Meet RACER
An OCUL VDX Project Overview and Update
Amy Greenberg
Sue McGillivrayOLA January 2004
Today's Presentation at a Glance
Scholars Portal & VDX Project Overview Historical Background Timelines
RACER What is it? What does it do?
Hardware Features Functionality
RACER Statistics
Challenges & Benefits
What's Next
Questions
Ontario Scholars PortalAccess to Scholarly Information Resources
OII Strategic Programmes Ontario Council of University Libraries
20 Institutions Scholars Portal Website Content Coordination via CNSLP Scholarly Information Resources (SIRS) Implementation of “link resolution”
and O-Space
Offer access to a unique set of shared information resources and services
Ensure rapid and reliable response time for access to information services & resources
Provide long-term & secure archiving of information resources
Create a network of intellectual resources by linking ideas, materials, documents & resources
Provide an environment that fosters innovation in response to the needs of Ontario’s researchers
Ontario Scholars Portal Objectives & Goals
Why VDX and Why Now?
Arose from OCUL members’ wish to replace AVISO interlibrary loans management software
October 1999 Tri-University Group reviewing available ILL
management software
University of Toronto reviewing ILL software
March 2000: OCUL ILL staff put forth a recommendation to Directors unanimously recommending Fretwell-Downing's VDX software
Benefits Web Accessible ISO ILL Management Systems
Comprehensive Cost-effective Single way of dealing with ILL requests User-centric, online anytime of day or night Automates many routine tasks and decisions Unifies statistics Interacts with new ISO ILL systems that come along Eliminates paper files & forms Facilitates international ILL NCIP
VDX Project Timelines
Summer 2002 ◊ System Configuration ◊ OCUL Single Search Catalogue Access
Fall 2002 ◊ Group 1 Setup, Training & Testing
Winter 2002/03 ◊ Group 2 Setup, Training & Testing
Spring 2003 ◊ Group 4 Setup, Training & Testing
Summer 2003 ◊ Group 1 & 2 Production ◊ Group 3 Setup, Training & Testing
Fall 2003 ◊ 5 Additional Sites Go Production
◊ System Upgrade to 2.4Spring 2004 ◊ Bilingual RACER Interface
◊ Group 3 Production
Project Milestones
April 2000: OCUL established the OCUL ILL Task Group
2000-2002: FD contracts, equipment purchases, TIG staff hired
June 2003: First 8 libraries go Production Brock, Guelph, Ryerson, Trent, Waterloo, Western, Wilfrid Laurier, Windsor
September 2003: 2 more libraries go Production Carleton, Lakehead
Fall 2003: More sites go Production York Law, Windsor Law, Nipissing, Queens, Toronto
Project Team
Tactical Implementation Team (TIG) Shane Chan (System Administrator) Amy Greenberg (User Support) Sue McGillivray (User Support) Vidhya Parthasarathy (Programmer) Carol Stephenson (Project Manager)
OCUL ILL Sub-Groups End User Instruction Working Group French Language Sub-Group …and many more!
RACERWho’s Online?
Brock Guelph Ryerson Trent Waterloo Western Wilfrid Laurier Windsor
Carleton Lakehead York – Law library Nipissing Queen’s Toronto
RACERImplementation Schedule for 2004
Ottawa Laurentian York McMaster
UOIT Ontario College of Art
and Design Royal Military College
Spring 2004
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/scholarsportal/vdx/support/index.html
What is RACER?
