Library Network - shorelink.nsw.gov.au · accordance with the policies and decisions of the...

Library NetworkAnnual Report2000 – 2001

SHORELINK LIBRARY NETWORK Annual Report July 2000 – June 2001

1

MissionIn the interests of public library users, tobe the best Library Network in Australia:

Proud of being service oriented,innovative, efficient, cost effective

Committed to meeting the needs of ourusers and to utilising the computernetwork to its maximum potential

Recognised as an outstanding exampleof cooperation between localgovernment authorities.


2

SHORELINK COMMITTEE AND STAFF

CHAIRMAN: Cr. C. CarlandDEPUTY CHAIRMAN Cr. S. Sacker

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

LANE COVE: Cr. J. MayCr. F. Worner (Alt.)Ms. J. Gornall, Manager, Library Services

MANLY: Cr. S. SackerCr. A. Heasman (Alt.)Ms. B. Todes, Library Services Manager

MOSMAN: Cr. A. Whybrow Cr. J. Reid (Alt.)

Ms. J. Cuthbert, Manager, Library Resources

NORTH SYDNEY: Cr. C. CarlandCr. I. Smith (Alt.)Ms. H. Sutherland, Manager, Reader Services

WILLOUGHBY: Cr. T. FogartyCr. P. Reilly, Mayor (Alt.)Ms. F. Sims, Library Services Manager

SECRETARY: Ms. B. Todes (until November 2000)Ms. J. Cuthbert (from November 2000)

MINUTE SECRETARY: Ms. F. Sims

SHORELINK STAFF:

NETWORK MANAGER: Ms. A. Hancock

SYSTEMS COORDINATOR: Mr. B. Henry


3

Table of Contents

Mission...................................................................................................... 1

SHORELINK COMMITTEE AND STAFF................................................ 2

Introduction............................................................................................... 4

Administration........................................................................................... 4

2000 – 2001: The Year in Review........................................................... 5

System Description .................................................................................. 8

Operating Costs 2000 - 2001 ................................................................13

Circulation 2000 - 2001..........................................................................14

Members: 2000 - 2001...........................................................................15

Stock 2000 - 2001..................................................................................16

Webcat Searches April – June 2001.....................................................17

Inter-Library Loans: Items Borrowed.....................................................18

Inter-Library Loans: Items Lent..............................................................19

Cr. C. Carland (Shorelink Chairman), Ms. Dagmar Schmidmaier (NSW StateLibrarian), Cr. J. May (Lane Cove Council) at the launch of the

“Shorelink sans frontieres” project at Lane Cove Library November 2000


4

IntroductionShorelink is a computer network which links the five Lower North Shore Council Librariesof Lane Cove, Manly, Mosman, Stanton (North Sydney) and Willoughby. The Network wasestablished in 1983 when the five participating Councils signed a Deed of Agreement.

A Shorelink Library card entitles members to use all five libraries and the Webcat (on-linepublic access catalogue) offers a choice of local (site specific) or network wide data.

AdministrationShorelink is managed by a joint committee operating under Section 355 of the LocalGovernment Act. The Shorelink Committee consists of five Councillors and five LibraryManagers. Willoughby Council is the Agent Council. The budget is administered byWilloughby Council with contributions from all participating Councils in proportion to Librarycirculation figures. Individual on-site costs such as maintenance of PCs and otherequipment are met by individual Councils.

The system is managed between 8am and 9pm on a daily basis, 7 days a week, by theNetwork Manager and the Systems Coordinator, with assistance from the staff ofWilloughby City Library to cover hours of operation and emergencies.

The Agent Council Librarian directs the operations of the Network office, including staff, inaccordance with the policies and decisions of the Shorelink Committee and the ShorelinkLibrary Managers Committee.

The “Shorelink Library Network Structure” document outlines the roles and responsibilitiesof the Shorelink staff, Agent Librarian, Committees and the Office Bearers.

Shorelink Staff:Brock Henry, Systems Coordinator andAdelaine Hancock, Network Managerin the Shorelink Computer Room


5

2000 – 2001: The Year in Review

Best ValueShorelink’s value to the communities of the five member Councils has again beendemonstrated by the circulation statistics - 2,477,581 items were borrowed during the 12month period. The Network has 159,388 members who have access to 741,066 items.Shorelink libraries lend each other 3634 items per annum through inter-library loan and anestimated 325,000 items per annum through borrowers moving between libraries toborrow. 73% of the total inter-library loan requests from the five libraries were satisfiedwithin the Network.

