State Council of Higher Education in Virginia
Library Advisory Committee
Biennial Budget Proposal
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
VIVA, a project of the publicly-supported academic libraries of Virginia, requests funding to continue and expand the original Virtual Library project. As institutions of higher education restructure to improve faculty and staff productivity, use technology, enhance learning, and avoid duplication, the VIVA project enables libraries to play an important role in that transformation by providing networked information resources that can be used by teachers and learners in a "virtual" learning environment.
In its first year of operation VIVA established the technology base necessary to deliver information in all electronic formats, including multimedia, to all 51 academic libraries. VIVA also purchased a number of electronic collections, including online indexes, full-text English and American literature databases, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and the Oxford English Dictionary. Negotiations for additions to these collections are underway. VIVA also created a Home Page on the Internet, which describes the project and its collections and provides access to electronic collections and shared databases.
The 1996-98 Biennium Request is for $4,991,400, $3,600,000 of which is designated for continuation of subscriptions, additional purchases of databases, and digitization of our own collections so they can be added to the database. An additional $671,400 is requested to upgrade and maintain the technology base, and provide additional workstations for access to increased collections. To expedite the sharing of collections in our institutions we request $620,000 for interlibrary loan support and a statewide contract for delivery services. In order to continue training librarians and faculty in the use of the collections, we request $100,000.
State Council of Higher Education in Virginia
Library Advisory Committee
Biennial Budget Proposal
The Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) project of the publicly-supported academic libraries of the Commonwealth, now in its second year of operation, requests funding to continue and expand the project during the 1996-98 biennium. VIVA has become a model for other cooperative projects among libraries throughout the United States, and has greatly expanded the resources available to citizens of the Commonwealth by taking advantage of group purchasing power and networked computer access. In the process, the libraries have moved closer to the ideal of a virtual library for all of the Commonwealth, containing electronic materials that all institutions can share and providing access to unique elements in our own collections. We seek funding to continue the development of the electronic collections, expand the technology in each library to enhance access to those collections, and facilitate the sharing of our own collections.
During the two years since the VIVA libraries first proposed this project there have been far-reaching changes in our institutions, as we've worked to restructure our colleges and universities, increase faculty and staff productivity, avoid unnecessary duplication of programs, and use technology to make fundamental changes in the way teaching and learning is conducted. The VIVA project has enabled libraries to play important roles in helping their institutions restructure to reach those goals, because it is based on using technology to provide faculty and students with the tools necessary for effective learning. In the Information Age, access to information which is selected and organized in a coherent and understandable fashion is essential to continuous, life-long learning, and the VIVA project gives Virginia's academic libraries the tools to provide that access.
The 51 libraries funded by the project serve all regions of the Commonwealth. In addition, the VIVA project has from its inception included private academic libraries in its planning and negotiation, and has secured the benefits of group purchases for all parties. VIVA is also working with the Library of Virginia on several of its projects, including the Union List of Serials, digitizing special collections, and possible joint purchases of appropriate electronic collections.
INSTALLING THE TECHNOLOGY BASE
* Scholars' workstations and software have been installed in all 51 institutions, providing access to databases composed of text, images, and sound. Each library has at least one public workstation to receive multimedia images over the network, thereby opening the way to the World Wide Web, distributed learning materials, sharing of instructional materials, and full document transmission.* Database servers and related equipment have been installed in the six resource center libraries, acting as hubs for services in their regions and as the single source of access for databases stored at one site for use of all libraries.
* Resource sharing equipment and software has been installed in 51 libraries, providing powerful and flexible workstations for Interlibrary Loan departments.
In order to develop this technology base, a Technology Committee researched what would work best for each institution and sent out technical advisories to help each library select and order appropriate and compatible equipment. This process allowed another, unexpected kind of resource sharing - the librarians at the various institutions learned from each other and helped educate staff at smaller libraries about the rapidly evolving technology that is at the heart of the information revolution.
As the technology was installed, training was provided at regional workshops for the librarians who will use the technology and be responsible for teaching their patrons its use. There have been two cycles of formal training and several more are planned for the second year of the project. The educational benefits of librarians from many institutions coming together to work on issues has been very beneficial, and plans are to continue providing forums for such sharing.