Rapid Access to Collections by Electronic Requesting
ZPortal & VDX ZPortal: Search the library catalogues of 20
Ontario universities and place or view requests online
VDX: ILL management system Bureau Model Web and Windows
Bureau ConfigurationWilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier Virtual Bureau
Wilfrid Laurier Tri-University
Group of Libraries Annex
Wilfrid Laurier Brantford Campus
WLUANNEXSTKWLUBRANTCDROM
Wilfrid Laurier University Library
WLUINTERNET
RACERFeatures ISO ILL Protocol-compliant product Auto alerts DocFind (but requests are still staff mediated) Patron initiated requesting Automated; Good-bye paper forms Local catalogue blocking Customized reports Vendor co-operation for development of an Aviso Generic
Script translator Allows for batch uploading of patron records or patron self
registration
RACERNew Features in 2.4
Bilingual French-English interface DocFind Responder Rota based on availability and serial holdings
information down to volume/issue level Customized mandatory fields on request forms Ariel integration 2 separate Web sites for VDX (Staff)
& ZPortal (Users) Revised system architecture allows
for greater customization
RACER Project StatisticsMeasuring Success
125,000 requests requested in the first 6 months
1 M projected requests annually once all 20 institutions are onboard
Each student and researcher in Ontario has access to a combined collection of over 20 million library items
Still More StatisticsILL Staff Support Numbers
1554 User support questions answered 166 OCUL staff at 17 institutions with thirteen 2-day
classroom and hands-on training sessions Ten 1-day hands-on specialized
training programs
OCUL VDX Usage in 2003Number of Borrowing and Lending Requests Generated
0
20004000
6000
800010000
12000
1400016000
18000
June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
Borrowing
Lending
OCUL VDX Usage in 2003Borrowing and Lending Requests by Institution
Institution
Number of Libraries within the Institution using VDX
Number of months in production
Number of borrowing requests generated
Number of lending requests received
Number of requests received (borrowing and lending)
Brock 1 7 4779 1405 6184Guelph 2 7 13153 9383 22536Ryerson 1 7 2597 3043 5640Trent 1 7 1688 2842 4530TUG Annex 3 7 0 3024 3024Waterloo 8 7 12927 9393 22320Western 6 7 3673 11866 15539Wilfrid Laurier 2 7 8204 3934 12138Windsor 1 7 5744 4046 9790Carleton 1 4 6777 4377 11154Lakehead 1 4 3576 2262 5838Windsor Law 1 3 52 41 93York Law 1 3 173 180 353Nipissing 1 3 276 10 286Queen's 4 3 1980 3898 5878Toronto 22 1 835 2112 2947Total 56 66434 61816 128250
OCUL VDX Usage in 2003Borrowing and Lending Requests by Institution
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11121314
BrockGuelph
RyersonTrent
TUG AnnexWaterlooWestern
Wilfrid LaurierWindsorCarleton
LakeheadWindsor Law
York LawNipissingQueen'sToronto
Number of Requests (Thousands)
Number of lendingrequests received
Number ofborrowing requestsgenerated
Number of monthsin production
Number ofLibraries within theInstitution usingVDX
RACERChallenges
OCUL on the cutting edge of the new technology Steep curve for Staff and User education Transition Workflow changes Issues associated with using the system to support both
Document Delivery and ILL processes Different functionality DocFind effectiveness / reliability
RACERMore Challenges Email reader for multiple external forms from individual
catalogues Generic Script (GS) messaging with legacy non-ISO GS
(Aviso +) systems External messaging with sites without ILL Systems External messaging testing with Docline and other ISO
systems Location record maintenance and ISO on the fly Multiple vendor systems Z39.50 pitfalls
RACERWho Can We Communicate With?
CISTI (ISO) BLDSC (ISO) National Library of Canada (ISO) Ontario public libraries (INFO) CREPUQ (Soon!) Canadian libraries using Aviso Canadian and international libraries without an ILL
management system (Web form)
RACEREnd User Benefits
“One stop shopping” to Ontario university collections via a common search interface
Patron initiated online requesting An easy to complete electronic request form with
pickup location options Ability to track their requests is a new feature for
users of interlibrary loan services Email notification for receipt or cancellation of materials
RACERStaff Benefits
Quicker turnaround time Real time vs batched Auto-populated forms, labels and daily workflow
reports Potential lending locations identified and listed
(rota) automatically Automatic email alerting for patrons
Benefits of an OCUL Wide Initiative
"RACER has in effect produced a “more level playing field” for all OCUL institutions. By providing centralized server support and maintenance, it has alleviated much of the local institution system support for interlibrary loan processes. For both end users and staff, RACER provides many features that many of the smaller institutions would not have been able to develop locally."
Dialogue regarding policies and guidelines Co-operation across Universities Networking and workshops to share experiences Development of best practices
RACERBetter Access
A quote from Trent's student newspaper, the Arthur
For all the other books you need that weren't found on Topcat, you can use the Inter-Library Loan program, RACER, to get practically any book you want (I am still in awe of this program -- you should definitely check it out). One might say that, with the high-speed internet and programs like RACER, the world is at our fingertips.
RACERFaster Delivery
From an ILL staff member at Lakehead
One of the aspects of RACER that has exceeded my expectations is the speed with which our materials are getting to us. I have overheard patrons coming into the ILL office marvelling at the "lightning speed" of the service.
What's Next?
New hardware Staff VDX upgrade 2.4 Enhanced End user interface Zportal (2.4) Ariel French interface Additional reports Messaging Testing, Testing, Testing More location records Upgrade to 2.7 or 3 NCIP
Questions?
http://racer.scholarsportal.info/vdx/index.html
The VisionFully Integrated Peer to Peer ILL
Aviso
CISTIOCUL ILL / RACER
ILL Manager
Relais
Other VDX Sites
Top Related