Implementation of the New Shorelink SystemThe year 2000 was a landmark for the Shorelink Network. After planning for theimplementation of a new computer system for more than three years and undertaking anexhaustive evaluation of library systems, the Sirsi system was selected. The systemconsists of integrated modules for circulation, cataloguing, enquiry (public access andstaff), acquisitions, serials, management reporting and statistics. The Shorelink staffmanaged the entire data extraction and conversion process, once again demonstrating ahigh level of expertise. Final data conversion was carried out over the October longweekend. The implementation was a relatively smooth process, and the system went livein all the libraries on 3 October 2000. Library staff have managed the system change oververy well, and have been supported with training and assistance from the Shorelink Officestaff.

Shorelink Managers attended the inaugural meeting of the Sirsi User Group in Canberra inOctober 2000. This provided the opportunity to meet with other users and hear of theirexperiences with the system.

Webcat (Shorelink on-line catalogue)Implementation of the Sirsi system enabled the achievement of a longstanding Shorelinkobjective to have the catalogues of the five libraries accessible on the Internet. Thisservice was introduced in November 2000 and was launched by the State Librarian, MsDagmar Schmidmaier. Shorelink successfully applied for a cooperative grant of $100,000from the Library Council of New South Wales to assist with this project, entitled “Shorelinksans frontieres” and the Shorelink Committee acknowledges the Library Council’sgenerous support. The Webcat has been well received by customers, with on-lineenquiries exceeding all expectations. March 2001 saw the introduction of Webcatrenewals, where customers are able to renew their loans themselves and enquire on theirloans and holds from the Webcat PCs within the Libraries or from their home PCs. Theservice will be further enhanced in the future with the introduction of the facility to placeholds on-line.

Community InformationIn conjunction with the tender for a new library computer system, Shorelink also tenderedfor a new Community Information system and DataDiction’s Lincs product was selected.Lane Cove, Mosman and Stanton Libraries shared the previous community informationsoftware, InfoPlus. This database was converted to Lincs, and Manly Library also addedtheir data. Lincs is a web-based system, which, like Sirsi, has enabled the achievement ofa key Shorelink objective, i.e. to have the Community Information database accessible viathe Internet.


6

More than 35 Councils throughout the metropolitan area and beyond are members ofLincs, and since Shorelink has purchased the product, Warringah and Pittwater Librarieshave also become members, thus extending its coverage across the Northern Beachesand the lower North Shore.

Shorelink Office RelocationThe Shorelink Office moved to its new premises at the end of June 2000 and all hardwareand communications equipment for the new Sirsi system was installed there. The premisesprovided excellent training facilities for staff from the libraries to learn the new system, andhave proved to be an excellent venue for the many training sessions demonstrations,workshops and meetings that have been held throughout the year. In June 2001,Willoughby Council advised that work on redevelopment of the Civic Centre area, whichincludes the Willoughby City Library and the Shorelink Office premises, will commenceearly in 2003. The Shorelink Office will be therefore be required to relocate again at theend of 2002. The Office is likely to be housed in temporary accommodation withWilloughby Library’s administration staff. Space has been allocated for the Shorelink Officein the new Willoughby Library.

Training session in the Shorelink Office

Grant Application: e-Books

Shorelink was successful in securing a grant of $54,882 from the Library Council of NewSouth Wales, to establish an e-Book collection and conduct a pilot project investigating theuse of e-book technology in a public library environment. The collection will be launched inSeptember 2001 and is expected to generate a great deal of interest. The project is beingcoordinated by Lane Cove Library.The Library Council noted that “this was a well researched co-operative application for aninnovative project, which will serve as a model for the development of future services forpublic libraries”. It again demonstrates the Library Council’s support of the Network,following the grant of $100,000 for the “Shorelink sans frontieres” project in 2000.


