Linking in a Consortial Environment The COPPUL Experience NetSpeed

Linking in a Consortial Environment: The COPPUL Experience NetSpeed 2003 Preconference Agenda Context Who is COPPUL? VWCUL/GODOT Linking Review reSearcher Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Context - BO Context - AO? Biff’s Research Crystal Ball Find me stuff for my term paper that’s due tomorrow... 1 Biff’s Research Writer Dude Now, can you write it for me please...double spaced :-) Who is COPPUL? Council of Prairie and Pacific Libraries 23 university libraries BC (10), AB (7), SK (2), MB (3) “collaboratively enrich the information resources and develop the intellectual context for current and future users in our academic communities” Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library VWCUL Virtual Western Canadian University Library - “digital library system and services” 2003/04 strategic plan highlighted need to Leverage Resources and Services by “continuing to build VWCUL” Setup VWCUL Steering Committee Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library 2 GODOT Only one part of VWCUL, which includes services, etc. A linking/DocDel system in place for over 6 years - SFU/UofM development Provides links to proprietary and OpenURL targets from A&I databases Also patron/citation data to ILL Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library GODOT Experience GODOT in place for 3 years at UofW Started as mediated, quickly moved to unmediated with no holdings check Borrowing from 10K to 20K/30K/40K? from 2K to 10K Serials titles Students finding what they want online Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Linking Review Despite this success, not all COPPUL members using GODOT to fullest Directors wanted to know why, what the options were, why some buying Systems/Reference staff holdouts Struck a working group to conduct a review of products Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Reviewers Mark Leggott (UofW), Peter Binkley (UofA), Jonathan Esterhazy (UofM) Started in Jan completed Sep 2003 Relied heavily on RFI and vendor submissions, ALA/CLA booths Recognize that market is evolving rapidly, better OpenURL support daily Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library 3 Reviewed 13 RFI copies sent out, 10 responded Gold Rush (Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries); GODOT (COPPUL); Linksource (EBSCO); LinkFinderPlus (Endeavour); SFX (ExLibris); OL2 (Fretwell-Downing); 1Cate (ISI ResearchSoft); Article Linker (Serials Solutions); OpenURL Resolver (SIRSI) OCLC/Silverlinker/ZBSLA Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Reviewing Looked at 43 criteria in 13 areas Linking Supported, Linking Sources, Linking Targets, Knowledgebase, Appropriate Copy, Interface, ILL Integration, Web Services/API, Customization, Installed Base, Demo Available, Costs Ranked # of Targets, Cost + No Cost Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Review Clear from outset some titles not yet ready for prime-time Recognize many factors subjective Intent is to update review as vendor products change Findings With a few exceptions, products were able to perform linking adequately Major issue is speed with which FT vendors add support, and linking vendors add products SFX is the product to beat, installed and features/standard support Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library 4 3 Models Open Source/Consortium/Resource Sharing Origin (GODOT/Gold Rush) Vendor/Linking Origin (SFX, 1Cate, OpenURl Resolver, LinkFinder Plus Vendor/Knowledgebase Origin (Article Linker, Linksource) 1 Leaders per Model Ultimate choice depends on vendor relationships, budget, IT support GODOT - OS strong, budget low Article Linker - OS bad, already Serials Solutions customer, budget ? SFX - OS bad, want leader with best features, budget good Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Lets Get Personal Issue of knowledgebase development similar to “bib record” & “scholarly publishing” - we create intellectual content, pay vendors to get it back Have opportunity to prevent this by promoting development and use of “open” knowledgebase content Why Repeat History? Need concerted effort to build & maintain open knowledgebase Central repository + standard for reporting/retrieving + defining access to local holdings/appropriate copy/authorization Need to do it before knowledgebase is Disneyized and we lose again Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library 5 OS Advantages OS model has served COPPUL well Mature product, good features, no black box, low cost Promise of new functions as more use and modify base code Easier to make use of other OS work OS Disadvantages Biggest problem remains the distrust or lack of understanding of OS Improving as OS becomes mainstream Language of codebase also an issue for some larger institutions that want to tinker Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library reSearcher New name for VWCUL + Includes GODOT, CUFTS, Citation Manager, dbWiz - all GPL OS Goal is to provide full range f digital library services, including linking, MetaSearching, DocDel, personalization Mark Leggott, University of Winnipeg Library 6 7