Each institution also purchased software to link all of our online catalogs, so that patrons in any library can see the holdings of all libraries, including information about status and location which greatly expedites the efficiency of interlibrary loan. The installation of this software continues, but already available are the linked catalogs of George Mason University, University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University.
DEVELOPING THE ELECTRONIC COLLECTION
In its first year of operation the VIVA project's Electronic Collections Committee developed policies that established collection priorities and goals, then negotiated group purchase prices for materials that met those priorities. The committee determined that it should purchase a mix of subscriptions and full-text databases, and early purchases focused on materials that would receive heavy use by all 51 libraries. Most vendors of these collections had little if any experience in negotiating state-wide purchases such as VIVA sought, and were eager to be part of a project that was receiving national publicity. Therefore, VIVA was able to purchase online information at extremely beneficial prices, which dramatically illustrate the cost benefits of group purchases. We estimate that the first $1 million in group purchases would have cost at least $5 million dollars if purchased individually, which would have precluded access to these collections for most participants. Purchases include:
FirstSearch - a group of online indexes, international bibliographic databases, and full-text information. FirstSearch provides library patrons with "information about information" - journal and newspaper articles, books, and reference materials. FirstSearch is available online to all 51 institutions and, as the networking is put in place, will be available in offices and homes as well as in libraries.
English and American literature - a collection of full-text databases comprised of Afro-American Poetry, English Poetry, and English Verse Drama - all known literary works in these categories published up to 1900. These databases use Standard Generalized Markup Language, which provides a powerful search tool and the ability to print in various formats. All 51 libraries have access to these databases; training in their use for librarians and faculty continues. At some of the institutions faculty are already using the databases as integral parts of their coursework.
Encyclopedia Britannica - an online, continuously updated, illustrated version of the Encyclopedia Britannica will be available to all 51 libraries and, where available, their online networks during fall of 1995.
Oxford English Dictionary - the full-text version of the foremost dictionary of the English language will be available winter, 1995.
Full-text periodicals - Purchase of online access to the full text of periodical and newspaper articles is in negotiation, with installation of the database planned by spring semester, 1996.
A major vehicle for access to these collections has been the VIVA Home Page on the Internet, which provides information about the project, descriptions of the materials available, and access to the collections. The Home Page can be visited via the Internet at http://www.vcu.edu/ulsweb.viva/viva.html The Home Page also provides access to a multitude of free resources it has collected, including the collections of the Library of Virginia, Virginia state documents, special collections of member libraries, and a gateway to the wealth of information available on the Internet.
In addition VIVA has purchased fiche-to-fiche duplicators for all libraries with large microfiche collections to expedite sharing those collections, and has purchased software necessary for loading and searching databases. The Special Collections Committee is developing standards for putting information about each library's special collections and archives online and, through digitizing, the actual images of the collections.
PROPOSAL FOR THE 1996-98 BIENNIUM
VIVA's proposal for the 1996-98 Biennium builds on the technology base which we have established during the first two years of the project and benefits from what we have learned in our first year of operation. The request has four basic parts:
* Collections
In order to continue the cost-benefits of group purchases, thereby enriching the information base available to all citizens of the Commonwealth, we request $3,600,000 for collections. This will allow continuation of subscriptions to indexing and full-text databases and expand our purchases of full-text databases. Funds to contract for digitizing materials in our own collections in order to share them electronically are also requested.
* Resource sharing
The commitment each library has made to 48-hour response to requests for materials continues to place a heavy burden on those libraries which lend the most materials, and we request continued funding for Interlibrary Loan staff at the six doctoral institutions. We also propose entering into a statewide contract with a private vendor for delivery of monographs, media, bound periodicals, and documents, in order to provide better and more cost-effective service. The total request is for $620,000.
* Technology
Having established the necessary base, our request for technology in this biennium is reduced to $671,400. This will cover the purchase of additional disk storage to accommodate the growing electronic collections, upgrades for servers at the resource centers, Internet servers for the 18 hub sites, and additional workstations for public use at all 51 libraries to accommodate the higher use generated by increased availability of materials on VIVA. We are also requesting funds for anticipated software upgrades, maintenance and replacement, and technical support.
* Training
The importance of training for librarians, library staff, and faculty at the academic institutions has become more evident than ever during the first year of the project, as has the volume of work necessary to organize such training efforts. We request $100,000 to continue our training program.
9/28/95