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LOUIS NewsletterLouisiana Online University Information System

(Formerly LALINC Automation Project Newsletter)

vol. 1, no. 4 July 7, 1993

IN THIS ISSUE:

We’ve Got a New Name!NOTIS OPAC Training NotesGTO InstallationLOUIS Welcomes SoutheasternPersonnel TransitionsSupport SolutionsUpdates:

Grant ProposalsDeriving Across Institution GroupsWork FlowsPhase II Progress Report

LANUGM and LOUIS Joint TrainingCalling All Automation Experts!Special Recognition to LSU DPSReminder: LALINC-L Discussion ListReminders for System AdministratorsCalendar of Upcoming EventsQuestions? Comments?LOUIS Mailing Address and Staff List

WE’VE GOT A NEW NAME!

Because of the confusion involvedin differentiating the LALINC AutomationProject from LALINC (the consortium ofuniversity libraries statewide), LALINCdecided that the automation project shouldhave its own distinct name. A list ofroughly 30 names was generated on theLALINC-L Discussion List from variouslibrarians. The LALINC ExecutiveCommittee met on June 16th and decidedon the following acronym:

LOUIS: Louisiana Online UniversityInformation System

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Look for our new name starting thismonth throughout the newsletter and infuture references to the automation project!

NOTIS OPAC TRAINING NOTES:

On June 9th and lOth, the OPAC(Online Public Access Catalog) Trainingseminar for Phase I libraries was held onthe LSU campus. It was led by NancyHunn of NOTIS, with help from NancyPope (Automation Librarian at LSU) andthe LOUIS staff. Many of the attendantsgot their first chance to explore the OPACand other related aspects of the NOTISsystem.

Those who attended included:Louisiana Tech: Mike DiCarlo, LynellBuckley USL: Sheila Leahey, BarbaraFlynn Northeastern: Lynda Huggins,Dinah Williams Nicholls: ElizabethDoolittle, Jane Webert UNO: GlennManino, Frances Skiffington.

We launched into the first sessionon Wednesday morning with hands-ontraining, learning commands for: name,title, subject, and call number searches;help and revision screens; NOTIS messages,codes, and prompts; and control languageand command mapping. After lunch atnearby Brewbacher’s , we spent theafternoon learning how to form Booleansearch requests and how to best utilizekeyword searching.

Thursday’s session was split intotwo parts: In the morning, we learnedabout making implementation decisions forlibrary staff in LSYS; after lunch in the

LSU Union Plantation room, we learnedabout Navigator. LSYS is the NOTIStransaction command that allows theSystem Administrator to give library staffaccess to NOTIS according to eachperson’s job responsibilities. Also inLSYS, the system administrator must makedecisions for his/her own library’s OPAC tocustomize the brief view, long view, screendefinitions, and others.

Navigator is the NOTIS menu screenwhich allows the patron to choose whichcatalog to search. The implementation ofNavigator involves making decisions suchas what messages will show up onintroductory and help screens, and howOPACS will be grouped and displayed.

Once again, we had a successfulseminar, thanks in large part to theenthusiasm of the trainees! Also, theLOUIS staff and the visiting trainees allfinally got to put faces with each other’snames: names that we’ve been learning andworking with for the last few months.

Trainees are encouraged to continueself-training by reviewing the Introductionto the Online Public Catalog and walkingthrough searches in your own university’straining files, NOTIS files or LSU’s OPAC,in order to familiarize yourself with themany commands and search strategiesavailable through the NOTIS O P A C .You’ll be the ones your colleagues andpatrons look to for help with the OPAC!

Some universities have set uptraining sessions for their staff. LouisianaTech and Northeast are planning to have ajoint OPAC staff training session on July20th and 21st, and Nicholls will be holdingits OPAC training during the second weekof July.

GTO INSTALLATION

We are pleased to report that wehave installed GTO at four of the fivePhase I libraries: Tech, Northeast, Nicholls,and UNO.

