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Information Society Training and
Awareness Raising Networks Project Title or Acronym Information Society Training and Awareness Raising Networks - ISTAR Web site: http:// www.istar.orgPartners Co-ordinating partner and expertise provider Essex Libraries (UK 3 application sites Prefecture of Imathia (Central Macedonia, Greece) Western Education and Library Board (WELB) (Northern Ireland, UK) Thüringer Minsterium für Wissenschaft Forschung und Kultur(Germany) - federal region
Project management sub-contractor Education for Change Limited (UK)
Regional partners Imathia regional partners
Thüringen regional partners Seven local municipalities and their libraries (Erfurt, Gera,Gotha, Greiz, Ilmenau, Meiningen, Nordhausen)
WELB regional partners
Summary of objective ISTAR sets out to provide a model for promoting awareness and extending access to networks and basic ‘Information Society’ services by businesses, SMEs, teleworkers and distance learners in three Objective 1 regions - Imathia, WELB and Thüringen, in support of the main economic drivers in each region. ISTAR utilises the public library network and builds on the nascent momentum in that sector toward delivering services via available advanced information and communications technologies. Active partnerships are being developed with other regional agencies, in the private and public sectors, in order to deliver cost-effective information and training services to users. A region with advanced capability (Essex) functions as a resource base for expertise and project management skills during the project, working in partnership with a private sector subcontractor, Education for Change Ltd. An ISTAR Network centre plus up to six ‘nodes’ is being set up in each region and a full year’s trial running is to take place and be evaluated during the period of the project. Services will be promoted to target communities in each region. There will be a measurable increase in awareness and take-up of network and other ‘Information Society’ services relevant to each regional economy.
Start date The project commenced operations in November 1997 and will complete its work in April 2000. Its total budget is just over 2 million EUR.
Partnership dynamics Outline of initial partnership From the outset, a management structure was proposed which would reflect the ‘two tier’ partnership arrangements. The first tier naturally reflects the essential and active partnership between the three regional partners (Imathia, Thüringen and WELB) supported and co-ordinated by Essex as lead partner with the responsibility for overall project management. Joint decisions were to be made by the overall Project Management Team, with secretarial support from Essex. In parallel, a Project Technical Working Group was proposed to facilitate common technical solutions. At the second tier, that is, within each participating region, a Regional Management Team was to be assembled, to include participating and contributing partners within each region, together with a parallel Regional Technical Working Group. It was foreseen that some of these regional partners would be Library Authorities, but that other local partners, particularly those with an interest in joint service provision to the proposed client groups would be invited to join these local teams. It was foreseen from the start that in addition to conventional meetings, which would be necessary for formal project management purposes, it would be essential - because of the large distances involved and the high cost of meetings - to use all available communications technologies (email, fax, telephone) to hold ‘virtual meetings’ and to sustain a constant flow of information and ideas across all the partners. On a formal level, the Lead Partners in each region signed a Consortium Agreement with each other). Draft text for an Agreement between partners was made available as a local resource and formal agreements between ISTAR partners were concluded between ISTAR partners in Imathia and between the Landesfachstelle as Project Manager and each of the seven municipalities in WELB. This was intended to ensure project sustainability and political support. Much of the work of ISTAR has been undertaken through Inter-Regional Task Groups consisting of technical specialists from each of the project partners with specific tasks allocated within the overall workplan. Inter-Regional Task Groups have been established to deal with:
Steering methods and relationship between ‘politicians’ and ‘technicians’ Although all partner regions had signed up to the initial objectives, there were in the early stages considerable differences about priorities for action, and about how to tackle local project management. In Thüringen, for example, the Ministry of Culture had looked towards the Technical University of Ilmenau (PATON), with its enormous experience of hosting online databases, to act as project manager, but the Chief Librarians in the region rapidly became concerned that PATON would only deliver content at too high an academic and technical level. Relations between the Landesfachstelle, acting as co-ordinator for the libraries and PATON worsened to the point where the central project management in Essex had to hold a number of face to face meetings with the Ministry and the parties involved to find a workable solution. Two factors emerged to alleviate this situation. The first was that the influential Chief Librarians suddenly embraced the idea that there was overriding mutual benefit to themselves, the Ministry and the project in finding a way to proceed, and the second was the Ministry’s offer to identify a senior member of staff with good experience in project management as the Regional Project Manager. She was able, with the support of the central Project Management to coalesce the librarians’ aims for technical development, the Ministry’s desires to improve access, and the main project objectives. In Imathia, the situation was rather different. So slender was the availability of services delivered successfully through ICT in the region, that the main task of the Regional Project Manager was to raise and sustain belief at political and private sector level that the project would succeed in bringing access to these facilities through the library service. By the end of the Feasibility and Definition phase (and with a new Central Library due to open soon), that belief already commanded support at the local and regional level. Political support was never a problem in Northern Ireland. Awareness of the need for better access to ICT as a response to rapid change in employment patterns, together with a desire to enlarge the role of the public library, was already present, and strong evidence of commitment from politicians and senior executives in the authorities involved has been clear throughout the project so far. The ISTAR launch in Omagh was conducted by a Minister of the UK Government, supported by the Chief Executive of