| v. 1 no. 4 | December 1997 |
This effort is part of a long-term IR plan for organizational improvement.We recognize that we may not be able to meet every standard today. Somestandards will stretch us to do more than we may be providing today. Thesestandards are also a "work in progress." We intend to reevaluate and reissuethese standards based on experience. Therefore, they represent goals,not guarantees, and we ask your patience as we work to achieve them.
Last year, the major task before IR was to maintain services while completingan ambitious organizational integration. This was daunting because ourclient needs are constantly increasing, but our resources cannot keep pace.IR staff have been working hard to meet and exceed your expectations. Wethank the entire university community for patience and understanding aswe address this significant task. The new organization and operations arenow stabilizing, but we know there is still more to do. The standards reflecta commitment by IR staff to provide the campus with the highest qualityof service.
We are very much interested in your reactions, not only to the brochure,but also on how well we are performing against the standards. As always,we welcome your positive comments when we meet your expectations, but weare also interested in knowing your thoughts on how we can improve ourservices.
InformationResource's Information Delivery Team has completed a successful test ofan exciting new electronic reserve system that will simplify student accessto course related materials. The experimental course pages (http://www.lib.lehigh.edu/eres/)include scanned practice exams, links to previously developed Lehigh coursepages, and reserves for Materials Science courses taught by Charles Lymanand Katayun Barmak. Professor Lyman notes that "The [new system] is a greatstep forward. . . When accessed from a properly configured computer, thevarious file formats are transparent to the student reading the postedmaterial. In theory, students may access assignments and data from theirdorm room or the other side of the world."The new software allows faculty to make course material such as homeworkfiles, past exams, data sets, articles and lecture notes available on theWeb. No knowledge of html is needed and the system has optional passwordprotection for courses. File formats supported include Acrobat, Excel,MS Word, PostScript, Word Perfect, Power Point, gif, html, jpg, and plaintext. Links to other Web resources can be incorporated easily and eachcourse page has a bulletin board, announcement space and optional chatroom.
Electronic reserves will be expanded in spring 1998 with more coursesand the entire corpus of exam files. Faculty with course pages that canbe linked to the system or an interest in adding new electronic reservesmay contact Gail Kriebel (gpk0 or 83028). Full implementation isanticipated for fall 1998.
Technology. The use of computer networks has created a huge demandfor faster data transmission. Although the data connectivity of the currentphone system was largely replaced during the 1990s by the high-speed fiberbackbone to provide increased speed, new technologies such as "GigabitEthernet" and ISDN are required to produce still higher speeds. An evenmore significant development is the potential integration of voice, dataand video services through a technology known as Asynchronous TransferMode (ATM). Legal Environment. Previously separate long distanceand local phone services can now be provided by a single carrier creatingnew options for providing services. The campus phone system and revenuestructure does not address changes and opportunities brought about by theTelecommunications Act of 1996. Business Services. Lehighcurrently runs all of its own telecommunications operations. Service alternativeshave emerged in the marketplace that should be considered. The currentrevenue structure is based upon long distance rates only, and may be inappropriatein light of these changes.
The interrelationship of all these issues raises complicated questions.For example, is an integrated technology solution practical today? ShouldLehigh postpone any upgrades to its almost obsolescent system until sucha solution is practical? Is there a logical upgrade path that should befollowed? Should we invest in upgrades to current communications systemsor in better systems and newer technologies with more long-term promise?
IR has engaged telecommunications specialists RCC Consultants, Inc.to provide an independent appraisal of the current systems and to outlinefuture possibilities. In addition to meeting with some IR staff, the consultantsare conducting a survey of user needs and perceptions. They will meet withappropriate faculty and academic and administrative staff. The consultants'report, expected in early 1998, will provide a foundation for a campusdiscussion of a communications technology and business plan. Before anyaction is taken, IR will develop a proposal, and make it available forreactions from the campus. Communications and Computing Operations TeamLeader Bill Brichta serves as IR liaison for the Study.
Details of the configuration are listed on the IR home page under Purchasingand Repairing Computers. Recently Dell Computers Inc. has also officiallycertified IR `s computer repair technicians to perform warranty repairson Dell computers.
Team Leader Bill Brichta was appointed to the Board of Directorsof ACUTA, the Association of College and University TelecommunicationsAdministrators, for the year 1997-98.
In October Group Leader Susan Cady gave a presentation on Fundingfor Technology at the 11th Pennsylvania Technology Conference in Grantville.
In November Group Leader Tim Foley delivered a paper at the ACMSIGUCCS `97 Conference in Monterey titled "Combining Libraries, Computing& Telecommunications: A Work in Progress."
Vice Provost Arnold Hirshon presented "Some Modest Proposalsfor Venturing through the Looking-glass of Scholarly Communication" tothe North American Serials Interest Group in Ann Arbor and the InternationalAssociation of Technical University Libraries in Trondheim, Norway, bothin June. The presentation will be published in an up-coming issue of SerialsReview. Hirshon also made a presentation on merging libraries and computingat the CAUSE conference in Florida in early December.
Computing Consultant Patrick Larkin is one of twenty nomineesfor Web Publisher magazine's "Excellence in Design Awards" for hispage on producer/director Stanley Kubrick.
