the challenge of
breaking into DOS, but sometimes they only want to fix
things that awkward search engine! Equipment is usually
broken through heavy use, but we watch those warranties
and repair contracts. We limit access to the server and
the CD-ROMs to staff to control access to shared
resources.
The future looks exciting with multiple choices. We
intend to tie into the in-house LAN and work through
any complications. Once this system is working, to then
provide remote access on the NADN. It's simply that our
time line has stretched out to estimate at least a year
in the future before campus LAN and longer before dial-
up access. Perhaps by then we will have gone to locally
mounted databases. Who knows? The future holds many
electronic bulletin boards, scholars workstations and
an even more coordinated approach to information
sources.
Right now we're happy to have the indexes up and
running and helping midshipmen to the information they
need to make it to graduation, commissioning and into
the fleet.


CD-ROM LOCAL AREA NETWORK AT HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY

Joyce Demmitt
Head, Information Services
Howard County Maryland Public Library

Howard County Library has been actively involved with
CD-ROM technology since 1984 when we purchased our
first InfoTrac workstation. We can honestly say we have
frequently been on what has referred to as "the
bleeding edge of technology," and we have survived, no,
actually thrived to tell our tale.
CD-ROMs are now an integral part of our library
operation. We purchased the Bibliofile workstation in
1988; staff and public use a CD-ROM database daily to
locate materials in public and academic libraries in
the region for inter-library loan purposes. Our CD-ROM
network is constantly in use by staff and the public.
UMI's General Periodicals on Disk and Business
Periodicals on Disk along with IAC's Health Index and
Health Reference Center round out our collection. In
each instance we have negotiated costs and licensing
with the vendors before finalizing a purchase.


HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY HISTORY

Howard County is located in the geographic center of
the Baltimore-Washington corridor. It is the fastest
growing county in Maryland with approximately 187,000
residents. More than 83% of county residents are high
school graduates and at least 35% are college
graduates. Eighty-six of the population are registered
library users.
The Library's annual circulation is more than 2.5
million. The collection contains more than 500,000
items. In FY'91 staff answered nearly 600,000
information questions. We currently have a central
library in Columbia, one of the single busiest
libraries in the country, two branch libraries and two
small storefront community libraries. Construction is
about to begin on two additional branch libraries. The
library budget for FY91/92 is about $6.2 million of
which approximately $1.2 million is the materials.
The Library's Long Range Plan for the 80s stated that
we would use "the most relevant technologies available
to meet user needs and to improve operations and
services." To that end we have been involved with
numerous computer technologies for more than 10 years.
When we installed IAC's InfoTrac it was instant
success. High demand soon necessitated a 15 minute use
period during evenings and weekends.
This experience, coupled with our examination of a
number of CD-ROMs at professional conferences,
convinced us to target CD-ROMs as necessary additions
to the library's information services. It was clear
that the high cost of databases along with space
requirements for individual workstations would have
necessitated the gradual addition of these products had
it not been for two corporate grants, one from the
Washington Post the other from Clyde's Restaurant Group
of D.C. along with money from our Friends of the
Library which allowed us to move more quickly and
creatively.


LAN

Our CD-ROM Local Area Network (LAN) was the first of
its type in a public library in the United States. We
began working on the project in September 1988 and made
our six station network, with twelve products,
available in the Central Library during National
Library Week, April of '89. The initial network
including databases, network software, hardware,
wiring, furniture, and consultant fees cost
approximately $60,000.
I was on the planning team for developing INFO-LAN,
along with the Director, Assistant Director and the
Reference Specialist. My primary responsibility was to
recommend products for inclusion and to negotiate with
vendors whose products we wanted for the network. I
also had to make sure that staff training was planned
and took place and that all publicity and user guides
were completed.
Information staff attended several training sessions
where the specifics of our CD-ROM network, Boolean
searching and our initial databases were discussed.
They then worked on questions developed regarding each
database. Our Reference Specialist serves as our LAN
Administrator, spending approximately 20% of his time
on testing potential databases, loading new products,
development of user's guides and troubleshooting. One
additional librarian assists him with the network,
specifically with development of user's guides to new
products along with registrations for dial-in access.