the Western Education and Library Board and other prominent local figures, together with a Member of the Essex County Council. Because the project is based on Local Authorities with responsibilities for libraries, the politicians who control those Authorities are necessarily kept informed of progress, budgetary control issues and outcomes. Their support has on the whole been positive and encouraging, not only because the intrinsic value of the ISTAR project has been accepted, but also because of awareness that there is a developing tide in the development of national information policies to steer libraries towards the new role demonstrated by ISTAR. From the early stages of the Feasibility and Definition phase of the project, a strong sense of common purpose evolved and this has led to a strong bond between the members of the Project Management Team, who have been able and willing to discuss how they can meet their specific local needs within the overall objectives of the project. In addition to formal meetings, regional partners have held frequent discussions by email with the common resource provider (Essex/EfC) and with each other. Each regional Project Leader, together with local colleagues as appropriate, has been able to visit all the other regional partners to compare different approaches and adopt ‘best practice’. The great value of this integrated style of partnership lay as much in developing institutional awareness as in the adoption of technical solutions. That is to say, those regions which had a weak or very traditional model for public library services were encouraged and empowered towards creative change. To achieve the project objectives within the RISI framework and to build credibility at a regional level, it was essential to bring in local partners to create services of mutual benefit. In each region, partners and consultees included local Chambers of Commerce, education and training providers and official employment agencies. In nearly every case, this had a multiplier effect in the addition of services or databases to ISTAR sites accompanied by mutual referral of clients and cross marketing of client groups. In Northern Ireland, the regional Enterprise Agency brings farmers, SME and other groups to the ISTAR Centre for ICT training. The unusual presence of a prison and an historic Folk Park (with a library and museum) as formal partners in ISTAR illustrates the breadth of potential clients. Regional partners were asked to liase where possible with other RISI and regional development projects, thus WELB is in active co-operation with the Border Project (based in Derry City Council) and carries that project’s web material on ISTAR terminals.
Monitoring tools used: description and qualitative evaluation The requirement for thorough evaluation of this pilot was recognised in the attention devoted to the subject in the project workplan (WP8). The requirement to adopt or develop appropriate monitoring tools was also emphasised in the findings of the Feasibility and Definition study. Essex was in a strong position to mobilise expertise in the application of performance indicators. The tools have been developed by an inter-regional team. Project-level and regional workshops have been held to train staff in the application of these tools. The full scheme of evaluative and performance measurement tools forms Annex III to this report. The tools which are being used to monitor activity in each regions, include
Focus Groups – to test user reaction in more depth Counting and diary systems have been instituted since the operational launch of services. Baseline surveys were carried out in each region, and the first formal reporting date for the return of firm data across the project is the end of October 1999. With regard to the contribution of ISTAR to the overall objectives of RISI2, the Project Management Team gained a better understanding of the issues which concern the Commission as a result of attending the RISI2 seminar in Iraklion, during November 1998. It was explained that RISI II projects would be evaluated against the four pillars of employability, entrepreneurship, adaptability and equality of opportunity. In designing and implementing the evaluation scheme, ISTAR has sought to address questions such as the impact of the project on:
This common, inter-regional approach should enable ISTAR to identify generic elements which are common to all regions, what learning can be shared and what is different in each region.
PROGRESS and ACHIEVEMENTS Presentation of actions undertaken in relation to objectives Local and national politicians and MEP in all 4 regions have demonstrated strong interested in and support for the project and - despite the delays and formal difficulties documented in Section I - are determined to see the partnership with the Commission through to a successful conclusion in April 2000. Overall, there are comparatively few major variations between the workplan and the operations undertaken. The central objectives and the means of their achievement are largely unchanged. However, in the Feasibility and Definition phase, a number of significant issues became evident which required some degree of re-orientation. First and foremost, there was a strong perception that the successful impact of ISTAR Networks in delivering ICT based training and awareness services depends in large measure upon the identification, deployment/ recruitment and training of a sufficient and adequately trained staff resource to provide a good service to users at the Network access points. This entailed increased resources being devoted to their recruitment and training. The project has considered and implemented various methods of ensuring the basic level of competence of ISTAR staff engaged in service delivery within the period of the project both in ICT and as trainers and providers of support services to the public. Each region has developed a Training Action Plan [see Annex IV]. This was based on audit of competences in each region [see also Annex VI]. For the long-term sustainability of ISTAR-services, a scheme such as the European Computer Driving License (ECDL) which is competency based and offers accreditation, appears to offer the most promising route. Staff in WELB have already begun to receive training to this level. The project is investigating the best way to offer ECDL training to staff in Thüringen and Imathia, where there are fewer if any franchises of ECDL, as yet. International distance learning options are being considered. However, this has also raised the question whether ISTAR Networks themselves should be offering services to the public leading to ECDL. There are a number of options available in this respect: That ISTAR nodes and centres should accredited to deliver training for the ECDL qualification in themselves [perhaps beginning with certain modules] That ISTAR centres and nodes should focus mainly on introductory, awareness and 1:1 problem solving modes and should enter alliance with