Special Collections Librarian Philip Metzger has been electedchair of the Pennsylvania Library Association Preservation Roundtable.
The tables-of-contents delivery component of the service is called Reveal,and was introduced on a modest scale to faculty last year. A very attractivenew feature is Subsidized UnMediated Ordering (SUMO) that enables facultyand graduate students to order fax copies of articles that cost less than$30 and are not owned by Lehigh. Because Lehigh's journal holdings havebeen matched with the UnCover database down to the volume level, userscan easily identify eligible articles. One additional limitation is thatsome publishers do not permit the Gateway service to fax articles fromtheir journals. Ordered articles are sent to the user's on-campus officeor departmental fax machine, not to the libraries.
Fast, free article delivery is an important element in an emerging modelof access to scientific and technological literature necessitated by yearsof exponential increases in journal prices. Librarians now speak of "tieredlevels" of access to journal publications. The maintenance of a core list("first tier") of subscriptions remains essential to support the University'sresearch effort. The "second-tier " are those journals that are of regularinterest, but are either not affordable or not essential in their entirety.Instead of locking limited resources into an historical subscription listthat does not meet changing needs, the Gateway provides nearly immediateaccess to valuable journals without a permanent commitment to purchaseand house all the volumes.
Another benefit of the service is a facility for librarians to createlists and other features of local interest. For example, Lehigh has addeda list detailing which recently cancelled journals are available for articledelivery through UnCover. Statistics furnished by the Gateway provide apowerful tool for continuous evaluation of subscriptions. Order patternsrevealed through these data identify journals that should move from onetier to another to reflect changing faculty interests, new or discontinuedacademic programs, and subscription price increases.
Librarians Roseann Bowerman, Gail Kriebel, ChristineRoysdon, Sharon Siegler, and Sharon WilesYoung designedcustom screens and coordinated the implementation. Faculty interested inbecoming "early adopters" of the new service during a test period in Decembermay contact Sharon Siegler (83068, sls7).
IR will pay greatest attention to the enterprise information (administrative)systems for which it is responsible for providing central support. Thehighest priority will be given to making programming changes that are requiredfor Y2K compliance. The next priority is to make non-Y2K related changesto mission critical systems that are required by law or external agencies.The third priority is to implement new systems that can solve Y2K problems,providing the new systems can be implemented by summer 1999. The fourthpriority is for any other highly desirable programming changes; such changesmust be approved by either the Vice Provost for Information Resources orthe Provost.
There are other software programs on campus for which IR does not havecentral responsibility, but that may have Y2K problems. Solutions to mostY2K problems for generic PC packages (spreadsheets, word processors, etc.)are relatively straightforward. Some offices may also have specializedprograms, such as events calendaring or accounting systems, that may bemore complicated. For those non-centrally supported systems, IR will offerworkshops to help campus units assess the extent of their potential problems,and provide general technical assistance, user groups, and mailing lists.IR will not be able, however, to provide detailed consulting, programmingor other help.
The Year 2000 plan is accessible on the Web under Planning Documentsin the Programs, Projects, & Organization section of the IR home pageor directly at http://www.lehigh.edu/~arh5/y2k.htm.System & Networking Design Team Leader Tom Smull oversees IR'sY2K effort.
Unless you have installed new connection software this semester, NOWis the time to upgrade your software. Additional information on the upgradeprocess, as well as links to download the new software, can be found onthe IR offcampus Web page at: http://www.lehigh.edu/~ludoc/offcampus/.
Call the IR Help Desk at 758-4357 for help if you have questions orif you are considering the purchase of a new modem and need to understandthe different standards options currently available.
RichardRusso, author of Straight Man (Random House, 1997) and other successfulnovels, is the featured guest for the first Friends of the Lehigh Librariesdinner in late April. Straight Man is the story of William Henry"Hank" Devereux Jr., chair of the English Department at the fictional WestCentral Pennsylvania University, and his hilarious struggles with the ordinaryironies of academe and his own mid-life crisis. The New York TimesBook Review described the book as "the funniest serious novel" sincePortnoy's Complaint. Russo's three previous books are Mohawk,The Risk Pool, and Nobody's Fool, the latter made into amovie starring Paul Newman.In an interview with the Web-based bookstore Amazon.com, Russo reflectson his own career (teaching English at Arizona State, Penn State Altoona,Southern Connecticut, Southern Illinois, and Colby College) and the humorousnature of this novel compared to its predecessors: "It is more satirical,and that just comes from the subject matter. If you've been teaching andkept your eyes open, you're going to be writing a funny book. There's almostno other way to deal with that material." For instance, at one point Devereuxdons a false nose and glasses, plucks a duck from the campus pond and declaresbefore a visiting television crew that he will kill a duck a day untilhe gets a decent budget.
In the August 8, 1997, issue of The Chronicle of Higher EducationRusso acknowledged that there are parallels between his own life and thoseof his characters. His colleagues note that the book is "essentially avery kind novel."
Straight Man is available in the Lehigh Bookstore in hardbackand audio cassette. The Bookstore is offering a 10% discount on this andother in-stock general books to members of the Friends upon presentationof the membership card. English Department Chair Barbara Traister willreview the novel at the next Brown Bag Book Review in February 1998. Formore information, contact Susan Cady at 758-4645 or sac0@lehigh.edu.