NHAIS Annual Meeting

by Kendall Wiggin

More than 125 librarians, trustees, and school officials gathered at the Highlander Inn in Manchester for "NH Connects @ the Library," the 15th annual meeting of the New Hampshire Automated Information system.

This year's annual meeting focused on the "e-rate" and the recently announced New Hampshire Education Connection Plan. In their opening remarks, both NHAIS Chairman Arthur Bryan and State Librarian Kendall Wiggin pointed out the significance that the e-rate and Education Connection Plan have for New Hampshire's libraries. As a result of both programs, libraries in New Hampshire have a great opportunity to connect to the Internet.

Mr. Wiggin reported on the state of the system, pointing out that many events that occurred in 1997 were now coming together in such a way that 1998 might see the realization of a number of the goals we have been working on for several years. (The report immediately follows this article).

Aleck Johnson, Research Associate/Program Officer for the American Library Association's (ALA) Office of Information Technology Policy, gave an overview of the e-rate during the morning session, and then helped with the afternoon workshops that were conducted by Theresa Paré.

Erle Pierce, Community Relations for Bell Atlantic-NH, concluded the morning session with a presentation on the New Hampshire Education Connection Plan. This initiative by Bell Atlantic-NH and Cabletron is designed to provide schools and libraries in the state with free phone lines and equipment to bring the Internet into more schools and libraries. Libraries would be able to have a free 56kb frame relay data circuit or a new flat-rate business line for up to 2 years with no installation charge. The State Library will be responsible for the statewide coordination of the ordering of these services. Interested libraries should contact the Electronic and Government Information Services section of the State Library at 1-800-499-1232.

During the afternoon session, Theresa Paré, Supervisor of the Electronic and Government Information Services Section, conducted a walk-through of the newly released e-rate application forms. Mr. Johnson was also available to answer questions. The forms have been mailed to all libraries and are available on the state's Universal Service Website.

THE STATE OF THE SYSTEM

I am pleased to report that the state of the system is good. Apart from a couple of minor instances, the system has remained stable this year, and no serious problems have been experienced with the operation of the database. Some modifications were made to the ILL (Interlibrary Loan) module that should make the day-to-day work of those doing the ILL operations much easier.

The Network Services Section staff is diligently working to remove from the database the 10,000 or so records that do not have OCLC control numbers. This is a time consuming process, since the correct OCLC record must be found before holdings can be transferred. If the record is not on the NHU-PAC, it must be acquired from OCLC and uploaded into the NHU-PAC. Once the holding has been transferred, the non-OCLC record is marked for deletion and then purged from the system. There is no program that can go through the database and effect these change with any degree of accuracy. The only way to do it is to have a person evaluate each record. During the past six months, between two and three thousand records have been cleaned up in this manner.

A Request for Proposal is being developed for adding a serials database to the System. Key components of the proposal include the ability to request individual issues of a serial through ILL and a Web interface. We will also be interested in a vendor that can take serial records and holdings statements from existing systems within the state.

The State Library is in negotiations with Gaylord for some cleanup work to be done to both the NHU-PAC and the State Library's database. This work will include removing 852 tags with bogus codes, tags and sub fields which are no longer valid, and subject headings which are not valid for the NHU-PAC. The work on the State Library's database is more complex as there are records in the database that do not have items. A program has been written to add items for these records and then the same operations performed on the NHU-PAC will be performed on this database.

The barcode business is still brisk. The bid for the next calendar year will go out this week. At least one vendor has said there will be no price change from the current contract. Tattle tapes had a brief flurry in June and have not been seen since.

System Statistics NHU-PAC - Count of Data Records, 1,044,365 (An increase of 45,979 records from a year ago), State Library database - Count of Data Records: 57,063

Number of bibliographic records created for local libraries by Network Services:
 

	Total	Non-book	Foreign
FY96	143,546 7,030	618
FY97	167,161 9,265	417
FY98	54,415	3,377	158

MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS AND OUTSIDE INFLUENCES

The year 1997 has been marked by a number of major developments that will have a significant effect on the future of the New Hampshire Automated Information System and on library service in our state.

Library Services and Technology Act On September 30, 1996, President Clinton signed legislation authorizing the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) as part of the Omnibus Consolidation Appropriations Act (Public Law NO. 104-208). LSTA replaces the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) and provides state-based funding for a variety of purposes. Chief among these purposes are: the establishment of electronic linkages among libraries, library consortia, and career centers; paying costs for libraries to acquire or share computer systems and communications technology; and targeting library and information services to persons having difficulty using a library and to underserved urban and rural communities, including children in poverty.

The administration of the LSTA was also moved from the U.S. Department of Education to the new Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and in the spring of 1997 guidelines for the new program were released.

Under the new provisions of LSTA, the State Library Advisory Council adopted a preliminary 5 year plan in April 1997 and a final plan in June 1997. The plan was approved by the Institute of Museum and Library Services in October 1997.

