SR-205-003 (224)
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Santa Monica, californi~APril
2PtJ-oo"3
APR 2 8 1981
24, 1981
IIC
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TO:
Mayor and City Councll
FROM: C1ty Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendatlon for Library Automated Systems
lntroductlon
ThlS report describes proposals for an automated circulation, catalog and
acquisitions system for the Library and recommends that the C1ty Council authorlze
the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with one of two vendors. Funds
are available for this contract ln the current llbrary and revenue Sharing accounts.
Background
The council appropriated $325,000 ln federal revenue sharlng funds In the 1980/81
budget year for an automated system for the Library. An Automatlon COl'lTiti'tte:e '.'as
formed which included representatlves from the Library, the Director of Adminls-
tratlve Services and the Data Processing Manager. A consultant experlenced in library
automation systems was hired to advise the committee and help develop a Request for
Proposal which was sent to 22 vendors of turn-key automated systems on March 9.
Flve proposals were received and opened on April 17 (see recap attached).
Descriptlon of Automated Systems
Clrculatlon Control System. An online circulation control system will allow
the library to provlde expanded patron services without increaslng staff, and
with the prospect of future staff reduction or transfer. It wlll also relieve the
Clty Data Processlng department of the tlme-consuming task of processing the
library's overdues.
The system performs the functions of check-out, check-in, instant fine calcu-
latlon, "trapping" reserved materials, blocking delinquent borrowers, and blocking
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~ayor and City Counc1l 4It
Santa Monlca, Californi~Apri1 24, 1981
use of lost or stolen cards. The computer generates overdue notices, f1ne notices,
reserve notifications, and b1lls for lost or delinquent materials. All of the above
operat1ons are extremely labor-1ntensive clerical tasks which are now done manually.
Improved and expanded services to users, not available wlth our present manual
system, can be provided. For example:
1. Patrons can be told the current status of any 1tem--if it is
ava1lable and where, or 1f 1t 1S on order.
2. Patrons can be told the number of items currently checked out
to them and when they are due.
3. Patrons may renew materials at any branch, or by telephone.
4. Patrons w1ll be 1nformed speed1ly and systematically of pend1ng
library business, such as overdue books, f1nes over a certain
amount. prices of lost 1tems.
Management of the llbrary can be helped, too, by reports and lnformation not
available at present:
1. An accurate, current inventory of llbrary holdings.
2. C1rculation stat1st1cs by 1tem category, such as subject area or
type of material
3. Circulation statlstlcs by patron class, such as geographic residence
area, occupation, or age.
4. Statistics on materlals with few or no circulatlons.
5. Lists of reserved mater1al with number of requests along wlth a
report of titles not owned and number of requests.
6. Current status of any patron.
Implementat10n of a c1rculation system includes purChase of a computer, terminals
and printer; preparation of a computer room and lnstallation of communication llnes;
and product1on of a data base consisting of patron information and 1tem informatlon.
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.Mayor and City Council ~
Santa Monica, callfor~ April 24, 1981
Borrowers wlll be given new cards wlth machine-readable ldentiflcation codes
and borrower information will be entered into the patron data base. To produce
the ltem data base bibliographic records now contalned on catalog cards wlll
be converted into machine-readable form. To accompllsh thlS the Library wlll
acquire a data base from another library wlth 51milar holdlngs and match our
holdlngs wlth their records, using the Clrculatlon system computer. Records
not found ln their data base will be converted using an online bibliographic
service WhlCh provldes machine-readable records. Funds for the latter serVlce
have been appropriated by Council and contract negotiations are underway. Once
item converS1on 1S accomplished, the records will const1tute a complete catalog
of all library holdings.
Online Catalog. The original Library automation plan lncluded using the data
base to produce a catalog on mlcrofllm, replaclng the card catalog. During its
lnvestlgations the Automation Committee found that library automation technology
had advanced beyond the microfilm catalog stage and that It was now feas1ble to
make the catalog available to the public through on11ne terminals, using the
circulatlon system computer. This has the advantage of instant updat1ng.
Benefits to users of an online catalog are:
1. Termlnals can be placed convenlently throughout the r~in Library
and branch libraries, providlng for the first tlme, access to the
total collection for all users.
2. Users will see on the screen the status of items they are looking
up - for example, whether the item 1S in circulation, on the shelf
or on reserve, the number of copies owned by the Library and their
availabil1ty at Main or branches.
3. Users will have improved subject access to the collection. Changes
1n subJect headlngs and class1ficatlon numbers, WhlCh should be
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~ayor and Clty Council
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Santa Monlca, callfor~ Aprll 24, 1981
made frequently to keep up with current language usage and
expanding knowledge, can be done automatically. At present,
each card must be manually pulled, erased, retyped, and refiled,
mak1ng many changes economically unfeasible.
4. Access to current community lnformat1on and social service
resources can be made available onl1ne, directly to the user.
5. Improved communication links to other libraries and lnformatlon
agenc1es wlll glve local users expanded inter-library loan
service through regional and national networks
6. It is possible to place term1nals ln commun1ty centers, schools
or other publ1C areas to br1ng the resources of the library to
off-site users, even when the library is closed. Access through
home computers or through cable TV 1S also posslble.
For these reasons, the committee asked vendors to propose an onl1ne catalog
system along w1th the clrculatlon system.
AcquIs1tions System. An automated acquisitlons system wIll streamline and
lmprove the order1ng of llbrary materials. The system will prlnt purchase orders,
eliminate duplicate orders by verifYlng titles, and keep track of fund encumbrances
and other cost account1ng operations. It w1ll el1m1nate many labor-intens1ve
tasks such as typing and f1ling order SllpS. Once a tltle is ordered 1t 1S auto-
matically entered 1nto the catalog, a1ert1ng the user that the mater1a1 has been
ordered and w1ll soon be available for loan
Recommendatlon
The evaluation of the five vendors by the Automat1on Committee included a review
of proposals, a seven-year cost ana1ys1s and telephone intervlews with each vendor's
customers. The systems offered by DataPhase, Systems Inc. and GEAC, Inc. were
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.Mayor and City Council 4It
Santa Mon1ca, californ~April 24, 1981
selected as most responsive to the Library's needs.
Bids from all vendors were somewhat h1gher than ant1c1pated Through savings
1n salar1es and cap1tal expendltures, current funds 1n the L1brary budget, augmented
by the previously appropriated revenue sharlng funds, will cover the cost of elther
system.
Staff recommends that Council authorlze the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a contract for the purchase of an automated circulation, catalog and
acqu1s1tlons system for the Llbrary with elther DataPhase Systems Inc. or GEAC,
Inc. whichever 15 most advantageous to the Clty, 1n a total amount not to exceed
S400,OOO.
Staff also recommends that CounC1l approve transfer of currently budgeted
funds in salaries, supplies and lmprovements into the capltal equlpment account
as follows:
Llbrary
$65,000 from 01-611-100 to 01-611-950
$35,000 from 01-611-920 to 01-611-950
Revenue Sharlng
510,000 from 84-611-155 to 84-611-950
1,400 from 84-611-221 to 84-611-950
3,480 from 84-611-261 to 84-611-950
20,000 from 84-611-312 to 84-611-950
23,300 from 84-611-401 to 84-611-950
54,084 from 84-611-501 to 84-611-950
Prepared by: Carol A. Aronoff, C1ty Llbrarlan
Richard N. Aronoff, Director of Administratlve SerVlces
R1chard Fuller, Data Processing Manager
Attachment
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