other public and private sector training providers, directing those wishing to obtain ECDL to them, perhaps providing ‘open learning’ workstation and facilities in support One possible corollary of the second option is that other training providers may become members of the regional ISTAR network. This series of issues regarding staff and user training will be examined in greater depth during the remainder of the project. It was also apparent that it is not possible to remedy deficiencies in the regional telecommunications infrastructure at the macro level through a project of this size. The emphasis needed therefore to be on the institutional technical infrastructure of the partner organisations and networking between them. Furthermore, the technology applications required were mainly existing ‘basic’ standards in wide use. The hardware to support them was also to some extent already in place, both with the main project partners - but significantly also with the regional partners identified in the definition phase. One specific key change was the omission in each region of the (joint) most expensive single item on the original sample list: a satellite channel rental, which alone would have accounted for 195,000 ECU of the project’s equipment costs, between the regions. It was also decided to purchase rather than lease equipment in all three regions. These outcomes all reflected the fact that in the proposal which formed part of the contractual documentation, equipment costs were estimated on a speculative basis, using assumptions about hardware requirements which were not, two years later, entirely verified .See page 6 of the Contract TA, item 7 which reads: ‘Costings for all equipment are estimated on the basis that it will be leased. See the sample list which follows [not appended here]. The equipment cost estimates will be subject to review and amendment during the feasibility study’. For these reasons, it was decided that a comparatively major re-alignment of the budget was required to meet the project’s objectives and that the main transfer required was from expenditure on equipment to staff costs. No change was entailed in the total budget or in any total regional partner budget. The request was for transfer of funds within expenditure categories in each application site region. The Essex budget was unaffected. The second important cause of some reorientation was the evaluation of the project which the Commission instigated in September 1998. The overall recommendations of the evaluator were that the project should proceed, subject to the adoption of five main specific recommendations. One of these was the submission of a more detailed justification for the budget revision. The other four were also adopted by the Project Management Committee with a plan of implementation. The need for business plans to drive regional services was accepted. The recommendation for a strong market focus was also adopted through the development of marketing strategies, expressed in marketing plans. To facilitate this, a series of marketing workshops was held [one in each pilot region] during March/April 1999, facilitated by an expert marketing consultant. The workshops also enabled the regions to assess whether additional market data was required and how best to utilise. The workshops covered four main aspects:
The evaluator also recommended the increased involvement of the private sector in the delivery of ISTAR services. As a result, private sector representatives were invited to join the Regional Management Committees. Private sector suppliers of ISTAR services are not strong in any of the regions. Chambers of Commerce or other representative bodies were approached to obtain one or more appropriate nominee. This representative or representatives guides the Regional Management Team in focusing ISTAR services to support regional development needs, especially those of SME. They are also be asked to provide an interface with private sector service suppliers so that any additional possibilities of contracting out information and training services can be assessed as early as possible. This issue is likely to gain further in prominence during the remainder of the project. The provision of Internet Services involves significant private sector participation in each region. All three regions are however currently characterised by limited presence of private sector training organisations. WELB is however subject to a Private Finance Initiative in respect of its educational training services and ISTAR must await the outcome of this before responding.
Strengthening Essex/EfCs contribution to inter-regional comparisons, lear-ning and best practice; for example, sharing models, exchange of information in the areas of project management, as well as skills, and competencies for the library of the future in the information society. Essex has striven to develop even further its role as a constructive driving force within the project e.g. by providing tailored training courses and a consultancy on Intranet design to Imathia and by leading each of the Inter-Regional Task Groups with a specialist capable of making inputs of expertise of the kind required.
Services introduced The following is an outline list of services which it is planned to introduce during the period of the ISTAR project. * indicates that they have already been introduced.
A Awareness Raising 1. Computer Awareness Sessions Brief Description Short taster sessions (45-60 minutes), basic operations e.g.
using the keyboard and the mouse, basic introduction to applications. Support on a
one-to-one basis or in small groups, maximum size 4. 2. Office packages - awareness sessions Brief Description Short taster sessions (45-60 minutes), basic introduction to
applications. Support on a one-to-one basis or in small groups, maximum size 4. 3. Internet Taster Sessions Brief Description Short sessions (45-60 minutes) using a Web Browser and emailer. Support on a one-to-one basis or in small groups, maximum size 4. Objectives of service To raise awareness about the range of services available on the Internet. 1. Electronic Imaging Awareness Brief Description Short sessions (45-60 minutes) demonstrating the principles and
practice of scanning images and OCR.
B Commercial Services 5. Use of Workstations. Brief Description Includes individual use of workstations for all purposes
including internet café [including email], use of office software, access to independent
and open learning resources etc. In most cases this will be a charged service but there
will be exceptions at partners’ discretion. 6. WEB site hosting Type of service Commercial [free in Veria] Brief Description Rental of space on the central server 7. Video Conferencing Brief Description Simple in-screen video, with shared white-boards 8. Electronic Image Capture/Processing Brief Description Scanning text and images at the request of the public and
transforming them into electronic images for inclusion in the customer’s documents.