The plan identifies the following three goals:

Every resident of New Hampshire will have access to a wide array of library and information resources, either electronically or in traditional fashion. When it is necessary, residents will be afforded the assistance required for the optimum utilization of technology.

New Hampshire residents, irrespective of geographic location; socio-economic or cultural background; level of literacy skill; physical or mental condition; or age and ability will have electronic or on-site equal access to library and information services.

Efficient and effective administration of the Library Services and Technology Act program will be employed to accomplish the objectives of the five-year plan.

Gateway 2000 Revision After many months of work by the NHAIS Board, under the able facilitation of John Courtney, the Board adopted the framework for a revised plan at its June meeting.
MISSION: The N.H. Automated Information System shall promote and improve access to library and information resources for and about New Hampshire.
GOALS: 1. Provide a program of services that connects people and libraries to information resources. 2. Eliminate barriers to access to information. 3. Ensure the long term viability of NHAIS and assure managerial efficiency of the system. 4. Advocate for the public right to information.

Electronic and Government Information Services Section This new section of the State Library was created in 1996 to deal with the growing number of networked information resources, and to manage Webster, the State of New Hampshire web page. During 1997 the staffing of this section doubled when two new positions were created in the biennial budget.

Webster Legislation designating the State Library as the official clearinghouse of state government information, defining an official locator service and requiring all state agencies to have a presence on Webster by January 1, 1998 passed in the 1998 legislative session. This important legislation which was sponsored by NHAIS Board members, Representative Sylvia Holley, recognizes the need for state government to make information available electronically. It also recognizes the importance of the library in organizing and providing access to this information.

E-rate In 1996, the President signed into law the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Under the new legislation, universal service, previously designated to ensure affordable access for consumers to basic telephone service, has been expanded to include an "e-rate," or education rate, for schools and libraries. As part of the e-rate, telecommunications carriers must now offer their lowest corresponding rates to elementary and secondary schools and to public libraries. In addition, schools and libraries will be allowed additional 20-90 percent discounts on top of the lowest corresponding rate for telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections.

On May 7, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously approved administrative rules to govern Universal Service. In the Universal Service Order that it issued on the same date, the FCC made a final decision on how the school and library affordable access provisions, which are found in Section 254 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, will operate. In essence, the FCC Order called for deep discounts (90 percent in some cases) to all schools and libraries on transmission rates, internal connections, including inside wiring, and Internet services. These discounts will be available to schools and libraries on January 1, 1998.

The New Hampshire Education Connection Plan On November 24, 1997, Governor Shaheen announced a $5 million plan by Bell Atlantic-NH and Cabletron, Inc. in partnership with the Department of Education, the State Library, and Project WINGS. Under the plan, the Bell Atlantic network and the Cabletron network access hardware will be used to link all New Hampshire public and private school (k-12) and public libraries, in the Bell Atlantic operating area, to the Internet. Specifically, schools and libraries will receive a free 56kb frame relay circuit for up to 2 years and the hardware necessary to connect to the circuit. It will be up to local schools and libraries to acquire Internet access. The State Library and Project WINGS will interface with libraries and schools, respectively, in ordering the new lines and in providing training.

Database Licensing A special committee of NHAIS h as evaluated a variety of full text databases that could be licensed for use by librarians statewide. The committee decided upon the EBSCO proposal which would include staff access to MasterFILE FullTEXT 1500, Business Source Elite, Health Source Plus, and Newspaper Source. The State Library Advisory Council has accepted the committee's recommendation and has approved funding for the 2 year project through LSTA funds. The NHAIS Board will act on the recommendation at their annual meeting.

Legislation is also being drafted which would make statewide licensing of databases a service of NHAIS. Although it is unlikely to be funded next year, it is hoped that funding would be forthcoming in the next biennium. If funded, statewide licensing of full text databases should be sought for school, public, academic, and not for profit libraries with full patron access.

Interlibrary Loan Protocol Committee Mary Ann List, Director of the Amherst Town Library, was named chair of the ILL Protocol Committee. The committee has been charged with: - reviewing the protocol manual and updating it; - examining the State Library's reimbursement program for net lenders to more clearly define interlibrary loan, and to come up with suggestions for how ILL counting should be done; - assessing interlibrary loan as it operates in New Hampshire in order to identify weak points, help to strengthen them, identify strong point, and capitalize on them.

THE FUTURE

Next year promises to be a year in which many things come together that will move libraries to a new level of connectivity and service. One of the challenges we face is in coordinating the various initiatives that are being developed and announced.

During that time we must complete the strategic plan, begin moving libraries off Infopath and away from dial access, increase the amount of information available to libraries through the Internet and train, train, train. Next summer the Galaxy system will be paid off and it will probably b desirable to reevaluate the system. All in all, we face great challenges with exciting opportunities in the year ahead.