ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries October 1987 / 537 INNOVATIONS Library services through electronic mail B y M iriam B o n h a m C hairm an, L IR N Task Force Indiana University At a tim e w hen it is becom ing increasingly a p ­ p aren t th a t libraries and com puting centers m ust w ork together to bring the fruits of the inform ation age to their institutions, the In d ian a University L i­ braries and the Bloomington Academic C o m p u t­ ing Service (BACS) are cooperating in m aking a num ber of lib rary services available through elec­ tronic mail. Several lib ra ry d e p a rtm e n ts a n d b ra n c h li­ braries h ad been receiving and responding to in ­ quiries inform ally via the cam pus electronic mail netw ork for some tim e w hen, in the spring of 1986, BACS acquired and installed a Vax 8600 com puter d ed icated to su p p o rtin g in fo rm atio n resources. T h e p u rp o s e of th e n ew in fo rm a tio n system , nam ed the Academic Inform ation E nvironm ent (AIE), is to facilitate com m unication w ith th e peo­ ple and inform ation sources needed to carry out faculty work productively. In August 1986, E laine Sloan, dean of university libraries, proposed to D an DeHayes, then dean of academ ic com puting services, th a t the libraries expand and form alize the services they w ere offering through electronic m ail into a Libraries Inform ation and Reference N etw ork (LIRN) as p a rt of the AIE. Following prelim inary discussions, a design and developm ent task force consisting of librarians and com puting center personnel was form ed in O cto­ ber 1986. T he task force was nam ed the LIRN task force and it was charged w ith identifying the func­ tions to be included in LIRN , designing the appli­ cations including the m enu screens for users, and im plem enting the applications necessary to p ro ­ vide ongoing m a in ten a n ce. L ib ra ry re p re se n ta ­ tives w ere also charged w ith p reparing library poli­ cies an d procedures for review by a p p ro p ria te lib rary groups. W e w ere asked to conclude the de­ sign phase by Novem ber 1 and to be ready to im ple­ m ent by Jan u ary 1, 1987. C o n c u rre n t w ith th e w ork of th e LIR N task force, the AIE was introduced, and 1,200 accounts w e re e s ta b lis h e d fo r I n d i a n a U n iv e rs ity Bloomington faculty. In D ecem ber each faculty m em ber, including library faculty, received a te m ­ porary password and user’s guide explaining the AIE and how to access it. The LIRN task force began its work by b ra in ­ storm ing for ideas of services th a t w ould be possible and desirable to provide electronically. W e also re­ quested all library staff to m ake suggestions for ser­ vices to be provided on LIRN. Any service cu r­ rently being provided over the telephone was a likely candidate. After discussing the ideas elicited, we sorted the most feasible and useful into four groups based on the date of im plem entation. Since we w ere charged to provide some services by Ja n u ­ ary 1987, we decided to do first the things th a t ei­ ther w ere easiest to program or w ere extensions of already available services. W e also took into account the degree of enthusi­ asm of the individuals who w ould need to work w ith the group. Most of the goals we set for the first tim e fram e w ere achieved. However, we did not inaugurate LIRN until F eb ru ary to give tim e to test LIRN w ithin the Libraries. There w ere no m a ­ jor problem s, b u t a n um ber of revisions w ere m ade as a result of suggestions from staff. The m onth of testing resulted in a b etter product for release on the Bloomington cam pus. The extra m onth was also spent in staff training. Since most of the library staff had little or no expe­ rience w ith electronic m ail, a m em ber of the task force developed a brief, hands-on workshop th a t was conducted several times. The goal was to have at least one person in each unit trained. Presenta­ tions w ere given before various library groups to explain the procedures to be followed and to re­ spond to concerns about the im pact on services. 538 / C &R L N ew s W e have continued to develop additional com ­ ponents an d see this as an evolving process. T he b a ­ sic procedure followed in developing new com po­ nents is as follows. First, th e task force identifies a service provider an d a contact person w ith in th a t service to w ork w ith LIRN . T he contact person is asked to describe in as m uch detail as possible th e n a tu re of th e service to be provided and th e in fo r­ m atio n req u ired from users. T he contact is also asked to identify th e logical steps in querying the user an d to indicate if th e inform ation m ust be re­ ceived in a p a rtic u la r form at. Usually a task force m em ber works w ith th e contact, an d b o th present th e p relim in ary w ork to th e task force for com ­ m ents an d suggestions. Usually th e re are revisions, after w hich th e BACS representative on th e task force prepares a p rototype for evaluation online. O nly after the task force and th e affected service