FEATURES OF LAN

Let me describe the network itself for you. INFO-LAN is
a standalone network of 14 CD-ROM databases. The
databases are available from six public workstations in
our Central Library. Library users can access all of
the databases from each workstation and more than one
user can simultaneously access a single database. At
each workstation users may download data onto a
previously formatted 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" floppy disk or
print the results of a search, all at no cost.
In 1990 we began an after hours dial-in access to
Howard County's IBM compatible users to 11 of the then
12 databases. At present the full complement of 14
databases is available after hours. Beginning May 1st,
Howard County residents who are Mac users will be able
to register for dial-in access.
We use ACER computers throughout the network. Currently
the optical server is an ACER 1100, a 386 machine with
8 MB RAM. We have four 4 drive Sony optical units and
four single Hitachi drive units daisychained to it.
These drives provide us with 11.5 gigabytes of ROM.
We have six public workstations and two administrative
workstations. All our ACER 386 machines with 40 MB hard
drives with a VGA monitor. HP Inkjet printers are
shared by pairs of workstations.
We still use ARCNET cards with standard coaxial cable
for our network environment. We began the network with
ARCNET because of its low cost and have experienced no
performance difficulties with it. For dial-in access,
we added six 9600 baud General Datacom 596 modems which
are connected to the six public workstations.
Network software includes On-line Product's OPTINET,
Novell's IPX, Quarterdeck's Memory Manager, Delta
Technology's Direct Access Menu, DOS 3.3, Microsoft
Extensions and PC Anywhere IV for remote access. The
optical server has Optinet 1.20, Novell's IPX protocol,
DOS 3.3, Microsoft Extension's 2.0 and device drivers.
Each workstation has Optinet 1.20, Novell's IPX
protocol, Microsoft Extensions 2.11, DOS 3.3,
Quarterdeck's Memory Manager, search software for each
database, Direct Access Menu and PC Anywhere IV loaded
onto the hard disks. Thanks to Quarterdeck's Memory
Manager, we have approximately 594K of available RAM
for the daytime operation and approximately 575K for
after hours dial-in.  (All search software, Direct
Access, DOS, Optinet in 640K RAM. Buffers, IPX.COM.
Microsoft Extensions 2.0 and PC Anywhere IV are loaded
into external memory).
Optinet supports up to 30 databases; each optical
server can support 64 CD-ROM drives. Up to 100 users
can access the network simultaneously with Optinet.)
The network as it is presently configured would cost
approximately $60,000. This includes all hardware and
software mentioned to run the network, furniture and
printers. It does not include the CD-ROM products nor
the remote license fees for after hours access. The
cost for the databases on the network ran approximately
$20,000 this fiscal year.
In selecting our CD-ROM products we wanted to include
something for students from elementary school on,
teachers, businesspersons, the general adult
population, the investor and senior citizens. We are
presently running: UMI's Newspaper Abstracts, UMI's
Periodical Abstracts, ERIC, Medline, PDR, Compact
Disclosure, Grolier's Electronic Encyclopedia, Computer
Select, Microsoft Bookshelf, Microsoft Small Business
Consultant, Census Data, Petersons College Database,
Peterson's Gradline, and PAIS.


PUBLISHERS' INFORMATION

It became clear quite quickly that publisher's
brochures don't tell the whole story about a product.
After the first couple of phone conversations with
sales representatives, who, although well- meaning,
simply could not answer specific questions about their
products, we developed a letter which we send to each
potential vendor. In all cases we work to appeal to the
guaranteed value to the vendor of having their product
on our network and for non-network products, the value
of having their product in such a highly visible
library system. This strategy has held us in good stead
in every case. We even have had vendors approach us
asking to include their products on the network. Staff
have served on advisory boards and the library has been
a test site for CD-ROMs.
In looking through publisher's brochures which I picked
up at FOSE recently, I'll share with you one good
example of the vagueness which still exists.

Q: How do I network X?
A: First, you have to have a network. Second, you have
to have your CD-ROM drive on the network.