C Information Provision 9. Access to Business Information Brief Description Extension of information services to all ISTAR nodes 10. Access to Partners’ databases/catalogues Brief Description Use of ISTAR resources as communication links to existing
databases and catalogues other than normal web browsing. 11. Access to specific information Objectives of service (brief description) Provide special CD-ROMs through central server for all participating libraries and cooperating institutions; provide guidance and support to researching users; research and answer specific enquiries; presentation of hyperlinks on library homepage.
D Training Packages 12. Training in specific office applications Brief Description Formal courses - up to 6 trainees at a time. 13. E-Mail Training Brief Description Formal sessions, no more than 12 users, 2 per machine 14. WEB site design Brief Description Formal sessions, no more than 12 users, 2 per machine. 15. Self Tutored Core Skills Brief Description Packaged, self-paced, tutorials for individuals. 16. Effective website searching and evaluation Brief description Formal courses - up to 6 trainees at a time.
Take-up and impact It is not possible to provide in this paper a full analysis of data on from interim evaluation exercise, reflecting the first six months of service operation and take into account the data collected through the full range of instruments. Information on service take-up to date is therefore partial and somewhat impressionistic. However, all of the evidence available to date indicates high demand and heavy take-up of services offered.
Imathia The 3 ISTAR training centres in Imathia are the libraries at Veria and Plati and the Trade Union Office – both of the last two have 4 PCs each. Other partners have one PC each and function as business contact points and partners for the web page construction services. The Office of Industrial Development is an enthusiastic partner in the project and is collecting data on local wine companies so as to create Websites for them. The ISTAR machines [8 plus server] are available to the public on the second floor of the new Veria library which is the best public library building in Greece. The library has been open about 4 months and is purpose-built and newly furnished. The ISTAR area is well guided and is adjacent to a classroom area used to run courses for the public within the ambit of ISTAR services. The classroom is well equipped and air-conditioned. 1262 people have joined ISTAR in Veria, of which more than 200 have completed the baseline survey questionnaire. Total income from charges for Internet Access to date is 451,500 Greek Drachmae. The Trade Union centre has 80 ISTAR members [mostly job-seekers]. while 123 have joined at the Industrial Office in Naousa. All ISTAR partners use the same procedures and forms for joining the service. In the ISTAR centre and library at Plati, 118 people have signed up for ISTAR from a population of 1500, an impressive achievement for this small rural community. The library in Plati is small but has been refurbished for the ISTAR project and is welcoming. The staff and local community are enthusiastic about ISTAR. 4 PCs are in use for ISTAR services but the line is slow and a solution is being sought. There is demand for courses in office applications. Between commencement of services in June 1999 and the time of reporting 124 training sessions has been offered to a total of 905 people at the three ISTAR access points offering training and awareness raising. The skill areas offered included: Introduction to Internet; Introduction to PC’s; Introduction to e-mail; Introduction to Search Engines; Introduction to MS- WORD. The Internet connection on the ISTAR machines was fast through a 64k leased line to the Internet service provider. CD-ROMs are about to be offered [probably before the end of the year] and the Intranet which has already been specified should come into effect at about the same time. Shortly ISTAR will provide free modems to 5 fruit producing companies to encourage them to test the usefulness of the Internet for their businesses. Links between Imathia businesses are being created by the main ISTAR centre. The Chamber of Commerce has collected data on member companies so that Websites can be created. Through the ISTAR project, the Chamber of Commerce now has its own website. 45 organisations have now contributed pages to this regional business web site. A web-based information service is about to be launched by Veria library. Regional ISTAR publicity includes good quality handouts and radio and press publicity. Everyone joining the library is invited to sign up for ISTAR. The new libver website gives complete information on ISTAR services, including times of classes.
Thüringen Employment and employability are a strong focus of the ISTAR services in Thüringen, where levels of unemployment remain very high. Erfurt is working together with the local job centre to inform the public about each other’s Services: the job centre is not in the city centre. Nordhausen has started working with young adults seeking employment or apprenticeship. In Meiningen (Germany), there are already case studies of users who have been able to improve their skills and obtain jobs entirely through the ISTAR service. Figures reported at the end of September 1999 [for the period since March 1999) were:
Gotha group training sessions 15
Erfurt group training sessions 28
Greiz group training sessions 25
Ilmenau group training sessions 25
Nordhausen group training sessions 32
Meiningen group training sessions 6
Figures for Internet Access were: Erfurt:
2.998
WELB Four full time staff have been appointed to coordinate the project at each of the library branches involved. All branch staff in the ISTAR locations help log the public onto the computers, guide them in the basic operations and troubleshoot as required. The following data applies to service take-up since July 1 1999,
Omagh Number of adult users from target audiences accessing workstations - 4,675 (staff
supervision required on 3,346 occasions). Limavady Number of target adult users of computer - 7824 (staff supervised 6117) Waterside Number of target adult users of computer - 1414 Lisnaskea Take-up of the service has doubled in October 1999 and there are strong indications are that people are responding to word of mouth recommendations, despite having seen printed publicity. Copies of launch publicity have been sent to DGV.