GTO (Generic Transfer and Overlay)enables library staff to transfer abibliographic or authority record fromOCLC through a PC to the CICSmainframe session where the NOTISLibrary Management System resides. GTObypasses the procedure of issuing the“produce” command to OCLC by whichlibraries ordered catalog cards. GTO alonewill not supply a library with catalog cards(in the future, libraries will cease to rely oncatalog cards anyway); however, the LOUISstaff will schedule batch jobs to createcatalog cards and other batch products.These products will print at each individuallibrary. In the meantime, libraries shouldcontinue to receive cards from OCLC (orwhatever company is currently being used),until these batch jobs can be fullyimplemented and tested.

Most Phase I libraries are usingGTO in the NOTIS training region whilethe System Administrators make profilingdecisions for their library in the SystemControl Tables (LSYS). However,Louisiana Tech began using GTO in theproduction region at the end of June.

Plenty of people made the GTOInstallations a pleasure for the LOUIS staff;there was lots of support and good humorwhen things weren’t so smooth, and lots ofhelp so, that the installations wereaccomplished with a minimum of difficulty.We’d like to take this opportunity torecognize the people who made the GTOinstallations so successful, whether theywere helping to coordinate the installationbeforehand, answering tough technicalquestions, fetching computer cables, oroffering support and enthusiasm (not tomention coffee!):

At Louisiana Tech: Mike DiCarlo,Fred Hamilton, Jim Evans, Barbara

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Lampkin, Rindy McCullin, Mike Colyar,Betty Hollis, a n d G e o r g e Bancks. A tUNO: Glenn Manino, Kathy Armstrong,Dan Smith, Carmen Harold, and JohnPaillot. At Nicholls: Dr. Sharon Goad,Elizabeth M. Doolittle, Nancy Powell,William Delzell, Daisy Guidroz, CharlesOrdoyne, Thomas Bonvillain, AliceSaltzman, and Leonard Clement . AtNortheast: Lynda Huggins, Barbara Moore,and Chris Ringo. From the LSU Office ofTelecommunications: Michael Fox, CarlBrandt, and Paul Schowalter. From LSU’sSystem Network Computing Center: EricWiggins, Barry Hebert, and Darrel Mince.And, from NOTIS: Chuck Spatz.

As you can see, the installationswere truly a group effort. Thanks andcongratulations to all of you for making theGTO installations a success!

LOUIS WELCOMES SOUTHEASTERNLOUISIANA UNIVERSITY TO THENETWORK

Over the next couple of months,Southeastern Louisiana University will betaking the necessary steps to connect theirlibrary hardware t o LaNET, a n d w i l ltherefore be listed along with Phase Ilibraries on the Navigator. Unlike Phase Ilibraries, Southeastern is already using theNOTIS Library Management System, whichit has been doing for approximately sixyears.

Currently, the SLU staff is installingand testing their hardware, and their data isbeing loaded into the Training Region bythe LOUIS staff. They expect to be up inproduction by August 17th.

PERSONNEL TRANSITIONS

Last issue, we listed a directory andjob responsibilities of the systemadministrators for Phase I libraries, LSU,and Southeastern. Since then, there have

been two changes in the systemadministrator ranks....

Nancy Powell of Nicholls will bemoving to Oregon, and Ralph Gabbard ofSoutheastern will be moving to TerreHaute, Indiana. Best wishes to them bothin their cooler climates! Two librarianshave assumed the title of SystemAdministrator at these institutions:

Elizabeth M. DoolittleNicholls State UniversityPhone: 504/448-4070FAX: 5041448-4925

Kay AdamsSoutheastern Louisiana UniversityPhone: 5041549-3954FAX: 504/549-3995Internet: slbrl497@seluedu

A hearty welcome to Elizabeth andKay; we’re pleased to be working with youboth!

Additionally, we’d like to wish goodluck to Sharon Goad from Nicholls, whowill be moving to Hampden-Sydney,Virginia.

The LOUIS office also has a newstaff addition: we are pleased to announcethat Sara Zimmerman has been added tothe project team as our new programmer/analyst, effective June 1st. Sara will beworking with Ralph Boe’ and ShaolongHuang doing much of the program“background work” that makes the systemrun, such as data conversion, debugging,revising, and analyzing t h e NOTISprograms and reports.