I am not sure how helpful that information is if I
didn't know a whole lot more to start with. In
fairness, the vendor goes on to say: "X has been
thoroughly tested using the Novell network. To inquire
about other networks call 1-800..." Some useful
information was available from the technical support
staff.
However, given what we still see in publishers'
information, and the fact that technical support staff
is often not available, we still ask questions before
we purchase a new product to be sure we know what we
are buying. You should each have a copy of the letter,
which you may certainly use and modify as you wish
(Appendix A). Providing a fairly short response time is
important so that selections can be made and testing on
the network begun. A trial period is absolutely
essential to make sure that the product will indeed run
not just in any network environment but will run in
your network environment.
Memory requirements are critical. What we have found
initially, and still find, is that vendors specify that
their products will run on 646K machine, neglecting to
state exactly how much of that 640K is required. In a
network environment, available RAM will make or break
your network design.
Costs for networking databases vary, with some
publishers allowing their products to be networked
without additional fees (witness H.W. Wilson's recent
discontinuance of networking charges). More often
vendors charge either a per workstation fee or a
sliding fee based on the number of workstations or even
a fee based on the number of concurrent users.
We hope that Wilson's move will mark a trend which
other vendors will follow. In our discussions with
several of our major vendors they have maintained that
at present its not cost-effective for them to
discontinue networking fees but they are still looking
at the issue. Never automatically pay list price for a
CD-ROM database; never buy a product with a workstation
without asking a great many questions. If you have
knowledgeable staff on board, you can save a great deal
of money by purchasing your own hardware at the very
least. Insist on seeing the hardware specifications.
You may be leasing already outmoded technology which
will be yours to keep after several years.
As I have stated, we have had vendors approach us
wanting to add their products to our network. A recent
brochure from one of the major producers of CD-ROMs for
libraries announced that a new product had been
developed "to meet the needs of public libraries." With
that kind of press we realized we have a great deal of
clout in the CD-ROM marketplace.


REMOTE ACCESS

With our network, we knew from the outset we wanted to
offer remote access, but we did not realize how much
explaining and reassuring of the vendors would be
required in order to complete our project. The question
from one of our major vendors when the issue of remote
access was first raised will give you some of idea of
what we faced: "What if someone wants to call in from
France?" What I need to explain to you is that we
planned to offer, and are offering at the present time
is dial-in access only when the library is closed
through six phone lines linked to our existing six
public workstations. We charge them a one-time $50 fee
which covers configuration of the remote of pc ANYWHERE
IV, a copy of our INFO-LAN User's Guide and future
updates. Even though we hadn't worked out all details
when we began talking to vendors, we knew that with
only six lines, the idea of someone calling in from
outside the country was ludicrous. Each vendor has had
the same basic concerns:

Who will have access?
Would we keep track of who used their database, what
they searched, how long they searched?
Would we consider offering this access for a limited
time?
What would we pay for this additional access?

Because we are determined that each vendor agree to
dial-in access, we have worked tactfully with each
concern. We have limited dial-in access to Howard
County residents only -- no exceptions.
We explain to each vendor that is in violation of
library policy to keep track of individual use, but our
menu system allows us to keep track of database use per
workstation throughout the day and night. The biggest
issue was that of additional cost. Since we limit
after-hours callers to our original six workstations,
we state that we are merely offering 24 hour service,
for which we already paid. We pay no additional fees to
any vendor for after-hour use, and would not want a
product for which such a fee was required.
We continue to have a positive relationship with each
of our vendors. They regularly send potential customers
to us to learn about how we are using their products;
they distribute our publicity and users' guides to
their staffs and to new clients; they have asked us to
serve on their advisory boards when they are developing
new products.
We are constantly testing new products. We are
investigating UMI's jukebox and are considering adding
multimedia products. We hope to add databases to our
online catalog which is available remotely as well as
in our buildings.


CONCLUSION

CD-ROM technology is pervasive in our libraries. Staff
rely on it and the public readily accept it. Whether or
not we believe Raymond Kurzweil and others who write
about the "virtual book" or "virtual library," public
libraries cannot afford to ignore the implications of
CD-ROM technology. We must regularly lobby vendors to
create the kinds of products we want at costs we can
afford in order to provide information to the diverse
publics we serve.

APPENDIX A


Dear _____________ :

Our library is developing a local area network for the
public featuring a variety of CD-ROM databases housed
behind the scenes. Once we complete our LAN, we are
planning an extensive publicity campaign. We would like
to include NAME OF PRODUCT on our LAN. Please answer
several specific questions for us.

1. May we use NAME OF PRODUCT in a network environment?

2. What is your network fee structure? Please be sure
to

3. Is a site license available?

4. Would any other fees be required in addition to our
site license fee?

5. If you are still considering the networking
question, when do you anticipate a decision?

6. May we provide remote access to your product? Is use
from another library location billed as an additional
workstation charge?

7. May we provide dial-up access to the public, either
during or after regular library hours?

8. Exactly how much free RAM (Random Access Memory)
does NAME OF PRODUCT require?

9. What hardware is required to run NAME OF PRODUCT?

10. Does NAME OF PRODUCT allow users to print and
download data?

11. Please include information on the exact number of
compact disks we will receive with each available year
of your product.

12. How often will we receive updates and how many
disks will we receive with each update/edition?

13. Since we are setting up a LAN containing products
from a variety of manufacturers, how long a test period
may we have for NAME OF PRODUCT in order to see whether
or not it is compatible with other products on our LAN?