7

Upgrading to HDSL and Frame RelayDuring the lead up to the new system implementation, Shorelink Office staff investigatedoptions to improve the reliability, scalabilty and speed of the communications network. Asa result, the Shorelink Committee resolved to change over from ISDN lines to Frame Relayand to upgrade the 128Kbps ISDN connection to HDSL (high-bit-rate digital subscriberline). The system was upgraded to HDSL in November 2000. This has provided theNetwork with a bandwidth of 2Mbps in each direction, exclusively dedicated to Shorelinktraffic. It was essential to upgrade the lines prior to making the Webcat (Shorelinkcatalogue) available on the Internet. As expected, the Webcat availability has generatedan enormous amount of additional traffic. Shorelink replaced the ISDN connection withFrame Relay in December 2000 and since then the Network has been stable, reliable andhas not experienced the dropouts and equipment freezes that were occurring regularlywith ISDN. Frame Relay also provides for scalability of the network

Disaster Recovery PlanImplementing a Disaster Recovery Service has been a long-term objective for Shorelink,and the Committee resolved in April 2001 to contract Interactive to provide this service tothe Network. The service includes three days of testing per annum and use of theInteractive Business Recovery Centre, equipment, a technical engineer andtelecommunications for up to 60 days in the event of a disaster.

Outstanding IssuesSoftwareThere are still some issues to be resolved relating to the Sirsi software. The one whichmost affects Shorelink’s service is the holds function and its shortcomings in a Networkenvironment. Sirsi have developed the product to enable holds to function according toShorelink’s requirements, and this feature is expected to be available by September 2001.Sirsi’s long overdues program also does not meet Shorelink’s needs, and the acquisitionsmodule in its current form is quite cumbersome. Sirsi have scheduled improvements to thisprogram in 2002.

Incoming TrafficThe availability of the Shorelink catalogue on the Internet has been so well received by thecommunity that incoming traffic has exceeded initial expectations, and is incurringadditional monthly costs. Shorelink has no control over the amount of incoming traffic, andthe large volume demonstrates the success of the service. Shorelink will closely monitorincoming traffic to ascertain whether any costs savings can be made and whether it isnecessary to increase the 10Gb limit for inbound traffic.

Shorelink Delivery ServiceThe Shorelink Library Managers conducted preliminary investigations into options forimproved delivery services for intra-Shorelink loans and returns. The most cost-effectivesolution at this stage is to contract a commercial courier to provide the service.Investigations into introduction of such a service are continuing.


8

System DescriptionMain Server ConfigurationIBM 7025-F80 RS/6000 RS64 III 450 MHz Enterprise Server27.3 GB SCSI Disk drive3 GB of RAM10/100 Ethernet PCI Adapter32X SCSI 2 CD ROM DRIVE12/24 GB 4mm Internal Tape Drive

PlatformUnix

Operating SystemIBM AIX V4.3.3

Other Devices Lane Cove Manly Mosman Stanton Willoughby

PCs accessingShorelink database 12 25 18 32 42

PCs accessingShorelink Internet 12 31 6 10 7

PCs accessingInternet – NSW.net 11 0 0 0 38

WEBCATS 9 8 7 17 11

Routers 1 1 1 1

Hubs/Switches 3 4 3 4 2

BarcodeReaders/Scanners 16 14 9 22 29

PrintersSystem/Slave 5 5 4 3 4

Label Printers 5

Slip Printers 1 3 1 4 4


9

Supplier Software UNICORN 2000SIRSI Australia Pty Ltd, Tardis Pty LTD

Hardware Maintenance Rosser Communications, Vertex Technology,Interactive, IBM , Telstra

IBM PC Server 310, Pentium 166, 64MB RAM, used as mail server and web server

APC 2 x Uninteruptable Power Supply (UPS)

Routers 2 x Cisco 1605-R

INTERNET Davnet. 2Mbps HDSL and 10 GB inbound traffic cap

REMOTE ACCESS LanRover/E PLUS V5.7, 8 port, V.90 56K(Dial in access for Shorelink Staff and 4 branch libraries)

Hubs IBM 8224 Stackable (x6)IBM 8237 Stackable (x4)Intel express 140T 16 port 10/100 (x2)

Switches Intel express 410T 16 port 10/100 (x3)Intel express 410T 24 port 10/100 (x1)3 Com High-Speed Superstack II Switch 1100 plus 100BASE-FX (x2)

FRAME RELAY Internal links between the other member libraries128Kbps access

PROXY SERVER AS-PE1400 Poweredge Intel Pentium III 866 MHZ–256 MB Memory, 9GB Hard Drive

Willoughby access 6 Core Fibre Optic Link

Network Stations IBM 2200 with 64 MB Memory


10

Launch of the “Shorelink sans frontieres” Project at Lane Cove LibraryNovember 2000