Sara has worked for over 10 yearson several LSU projects as a programmer/analyst at LSU’s Administrative InformationSystems, and was Project Leader for theLSU System’s Worker’s CompensationProject and the LSU Student Health CenterProject. We’re very happy to have Sarawith us. Ralph and Shaolong are especiallyrelieved to have another programmer on theteam to lighten their load!

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SUPPORT SOLUTIONS

So many good questions have beenpouring in to our office from the Phase Ilibraries about how to use NOTIS that wedecided to post regularly on LALINC-L our(and your) answers to these questions. Thepiece is called “Support Solutions.” Everytwo or three weeks, we will list importantquestions and answers concerning the how’sand why’s of NOTIS. The first issue wassent to LALINC-L on June 22nd. “SupportSolutions” copies the name of a regularfeature of NOTISes, a periodical publishedby NOTIS to announce new products,developments, and services. We recommendthat your library subscribe to NOTISes. Oursolutions may refer to the NOTISes’“Support Solut ions” for answers toproblems System Administrators canimplement. Watch for it!

UPDATES: GRANT PROPOSALS

In recent weeks Carolyn H. Hargrave,members of LALINC, members of the LSUlibrary staff, the State of Louisiana Library,and the Office of Computing Services havebeen working on a number of grantproposals and exploring the possibility ofother grants for which network membersmight draft proposals.

At the federal level, grant funding forlibrary programs has been unstable so weare hoping that funding will be restored.All grant proposals will receive rigorousreview and the competition is fierce.However, the grants are an alternativefunding source and previous grants haveenabled LALINC to progress to the presentstage.

UPDATES: D E R I V I N G ACROSSINSTITUTION GROUPS

After gaining permission from LSU,Solinet and OCLC (Zehra has the document

in hand!), it is now possible to use the“DERIve” command in NOTIS ac rossinstitution groups. At this time, each PhaseI institution’s terminals point only to theirown institution group, so institutions cannotderive from other Phase I institutions.However, once one “telnets” into LSU andselects TPX from the menu to enterNOTIS, o n e g e t s a default terminaldefinition that points to LSU. Entering thisway means that institutions can deriverecords from LSU’s catalog. Specialthanks go to Jennifer Cargill, Dean of LSULibraries, for allowing us this privilege.LOUIS is currently looking into thepossibility of deriving from other institutiongroups as well. For help with using theDERIve command, contact John or Zehra.

UPDATES: WORK FLOWS

Work flows are written summariesof the way work is performed within eachdepartment of the library, and includes adescription of each staff member’s part inthat process. These work flows are anecessary first step to profiling each staffmember in LSYS, the part of the NOTISsystem which allows employees access tospecific areas based on the profile theSystem Administrator has entered. Withinthe last month, all Phase I libraries havewritten an initial version of their libraries’workflows.

UPDATES: PHASE II PROGRESSREPORT

All Phase II institutions have nowbeen contacted, and are in various stagesof ordering control units and terminals.We have ordered control uni ts andterminals for Delgado. The requisition forLSU-A has been submitted. Requisitionsfor all other Phase II institutions should besubmitted by the end of July.

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L a N U G M A N D LOUIS JOINTTRAINING:

LaNUGM stands for “LouisianaNOTIS User’s Group Meeting,” and it is asupport group formed to encourage dialogueamongst the Louisiana universities whichliscense the NOTIS Library ManagementSystem. Kay Adams, chairman ofLaNUGM, is also the LALINC SystemAdministrator at Southeastern. LOUIS andLaNUGM have begun to consider variousoptions for cross-training library personnelon NOTIS.

Plans are being made by LaNUGMto hold a training session on the problems,concerns, and areas of nagging doubts inCataloging and Authorities. SystemsAdministrators will be contacted by KayAdams to decide on a date: probably eitherat the end of July or the first week ofAugust.

All Catalogers and Authorities staffshould now voice your concerns (restrictthem to the topics of cataloging andauthorities please!) to your SystemAdministrators so that they can pass themon to Kay Adams. Nothing is too simpleor too complex to be included. This willdecide the topics to be covered in thetraining session. There will be no rigidagenda: rather, an open forum where a freeflow of ideas and discussion will beencouraged.