14. Do you have an 800 number and a technical support
staff familiar with CD-ROM Local Area Networks so that
our LAN Administrator can talk with someone specific if
s/he encounters problems installing new releases?

So that we may being purchasing our CD-ROM databases by
X DATE, I would appreciate a response to my letter by X
DATE. Please include a current product brochure with my
reply.



CD-ROM APPLICATIONS AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

John Kimball, Jr.
Head, Automation Section
Humanities and Social Sciences Division
Library of Congress


I would like to share you with some of our experiences
in using CD-ROM technology at the Library of Congress
not only in reference and research but also in three
other areas, for collection support and development,
collections control, as a publication medium and also
for staff training and development.


REFERENCE AND RESEARCH USE

The most extensive application that we have with CD at
the Library is with research and reference. In ten of
the Library's twenty-three reading rooms we have at
least one CD-ROM reference station. In the Main Reading
Room we have a network and we are planning networks for
two more reading rooms and a possibility of a third one
in our Serials and Government Publications Division. We
started using CD-ROMs in 1988 and one of the
institutions we did visit to see a real library CD-ROM
network was Howard County. They have had a good one for
a long time and the fact that they are now able to
offer remote access to their CD files is highly
commendable and isn't an easy process. Let me talk a
little bit about our Machine-Readable Collections
Reading Room (MRCRR) which is one of the areas I am
most familiar with. There we have five workstations to
support CD and videodisk applications. We are getting
ready to add eight more disk drives to that particular
room. We have more than 100 titles for public and staff
use in the MRCRR. In the Main Reading Room we have a
network. It has been available since June of '91 when
the reading room was reopened. We have twelve public
terminals and six for staff, with twelve titles, all of
which were purchased. We are getting ready to expand
both the number of titles and CD drives for that
network and we are also adding new network servers with
this budget. Another reading room where we have CD-
ROM's for public use is the Local History and Genealogy
Reading Room. We have one title there so far. It's
actually a group of related martials. The Mormon Church
has issued disks of information on genealogical
resources, birth records, materials they have acquired
from 1500 to date and it's more than 60 disks of
ancestral information. We are getting ready to add
another workstation there. For the Business Reference
Service Reading Room, we will be opening next month or
the month thereafter with a CD-ROM network for
reference in business resources. The same thing is
being done for the Science and Technology Division
Reading Room in an adjacent room in our John Adams
Building. Another major operation for CD's is the
Newspaper and Current Periodicals Reading Room on the
Serials and Government Publications Division, where
they use both abstracting and indexing publications as
well as full-text collections. These are used for
supplement to and back-up for their collections. That
room is probably making the most use of the most number
of different products at the Library. One of the
operations in the Newspaper and Current Periodicals
Reading Room is the Government Documents Section. The
Library, being a depository for GPO, receives copies of
everything GPO distributes. Over the last several
years, GPO has been issuing more and more files on CD
and those are being organized as a special collection
in the newspaper and Current Periodicals Reading Room.
Other areas where we are using CD's include the
European Division, the Motion Picture Division, the Law
Library, and the Hispanic Division. We are also getting
ready to add workstations in the Geography and Map
Division Reading Room.


COLLECTIONS SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT

Another area where we use CD's is for collections
support, collections development and collections
control. By collections support I am talking about
publications by UMI and other full-text publishers who
are now issuing large numbers of periodicals and
newspapers on disk. This is very good for users of the
Library of Congress which is so large and complex that
it takes weeks and weeks to get things through serials
check-in and onto the shelves. With full-text CD
publications you have a current collection always
available. Also this protects the printed materials in
your collection. These materials are made available
primarily in our Newspaper and Current Periodicals
Reading Room. For collections development, we are using
the CD publications as resources to search, when
seeking new materials to add to the collections. A
subject specialist can use these as bibliographies,
going through Books in Print, Ulrich's, and various
national bibliographies for things in a subject area.
The reading rooms at LC tend to organize the staff into
areas where they have a specialty. In the Humanities
and Social Sciences Division, we have 40 reference
librarians and each of them has a specialty. The same
thing is true in the other reading rooms. In order to
keep up with publications in their field, they find
that CD publications are good source of current
information. In the Machine-Readable Collections
Reading Room, we are finding the directories of compact
discs and software directories to be very useful for
collections development. Full-text newspapers and
periodicals are also very good for collections support
and collections development where you can go in and
find out what's happening in your particular area.