‘Community added value’ approach of project and links with other Community programmes There are significant variations in characteristic between technical, infrastructural and economic starting points in each region e.g.:
None of these differences of characteristics appears at this stage to invalidate a Europe-wide approach to the awareness and training via networks such as those established by ISTAR. The range of services identified as feasible and demand-led in each region has a high degree of commonality. The content of these services is sufficiently common to give confidence that a European approach to the development of support systems and materials and perhaps standards for accreditation could be developed from the ISTAR pilot experience. The validity of this conclusion will be tested and further established as contact is made withn other communities with similar goals e.g. teleworking, distance learning and business, during the remainder of the project.
Future of the Project The project in the future: sustainable, expanded, scaled down It is our belief that the selection of public libraries as the ‘core’ institution for a RISI2 project offers extremely encouraging prospects for sustainability and for access. Public library services already have a user base of 73 million users throughout the EU, many of whom are members of the target groups for ISTAR. Since the original proposal was written in 1995, there is rapidly growing evidence of public libraries developing strategies to provide the kind of services which are central to ISTAR. Public libraries as a result need to find, divert or lever resources to these new Information Society-oriented services in order to achieve sustainability. There is already strong evidence in all three ISTAR of the potential benefits for regional development and the future ‘market development’ of the public library as an institution. The ISTAR pilot in the WELB region is likely to be vastly expanded and to provide a model for mainstream public library services once the project is completed. Full details should be available by the time of the final report. The success of the services in Thüringen and Imathia is also attracting widespread interest and is likely to lead not only to their being sustained within the participating institutions and regions but to their extension elsewhere. The project’s dissemination programme is stimulating this process. Several key factors remain to be assessed during the ISTAR pilot. One important issue is the extent to which sustainable services are likely: a) to require local authority/regional public funding versus b) to be capable of deriving income from charges made to users c) be capable of transfer on a commercial risk basis to the private sector A second need is to define the role of public libraries and their ISTAR partners vis a vis other providers, including those in the private sector and public sector providers in the in the further, higher or vocational sectors [the last being especially relevant in Thüringen]. It is accepted that ISTAR-style services will need to remain flexible and capable of adaptation to institutional, technical and market changes. What remains to be resolved is the extent to which services delivered through ISTAR Networks should remain fundamentally concerned with mass awareness-raising and introduction to ICT and to what extent they are capable of development within a more formal training framework, in partnership with other providers. The ongoing business planning and evaluation work within the project will supply evidence to help resolve these issues. ISTAR Project Management is now considering the potential of the ISTAR ‘brand’ as a means of providing support, quality assurance and possibly accreditation to other regions of an expanded Europe wishing to increase access to ICT. There are a number of areas of ‘standardisation’ in which such support may be appropriate, including: - staff qualification At the recent PubliCA Something for Everyone conference in Copenhagen, ISTAR raised the question whether there is a need for a European approach to benchmarking/ accreditation for regional networks of public library and information services and whether this could this help to drive up standards of service provision in response?
EC information retrieval and document supply projects AIDA aimed to establish Italian and Portuguese library networks in order to provide an international interlending and document supply (IDS) service for Italian and Portuguese documents.
ARCA development of a general software package (tool) that allows existing OPAC’s to act as SR targets. The SR target tool is based on a description of the OPAC characteristics (e.g. access points) stored in a dictionary with a well defined structure. This dictionary contains all relevant data that are needed to translate the SR requests (e.g. a search) into the commands that can be managed by the target OPAC. The project has also developed a SR client with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows end-users to access the OPAC. BALTICSEAWEB development of a Baltic Marine Environment Information System which allows users to search information using a geographical user interface and text retrieval tools and to retrieve bliographic references and original documents over the Internet. The design of the system will also allow the integration of non-bibliographic data (e.g. measurement data) at a later stage (not covered by the current project) and suitable cross references.