CALLING A L L AUTOMATIONEXPERTS!

Zehra is working with Kay Adamsto put together a “resource list” of librarypersonnel with expertise or experience inany of the various fields of the NOTISsystem. These people will be available toLALINC members to act as problem-solvers, input-givers, or will help withfuture training classes (even if it is just asmall segment of it). Zehra is compilingthe list, which will eventually be published

in the newsletter. If you are interested inbeing listed on our “resource list,” pleasecontact Zehra Zamin.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION TO LSUDPS:

Ever wonder who runs the jobs thatupdate the NOTIS databases and indexesand who will soon be routing reports toLOUIS institutions? We’d like torecognize the people a t LSU’s DataProcessing Service Department (DPS) forthe work they do, often between the hoursof 5pm and 7am. Our appreciation goesto: Vicki Hood, Vickie Core, J imThibodaux, Darrell Bagley, Connie Cowan,Glenda Johnson, Jeffrey McKee, DaisyPeterson, Regayna Rester, Yolanda Royal,and Carol Thibodaux.

REMINDER: LALINC-L DISCUSSIONLIST AVAILABLE ON E-MAIL

Just a reminder: If you have accessto Internet, and have not already signed upfor the LALINC-L Discussion list(discussed in the last issue of thenewsletter) here’s how you subscribe:

To subscribe, type:tell listserv at lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edusubscribe LALINC-L lyour name)

To cancel your subscription, type:tell listserv at lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edusignoff LALINC-L

Please contact Carolyn Coca if youhave any questions about LALINC-L or ifyou have any difficulty subscribing.

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R E M I N D E R S FOR SYSTEMADMINISTRATORS

* All System Administrators are urged toattend NUGM ‘93 (NOTIS User’s GroupMeeting) in Chicago, Oct. 14-16th. Formore information, contact Zehra.

* A few of the librarians we spoke to atALA surprised us by admitting that theydid not know that LOUIS produces anewsletter! Please help us to get the wordout, possibly by copying and circulating thenewsletter amongst your staff...at least onesystem administrator that we know ofmakes copies and leaves them in the stafflounge. We hope to help you make theLOUIS newsletter your easiest source forupdating your staff on the ongoing progressof the network.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:

July 15: Develop batch job schedule foreach institution

July 15: Order printers for Phase Iinstitutions.

July 31: NUGM early registration deadlineJuly 31: Submit all requisitions for Phase

II institutions control units andterminals.

Aug. 15: Implement LSU Law SchoolCirculation

Aug. 17: Load SLU Production dataAug. 27: SOLINET completes data

extraction for Nicholls, LA Tech,UN0 and tapecon processing forNLU, and sends them to BNA

Aug. 30: Schedule advanced CatalogTraining class for fall ‘93

Sept. 27: BNA completes authority control,editing, and de-duping for Nicholls,LA Tech, NLU, and UN0

Oct. 1: LOUIS staff starts loading datainto Production region for Phase Ilibraries.

Oct. 14-16: NUGM ‘93 in Chicago

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

If your name has been included inthis issue, please check to see that allspellings and addresses are correct. Also,please let us know if you have any ideasor announcements that you would like toinclude in the next issue. For anynewsletter-related comments or revisions,or if you would like to have your nameadded to the mailing list, please contactCarolyn Coca.

LOUIS MAILING ADDRESS ANDSTAFF LIST:

LOUIS OfficeLouisiana State UniversityAIS/ 30 Middleton LibraryBaton Rouge, LA 70803FAX: 504/388-3709

Ralph Boe’, Project CoordinatorPhone: (504)388-3740Internet: rjb@lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu

Zehra Zamin, Project LibrarianPhone: (504)388-3747Internet: zehra@lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu

John Guillory, Project LibrarianPhone: (504)388-3758Internet: johng@lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu

Carolyn Coca, Project LibrarianPhone: (504)388-3722Internet: coco@Isuvm.sncc.lsu.edu

Shaolong Huang, Programmer/ AnalystPhone: (504)388-3767Internet: huang@lsumvs.sncc.lsu.edu

Sara Zimmerman, Programmer/ AnalystPhone: (504) 388-3705Internet: sara@lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu

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