provider are satisfied w ith th e com ponent, is it added to LIRN . T he aim has been to provide sim ple, straig h tfo r­ w a rd m enu screens w ith am ple help screens avail­ able an d to design th e system in such a w ay th a t us­ ers can focus on th e ir needs r a th e r th a n on th e in te rn a l s tru c tu re of th e lib ra ry . F o r instance, w hen requesting reference assistance or suggesting items for purchase, th e user m erely selects th e a p ­ p ro p ria te subject from a list and th e system routes th e message to th e p ro p er place w ith in th e library. T he user is not required to know or look up th e in d i­ vidual or location responsible for th a t subject. To m ake th e system w ork, BACS set up log-ins for each of the approxim ately 30 service points w ith in th e li­ b rary so th a t a variety of personnel w ith in larger units could access th e system. T he service th a t h a d achieved th e m ost success b e fo re i m p le m e n ta t io n o f L IR N w a s th e Bloom ington D elivery Service (BDS), a docum ent delivery an d ta b le of contents service. Im p ro v e­ m ents w ere m ade based on previous experience, an d grow th has been steady w ith an ever increasing percentage of th e requests being received electroni­ cally. Poster session presenters needed for BIS program T he 1988 ACRL/BIS C onference Program P lanning C om m ittee invites applications from individuals involved in teach in g C D -R O M to p a rtic ip a te in a poster session. A pproxim ately 15-20 applicants will be selected for th e poster session, w hich w ill be held as p a rt of a panel p re se n ta tio n scheduled for S u n d ay , July 10, 1988, from 2:00-5:30 p .m . T h ree or four in d i­ viduals w ill be selected. A pplications m ay be obtained by w ritin g to: E sther G rassian, C ol­ lege L ib rary Reference, 236A Powell L ib rary B uilding, U niversity of C a lifo rn ia , Los A n­ geles, CA 90024-1450; (213) 825-2138. A ppli­ cations m ust be retu rn ed by D ecem ber 1, 1987. A nother service offered was general in fo rm a­ tion. Screens for each lib rary u n it or b ran ch display such inform ation as personnel, hours, telephone num bers, or services offered. E ach unit is free to in ­ clude w hatever it w ants, and it is responsible for keeping th e d a ta cu rren t; an a tte m p t is m ade not to exceed a single screen. O th er services im plem ented in F eb ru a ry 1987 w ere in terlib ra ry loan requests, checking on the status of orders or receipt of m aterials, scheduling lib ra ry tours, an d suggestions. Several additional services are in th e process of deveopm ent, including loan renew als and class re ­ serves. In addition, th e task force is considering th e possibility of providing access to other databases th ro u g h th e system. W hen th e IU L ib raries’ online catalog, IO (Inform ation O nline), becomes o p era­ tio n al, LIRN will provide one m eans of access. In some ways it w ould have been preferable to have h ad th e online catalog in place before offering o th e r services such as IL L . H ow ever, by going ah ead an d providing some services th ro u g h elec­ tronic m ail, w e gained the benefit of increased fa ­ m iliarity w ith m icrocom puters and term inals for lib ra ry staff a t all levels, an d w e started providing electronic services at th e sam e tim e th a t th e faculty are startin g to use m icrocom puters an d electronic m ail in significant num bers. A m a jo r goal for th e cam p u s is th e sch o lar’s w orkstation. Every faculty m em ber w ill have a personal com puter connected th ro u g h netw orks to all of th e resources necessary to conduct research an d publish its results. T he lib rary an d its collec­ tions an d services m ust play a significant role in this developm ent. W e believe it has been an advantage to be early on th e learning curve w hile usage is still sm all b u t expanding. F o r th e user, h av in g lib ra ry services offered th ro u g h electronic m ail m eans being able to re ­ quest service 24 hours a day, 365 days of th e year from hom e or office. T here is no need to figure out w hich lib rary d ep a rtm e n t to call for answers and no m ore “telephone ta g ” try in g to reach th e right person. T here isn’t th e im m ediacy of response th a t is possible th ro u g h using th e telephone, b u t each service po in t is req u ired to check electronic m ail at least tw ice a day an d respond w ith in 24 hours a t th e latest. If a message is initially received a t an incor­ rect location, it is an easy m a tte r sim ply to fo rw ard it to th e correct destination. A lthough messages m ay have typing mistakes, less errors occur th a n w h en tran scrib in g inform ation received over th e telephone. A final, extrem ely im p o rta n t benefit has been th e increased respect engendered betw een lib rary a n d c o m p u tin g c e n te r p e rso n n e l as a re su lt of w orking together on this project. W e have found th a t w e share m any sim ilar goals an d have com pli­ m e n tary skills for th e tasks ahead of us as in fo rm a­ tion providers.