BIBDEL The project was designed to explore, identify and improve the availability and accessibility to the remote user of the services provided by modern library services by demonstrating that library services can be delivered to users at a distance instead of users being required to visit libraries. It recognises that many users who need to study do not have access to the library services they need. The three demonstration systems have shown, in three different countries and three different sets of circumstances, the potential for technology-based means of access by remote users to a full range of library services. BIBDEL’s key deliverable, the toolkit of techniques, provides a practical and cost-effective guide for distance learners throughout Europe. BORGES The BORGES project claims to be the first real-life pilot project on Internet information filtering in Europe. An information filtering service will be developed for messages disseminated by means of USENET News and the World Wide Web (WWW). BORGES brings together libraries and technology providers in an attempt to design, implement and deploy on an experimental basis initially information filtering services in libraries to determine (ir)relevance of messages to help users manage dynamic information streams effectively. Users will be able to specify their information need by means of an information profile, which is matched by a filtering server against incoming streams of messages. CANAL / LS development of a multilingual natural language access system to library catalogues. It will enable users to enter queries in different European languages (initially these will be German, English, French and Spanish) and it will analyse bibliographic information expressed in these languages, extracting keywords to be translated into a language selected by the user. The central component of the system is a ”linguistic server” communicating with library automation systems (”clients”) via a protocol to be defined. Messages exchanged between the library systems and the linguistic server are in SGML format. CANDLE The objective is to demonstrate how the CASELIBRARY digital management system developed under FP3 can be used to improve the handling of electronic publications acquired by libraries through collaboration with publishers and supplier agencies. The experience of large international publishing firms will be used as a basis for realistic investigation of how digital library management systems can be used to explore new economic models suitable for supporting the move towards electronic publishing or the shift from traditional holdings to access to electronic resources. CASELIBRARY development of a modular toolset enabling library staff to set up user interfaces corresponding to their particular needs. A modular expert system server permits configuration of user access through interchangeable communications objects. The user is not held to any particular commercial system but is given the ability to integrate all the services needed in a single customised interface. Particular attention has been paid to the need for control of access in large academic libraries. A set of software tools specifically required by the library community has thus been created for multiplatform, multidatabase information access systems based on modern GUIs (graphical user interfaces). COPINET development of an experimental system using the World Wide Web for information retrieval and document delivery. The system incorporates mechanisms for the secure handling over the open Internet of the commercial aspects of the information service. In particular, the handling of authentication and charging of known registered users as well as obtaining payment from unregistered users through secure transfer or through the use of electronic cash systems. The publisher mounted on a server at the library site, a selection of its abstracts database together with links to full-text documents. The server software was enhanced to incorporate a variety of charging, billing and payment mechanisms, making use where appropriate of available software components. DALI development, prototyping and evalutation of a service for multimedia document delivery in a distributed environment, using SR. The service provides intelligent user support, authorisation and cost recovery within a library based infrastructure. Objectives:
DECOMATE I provision of an end-user access to copyright material in electronic form DECOMATE II development of an end-user service which provides access to heterogeneous information resources distributed over different libraries in Europe using a uniform interface, leading to a working demonstrator of the European Digital Library for Economics. The project will cover both heterogeneous materials (i.e. copyright and non-copyright materials of different types and formats) and distributed access (i.e. allowing users to access resources in any of the participating libraries through a single, uniform interface). DIEPER DIEPER addresses the need in Europe for a central access point where all digitised periodicals shall be recorded. This shall be devised as a register built on the model of the European Register of Microform Masters and shall take into account JSTOR, which provides a similar service to American users. Records of the register will be linked to reliable and comprehensive archives of periodical literature working at different sites throughout Europe. In addition a search engine accessible from the register will allow to do - a full-text search of the articles in digitised periodicals or at least a full-text
search of the tables of contents EDIL The EDIL project automated the transfer and delivery of documents between participating national nodes. The project experimented the electronic exchange of documents at several site libraries selected from each national network involved in the project. The design of the EDIL document delivery system is based on an analysis of user requirements, existing standards and the GEDI recommendations on international document transmission. The issues included:
EFILA, EFILA+, EFILA97 The European Forum for Implementors of Library Applications is open to all parties interested in Library automation. The target group of the activities are those organisations, groups and persons involved in the implementation of standards in connection with library networking and automation. The globalisation of the information society and the development of electronic libraries put a greater demand on libraries to create integrated systems able to act as a single system for the user. This requires the widespread use of standardised solutions based on internationally recognised standards. Implementors and suppliers of library applications need to become more aware of the existing standards and their opportunities to influence the development of these standards. ELISE, ELISE II the project modelled a system which provides access to full colour image information banks (slides of museum exhibits and illustrated manuscripts and cartographic material from the Brabant area) held in two libraries in two Member States; design and establishment of a bank of full colour images and associated text for realtime remote access in the participating libraries; modelling of interconnection between participating image banks using international networks; storage, transmission, presentation and retrieval of full colour images; ELITE The document delivery projects launched in the last years either funded by national initiatives or with the support of the European Libraries Programme, mainly aimed to experiment with the introduction of new technologies in the libraries environment. To date, and beyond this phase of technical suitability, the challenge is to meet the users‘ new requirements in building services which:
ELSA the project aims to produce a prototype end-user system supporting the delivery and manipulation of full-text journal articles delivered from remote stores in SGML format. The project advances existing experience of working with downloaded documents, allowing access and manipulation of full-text articles while retaining their original form. The ELSA prototype provides the library community with information on the technology and end-user platform for the integration of complete documents in SGML format into library delivery systems. It enables documents delivered long distances over networks to be manipulated locally, edited and stored. ELVIL development of an Internet-based aid for search, selection and presentation of information on European law and politics. The application will significantly increase the availability of the information and be an important step towards building a European infrastructure of legal and political information to the benefit of both the civic and educational community. The first part will assemble a WWW index on law and politics in Europe in order to gather all Internet-accessible computer-based information resources on European law and politics into one coherent WWW-accessible database. The second part will develop a multimedia educational aid, including a multi-lingual thesaurus for students of European law and politics, teachers and librarians. The third part will construct a search engine composed of a common WWW interface and software gateways for easy and concurrent access to the national parliamentary databases and to the European parliamentary database. ELVIL2000 ELVIL2000 builds on work done under the ELVIL project. It will extend ELVIL in several ways: geographically, by including parliamentary libraries in Poland and the Czech Republic;
The general goal of the project is to create and operate an Academic Portal to European Law and Politics, facilitating access to information on European Law and Politics and exploiting this information for educational purposes. Key issues:
EULER the aim of the project is to provide strictly user-oriented, integrated network based access to mathematical publications. The EULER service intends to offer a ”one-stop shopping site” for users interested in Mathematics. Electronic journals from academic publishers Online archives of preprints and grey literature EURILIA the overall objective of the EURILIA project was to enhance the Libraries R&D and education process in the aerospace sector. For this purpose a new service was established, based on a pan-European system for information access, retrieval, image browsing and document delivery. Image access developing the user application to provide remote image browsing to a prototype image service; DDS access with development and demonstration of integrated conventional and Group IV fax image document delivery. EUROPAGATE This project aimed to build and operate a pilot gateway service through which users can access ANSI Z39.50 and ISO SR servers which provide on-line access to catalogues. Users‘ requests had to be handled over widely available data networks (e.g. public X.25, EuropaNET and TCP/IP-based networks) using existing clients which incorporate the ANSI and ISO standards. Requests also had to be able to be processed via e-mail. FASTDOC the objective of the project was to develop and test a prototype of a fast electronic document ordering and document delivery system based on an already existing digital journal image archive and in-house delivery system in the area of chemical journals by combining on-line searching, electronic ordering and electronic delivery. HYPERLIB The project aimed to improve access to the online services of a major university library by implementation of hypertext interfaces to a variety of information resources including the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue). The main technical issues explored were:
ILIERS development of a multimedia library information system in order to give all categories of library users more effective access to information available in the local public library and in the local community. The main focus of the project will be the development of multimedia facilities in order that users of different types and with different requirements have integrated access to information, education and retrieval via a common interface. The system will be based on a set of modules which will be designed to accomodate different languages and cultural adaptions. ILSES ILSES is designed to serve both end users and content providers of socio-economic information. For end users ILSES facilitate the integrated access and retrieval of two different kinds of information:
ILSES is designed as an open system which can be applied to different kinds of library and data holdings. In this project, however, a pilot application will be focused on socio-economic information as collected by large scale surveys, and on the associated literature. ILSES is based on integrated relational databases of meta information pertaining to both library and data archive holdings, both of which are typically distributed over many different institutions. In order to productively connect such holdings with each other and with end users, ILSES provides a wide area network interface utilising Internet and supporting browsing and retrieval tools such as WWW. ION ION aimed to build an international service providing interlending services for affiliated libraries and library organisations. It was the first network of its kind to implement the open system standards developed under the auspices of the International Standard Organisation for interlibrary lending and search and retrieve. The major objectives of the project were:
LAURIN development of a generic model for the digitisation of newspaper clippings. A scanned image of the article as well as the full-text will be prepared for storage and retrieval. LIBERATION being aware that the modern library should provide various electronic materials to the end-user regardless space and time, it is still not clear, to what extent these materials should be scattered over the Internet, reside on local servers or should be stored on single CD ROMs. Therefore the project takes a substantial body of information (e.g. journals, textbooks, reference works, dictionaries, courseware) that is, or is to be available in electronic form, and packages it into a format that allows the distribution to libraries via CDs, LANs and WANs such as the Internet. It will then monitor the reaction of users in two different environments: at user’s workplace and at easy-to-use terminals in conventional libraries. MALVINE opens new and enhances access to disparate modern manuscript holdings, kept and catalogued in European libraries, archives, documentation centres and museums. MALVINE will provide a common multilingual user interface in a clear terminology with the help of metadata. The project will involve databases in the field of biographical documentation, publishing projects and related sectors. Document delivery items will improve the options for remote access and will contribute to the protection and conservation of the precious original documents. Network components, standards and protocols as Z39.50 will be used to provide state-of-the-art search and query mechanisms and interoperability of heterogeneous systems, enabling parallel (cross-) searches in different databases. Data exchange and text encoding will be based on the SGML standard. MASTER development, test and documentation of an internationally agreed standard for electronic description of manuscripts, based on the Text Encoding Initiativeimplementation of SGML; creating electronic records for manuscripts and developing a demonstrator which will link the records to available digital images of the manuscripts themselves. MECANO development of a toolbox capable of matching the results of searches carried out on various CD-ROMs with the journals holdings of libraries. The feasibility of providing a dynamic link to OPACs for up-to-date status information was also examined. Library users searching for journal articles use secondary database sources, mostly now available on CD-ROM; however, to locate the materials in the library holdings the user has to carry out an additional search for each journal title in the library’s OPAC. The ability to perform this second step automatically and from the same user environment as that for the CD-ROM search offers immediate benefits both to libraries and to their users. Some proprietary systems