L-R Cr. J. Reid (Mosman Council), Mr. J. Squire (former Willoughby Councillor andfoundation member of the Shorelink Committee), Cr. J. May (Lane Cove Council)

and Shorelink Chairman Cr. C. Carland (North Sydney Council)

Reader’s Theatre in the Lane Cove Junior Library


11

Manly Library Trust Inc.’s Buy-a-Brick Fund Raising CampaignYoung recipients celebrate the laying of the bricks inscribed with their names

Manly Library Trust Inc.’s Buy-a-Brick Fund Raising CampaignYoung recipients celebrate the laying of the bricks inscribed with their names

Mayor Genia McCaffrey and the originator of the green bans Jack Mundey officiallyopening the “They’re Shifting Old North Sydney: Places Lost and Saved” Exhibition,

Don Bank Museum 13 October 2000.


12

Mosman Library kiosk at Bridgepoint Shopping Centre celebratingAustralian Library and Information Week May 2001

Frances Sims, Library Services Manager and Willoughby Library staff“gearing up” for Library and Information Week @ Willoughby Library May 2001


13

Operating Costs 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove $ 54,278 17%

Manly $ 50,552 16%

Mosman $ 41,640 13%

Stanton $ 66,916 21%

Willoughby $ 104,262 33%

Total $ 317,648 100%

Operating Costs: 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove17%

Manly16%

Mosman13%

Stanton21%

Willoughby33%


14

Circulation 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove 424,719 17%

Manly 369,877 15%

Mosman 299,850 12%

Stanton 542,681 22%

Willoughby 840,454 34%

Total 2,477,581 100%

Circulation 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove17%

Manly15%

Mosman12%

Stanton22%

Willoughby34%

Circulation - Last three Years

0100000200000300000400000500000600000700000800000900000

Lane Cove Manly Mosman Stanton Willoughby

1998 - 1999 1999 - 2000 2000 - 2001


15

Members: 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove 19,385 12%

Manly 26,237 16%

Mosman 20,436 13%

Stanton 37,871 24%


Total 159,388 100%

Members: 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove12%

Manly16%

Mosman13%

Stanton24%

Willoughby35%

Members - Last Three Years

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000


1998 - 1999 1999 - 2000 2000 - 2001


16

Stock 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove 144,481 19%

Manly 99,463 13%

Mosman 95,648 13%

Stanton 186,503 25%


Total 741,066 100%

Stock: 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove19%

Manly13%

Mosman13%

Stanton25%

Willoughby30%

Stock : Last Three Years

-

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000


1998 - 1999 1999 - 2000 2000 - 2001


17

Webcat Searches April – June 2001

Lane Cove 46,119 14%

Manly 39,530 12%

Mosman 32,942 10%

Stanton 98,826 30%


Total 329,419 100%

Webcat Searches April - June 2001

Lane Cove14%

Manly12%

Mosman10%Stanton

30%

Willoughby34%

Webcat Searches April - June 2001

Internal Searches

89%

External Searches

11%


18

Inter-Library Loans: Items Borrowed

From Shorelink Libraries From All libraries

Lane Cove 578 16% 846 18%

Manly 860 24% 1136 24%Mosman 455 13% 609 13%

Stanton 724 20% 1110 23%Willoughby 925 27% 1039 22%

Total 3542 100% 4740 100%

From Shorelink Libraries

Lane Cove16%

Manly24%

Mosman13%

Stanton20%

Willoughby27%

From All LibrariesLane Cove

18%

Manly24%

Mosman13%

Stanton23%

Willoughby22%


19

Inter-Library Loans: Items Lent

To Shorelink Libraries To All LibrariesLane Cove 798 22% 1359 26%

Manly 628 17% 927 19%

Mosman 572 16% 705 14%Stanton 797 22% 989 20%

Willoughby 839 23% 1029 21%Total 3634 100% 5009 100%

Inter-Library Loans: Items lent to Shorelink Libraries 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove22%

Manly17%

Mosman16%

Stanton22%

Willoughby23%

Inter-Library Loans: Total items lent 2000 - 2001

Lane Cove26%

Manly19%Mosman

14%

Stanton20%

Willoughby21%

Library Network - shorelink.nsw.gov.au · accordance with the policies and decisions of the...

Documents

Transcript of Library Network - shorelink.nsw.gov.au · accordance with the policies and decisions of the...