Cover Story
SUNY Prepares for ALEPH

Features
Strategic Automation Consultation

SUNYConnect Means Databases

In Her Own Words
Mary Alice Lynch, Executive Director, Nylink

A Day in a LIfe at the OLIS

How to Contact Us

Linkable Links

Erratum

Link to the OLIS Committees List

What a great time ahead for SUNY libraries! I remember fondly the intense and exciting early days of LAIP and having the opportunity to play a part in the initial implementation of Multilis at two different SUNY libraries during those years. The steep learning curve and the comradery of "doing it together" is one of my fondest professional memories!

Now as you embark on the next SUNY-wide library automation project, I am in a different "seat," as Executive Director of Nylink, and look forward to working with SUNY libraries in the exciting times ahead. OLIS has responsibility for facilitating the implementation of the new library management system, building a central core of electronic resources, and working with SUNY libraries on moving them ahead in a collaborative way. Nylink continues to provide the infrastructure on which library systems rely, and to link SUNY libraries to the greater library community.

Nylink's fundamental mission is to enhance collaboration and cooperation among libraries, to provide a broad range of technology-related training, services and support, and facilitate cost-effective group purchasing opportunities for its member libraries. As SUNY libraries embark on the migration to the next generation library management system, and continue to increase access to electronic information in a variety of formats, Nylink will   work closely with OLIS and with SUNY libraries.

Nylink's traditional role is in the support of OCLC services. Fundamental to library management systems and the access to information are the data structures on which they are built. OCLC has long been the vehicle for building appropriate data structures for SUNY libraries, particularly for monograph and serial holdings. But as the Internet and the proliferation of electronic information have revolutionized our world, so too are the cataloging methods and techniques moving to new platforms and methods.

A current OCLC research project is the Cooperative Online Resource Catalog (CORC). CORC (which is available at no cost to members until July 2000) will provide the basis for the future OCLC cataloging platform. This will allow a true integration of physical and electronic and multi-media resources using metadata standards. CORC will provide a vehicle for the sharing and management of Internet information, just as WorldCat has been a cooperative cataloging tool for physical items for the last few decades. Nylink staff members have already given several presentations across the state on CORC and have incorporated CORC in some of the cataloging and technical services classes offered in our regular training calendar. The added capability provided to SUNY libraries through both the new management system and OCLC services, have the potential to greatly enhance the access and the interface to information.

Other OCLC services are going through transformations in the coming months. Interlibrary loan, for instance, is also in a transition stage. Migration to a simplified web-based interface is in the planning stages. Nylink's Jon Penn has been appointed to an OCLC taskforce to help move this project forward. Some already available ILL enhancements will be promoted. For example, Nylink is working with OCLC on offering a free trial for SUNY libraries of patron-initiated ILL via FirstSearch. "ILL Direct Request" allows you to set up whatever parameters you choose to automate - as much or as little of the ILL process as you wish. Several Nylink members who have adopted this service have been very positive about the results, including much quicker turnaround time and automating time-consuming tasks to free staff for other activities.

Nylink will continue to be SUNY's advocate with OCLC to develop services and offerings that can most benefit SUNY libraries. Nylink continues to be your major source of training and support for the broad spectrum of OCLC services.

In the last few years, at the request of members, Nylink has expanded its services well beyond just OCLC. A third of our regular training is non-OCLC technology related. Conferences and symposiums on a variety of technology related areas constitute our continuing education series. Topics for this spring include: a one day workshop on copyright, two sessions on automated collection assessment tools, a conference on how technology is changing reference services, a jointly sponsored (Nylink/LITA/METRO) conference on authentication, and Library of Congress CONSER training for serials catalogers in both Rochester and New York. Do watch for more details in our publications and web site.

Nylink has also developed many consortial purchasing opportunities for members in the last few years, and several more are in the works. SUNY libraries constitute a large block of Nylink members, and are influential as to the information providers we pursue. SUNY libraries often benefit (through significantly lower prices) by Nylink's broader membership, which can pull together larger "aggregations," and provides Nylink with bargaining clout. Our broad constituency also enables us to connect with organizations and providers beyond our region to negotiate and advocate for all the libraries we represent.

While OLIS receives a good percentage of its funding from SUNY System Administration, Nylink is a totally self-supporting membership organization. OLIS is SUNY-centric in its commitment to furthering the libraries of SUNY institutions and is uniquely positioned to advocate for their needs. Nylink, on the other hand, serves a variety of types of libraries and seeks to foster collaboration and communication among these institutions.

While both the roles and constituencies of Nylink and OLIS are different, we share a fundamental passion for the advancement of libraries in New York. As SUNYConnect evolves and moves forward, Nylink and OLIS will work closely to foster new synergies that will best use the expertise and facilities of both of our staffs to help libraries develop technologically.