exist but there is no generalised toolbox capable of being used with different OPACs and different CD-ROMs. MOBILE identified target user groups and their information needs in remote communities or other regions where public library services are currently unable to stimulate or meet demand for information. The technical feasibility of introducing a range of information and document delivery services into existing public library networks, through the exploitation of information and communication technology, have been investigated. MUMLIB the objective was to develop an enhanced library service based on a CD-ROM product integrated in the library environment. Tools and methods were developed for preparing multimedia profiles of 46 modern authors from Denmark, Ireland and Portugal. The attractive CD-ROM product now developed provides the basis for an integrated bibliographic service based on the development of links with existing catalogue records in the local environment. The service offers both bibliographical information and the source material itself, making full use of text, sound, graphics and moving video. MURIEL the project partners intended to create, to demonstrate and to evaluate a multimedia interactive training system for librarians, based on existing library LANs and EURO-ISDN. To this end courseware models and specifications have been developed, taking into account relevant standards relating to courseware and electronic library documents. NEDLIB authentication and verification of the document OLUIT the aim was to develop an efficient and innovative tool kit to create a multiplatform GUI for libraries in a client-server architecture. The tool kit was developed using an object-oriented methodology and consists of objects related to specific types of information and management functions used in library application. The toolset is portable (i.e. multiplatform) and addresses in particular search and retrieve functions according to international bibliograpic and search & retrieve standards on the basis of an object-oriented approach. ONE, ONE II the project will involve national library facilities in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria. ONE will: establish a service infrastructure for OPAC searching in Europe which can be extended to include other world-wide resources, and can further be expanded to allow ordering of publications found through searching;
PRIDE the PRIDE project intends to develop a broker service to support the identification and delivery of information services over the Global Information Infrastructure. The PRIDE directory service will provide support for authorisation, registration & cost recovery and integration with other interfaces to library services. PRIDE will enable the user to gain unified access to a global range of information, resources and services in a more efficient, scaleable and functional manner by facilitating:
RIDDLE Study of the feasibillity of scanning the contents pages of technical journals with a view to including the information on the individual items in each issue in online library catalogues. The principle goal of the project was a feasibility study but a pilot/prototype was also developed. The main technical issues were:
RIDDLE has demonstrated that the concept of automatic capture of journal contents pages – and even journal data – for inclusion into OPACs, is feasible. The prototype provides a sound basis for the development of a commercially available system, especially ported on to a Windows PC. SESAM The project intended to implement a client server application that enables academic libraries to create an innovative service related to the university educational activities and designed to improve the flow of information from academic staff to the library and to the students. The application allows access in a wide area network to the Programmes of Study and reading lists linked to the data and images of principally non conventional documents. The prototype was a multimedia system able to map remote data, text, images and thesaurus and to manage the communication to clients. By means of a client server engine and a programmable terminal emulator gateway it has linked the client tasks to the actual library management system and OPAC. Document availability has been managed by magneto/optic systems. SOCKER The main objectives of the SOCKER project were:
SR-TARGET/PARAGON The purpose of SR-TARGET was to examine problems related to the use of the Z39.50 protocol in meda archives through actual implementations in three different sound archives. The project has:
Also addressed were potential problemes regarding copyright on catalogue information liable to restrict libraries and archives in offering external access to their catalogues. A client service was implemented as a single gateway to the sound archive catalogues via the Web. The project also addressed questions regarding the implementation of OSI communication protocols and the use of reduced communicating stacks such as mOSI and thinOSI. The use of TCP/IP was also investigated. TECUP The intention of TECUP is to analyse, define and evaluate a wide range of practical mechanisms for access to electronic information based on the uses as identified in the ECUP framework discussion which takes account of the needs of users, providers and right owners. By evaluating these different business models in different contexts it is hoped to gain a better understanding of the practical requirements of licensing for electronic material. In particular the following models will be analysed:
TESTLAB the project will establish a series of practical trials in public and academic libraries whereby blind and visually handicapped readers can gain access to catalogues and digital documents in forms which they can read. Key issues:
TOLIMA the project seeks to manage access to and use of networked resources and services within an institutional or campus context. The project functionality will be based around microprocessor chipcard technology. It seeks to create a management tool for supplying electronic products and services in the library environments which integrates important management functionalities such as user identification, authentication and copyright clearance. The tool will allow for access control, open library service management, interlibrary access and open use of library resources. User rights and priviliges, cost monitoring and reciprocal rights of external and remote users will be monitored and controlled. TRANSLIB The objective was to facilitate multilingual (Greek/Spanish/English) access to library catalogues by the integration of appropriate new or existing tools. The tools, including dictionaries, conversion tables and thesauri have been developed and integrated into the user interface of existing medium-sized bibliographic databases (Greek and Spanish). The result was a software tool suitable for integration into the majority of existing library systems. A high degree of modularity and user-friendliness has been ensured in the interests of low-cost maintenance and upgrading. It was directed to library authorities and bodies responsible for libraries. It was also applicable to library cooperatives, book-trade enterprises and library schools. UNIVERSE Since one requirement of the distributed library model is the provision of a ”single point of contact for information”, including an interface that hides the physical distribution of information, the project UNIVERSE aims to deliver and utilise a ”logical union catalogue” that is capable of providing this ”single point of contact” for specific subject domains. UNIVERSE will use this logical union catalogue to deliver a number of advanced library services for both the end-user and the librarian:
VILIB development of a system for a cross-lingual search of catalogue titles and of full-text documents, including the following languages and language pairs: English, French, German and Spanish. VILIB will make extensive use of the results obtained under project CANAL/LS and of know-how gained under the ESPRIT project EMIR. The VILIB system integrates the following components:
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