COLLECTIONS CONTROL

For collections control, I mean the part of our
cataloging operation at the Library and in areas around
the world where we have cataloging done. We have
offices in a number of countries around the world and
in order to keep the cataloging data uniform we had
been distributed printed versions of the subject
authority records and the name authority records. It
was always difficult for remote catalogers to work with
data that might be out of date. Using CD's we are now
publishing and distributing all our name authorities
and our subject authority records and just recently
issued the bibliographic records we have created for
use around the country and the world. So we are using
CD's for collections control also. As a publication
media, the compact disk is used by our Cataloging
Distribution Service for the CD MARC Names, the CD MARC
Subjects, and the CD MARC Bibliographic Records that we
issue. Also the American Memory Project is using CD's
and videodisks to distribute its material. Another area
we are using CD for distribution is materials for the
blind and the physically handicapped.


STAFF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

The fourth area we us CD's for is staff training and
development. This was a "had to do" operation when we
began introducing CD's as reference tools in reading
rooms and has been a very beneficial undertaking. In
the beginning it was somewhat difficult for some staff
to get used to something new, something new to learn
and another operation to be responsible for. When they
got in and saw they could access valuable information,
they took more interest in it. The CD serves both for
staff training and development. We now have the subject
specialists assist with the preparation of the
documentation for individual titles in their fields.
They are also able to do more work more quickly for the
preparation of bibliographies and finding aids.
Electronic reference gives us a lot of operations they
we hadn't had previously or had been done very
laboriously. In this last issue of Online magazine, the
March '92 issue, there is a very good article entitled
"Electronic Reference Options" where a survey was done
of 96 ARL (Association of Research Libraries) libraries
to determine what kind of and how many CD's they were
using. There is a very good analysis of what CD's are
being used in large research libraries around the
country. It is very useful information if you are
trying to justify what you are doing or want to do with
CD's. Another good article about CD licensing in the
CD-ROM Professional of March '91. The author is an
attorney and law librarian in South Dakota. She went
through and very succinctly identified all the problems
that show up with CD licenses.


PROBLEMS

The problems that I see for us in a large institution
like the Library of Congress where we were integrating
a new format into existing operations; where we usually
identify, acquire, organize, service and preserve
materials, adding another format to the existing work
flow should not be a problem. But machine-readable
materials did not always go into the currently work
flow easily. By now, we have had lots of experience,
and out of necessity for developing new procedures on
how to handle CD materials with acquisitions,
processing and with cataloging. As I said earlier,
licensing is a problem particularly in networking
operations and permanent retention of disks. We would
not want to be in a position where we returned older
disks because we were finding that more and more
publishers are dropping off three or six months of the
oldest data when they issue new cumulations and its not
always apparent if you send back the disk that you have
lost three months of indexing and abstracting until its
too late. Another problem is the expense for the
material, the hardware, and for staff. The Library is
making a plans now for a 5% to 25% cutback in budgeting
across the board. If this comes to pass it will hit
hardware, software, CD's and staffing. A problem we
have not addressed yet is remote access. Do we want to
offer this kind of information outside of Capitol Hill?
We have obligations to provide information to the
Congressional offices and the local offices. Does that
mean that other government agencies would have access
to everything that is on a CD network at the Library?
Another area that we haven't addressed well yet is
preservation. How long does a CD last? What happens to
them after five years? Not much work has been done in
this area. I think this one of the areas that is very
important for a library with archival responsibility.
It is good to have a CD that's easy to use, quick, fast
and up to date but what's its condition going to be in
five or ten years? You will still need that data. So
what is the long term future of CD? Another area of
importance that we are beginning to examine is the use
of software to manipulate data particularly in big
government files where only a limited amount of
retrieval software is offered to be able to go through
a huge data file in an unsophisticated way. You can use
software that's available from second party creators
which will allow you to manipulate the data but you
have to pay a lot for the more sophisticated software.
Do you make that expensive package available to
everyone that comes in and wants to use it? What will
the vendors and publishers say? Are you giving away
something you shouldn't be?


CONCLUSION

For a library that is going to use CD's and
particularly for a network, planning is everything,
particularly if you are going to use more than ten or
twelve titles. Staff acceptance is another important
dimension of this issue. Physical planning and
maintenance are integral parts. Network management is a
never-ending problem and takes a lot of professional
level time. The more we make available electronically
the more we have to do behind the scenes to make it
available on a continuing basis. I would say CD
technology is probably the most exciting and certainly
the most challenging issue that I have been involved
with in my 26 years at the Library. I feel we have come
a long way in a short time and we can take pride in our
accomplishments but we must be ever vigilant and it
always seems like we have a long way to go in an
operation like this.