May 21, 1998
Contact:
Press Contact: John Sayers (202) 707-9216
Public Contact: Barbara Tillett (202) 707-5641
Library of Congress Awards ILS Automation Contract
Massive Undertaking Will Improve Operations and Enhance
Public Access to Library's Extensive Collections
As part of the most massive library automation effort
in its history, the Library of Congress has awarded a
contract to Endeavor Information Systems of Des Plaines,
Ill., to provide comprehensive integrated library system
(ILS) software and support to the Library.
"This is a momentous occasion in the history of the
Library," said James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress.
"It marks our transition to a new era of automation that
promises improved library services to Congress and to the
nation by bringing disparate operations together for the
first time. The Library will start its third century with a
unified system that will enable us to accommodate the
inevitable changes that American technological innovation
will bring. We are grateful to our Congressional supporters
for their steadfast commitment to this ambitious project."
In making the award announcement, Deputy Librarian of
Congress Donald L. Scott said, "Implementation of an
integrated library system is one of the Library's highest
automation priorities. This new system will facilitate the
Library's re-examination of our business processes to
improve the security and accessibility of the collections
and provide inventory control."
The Voyager system from Endeavor Information Systems
will replace many of the Library's older, independent
automated systems -- some of which date back to the late
1960s and early 1970s -- with a single, modern client/server
system that will support all standard library operations,
including acquisitions, cataloging, inventory and serials
control, circulation, and the on-line public catalog. Using
the ILS, the Library expects to improve control over its
collections, increase the efficiency of its operations and
provide better service for its many customers. In addition,
the system is "year-2000" compliant.
When the ILS is fully operational, users will be able
to perform comprehensive searches of the extensive
collections of the world's largest library. A search for a
keyword or subject area will result in a list of resources
that may include books, maps, manuscripts, periodicals or
sound recordings -- as well as the precise location, whether
on the shelf, in use, undergoing microfilming or in storage.
These searches may be conducted on site at the Library or
via the ILS on-line catalog, which will be fully accessible
through the Library of Congress Web site (www.loc.gov).
Currently, electronic searches of different collections in
the Library require the use of several separate catalogs.
In addition to installing software on nearly 3,000
staff and public workstations, and loading approximately 12
million bibliographic records and 4 million authority
records into the new ILS system, the project will involve
converting information now in two mammoth card files -- the
12-million-card manual shelf list and the 900,000 title
serials check-in file -- from paper to electronic format.
According to Barbara Tillett, director of the ILS
program, "Over the next 18 months, about 300 staff members
on 66 project teams will move the Library from our present
systems to the new ILS. We will train our staff and test
the system during this period, and look forward to having
all operations up and running by our target of October 1999.
The ILS will simplify and enhance the work of the Library
staff, allowing them to use a single system to perform many
tasks in processing items in our collections. Furthermore,
it presents a great opportunity for our staff to prepare
themselves for the enormous changes anticipated in the next
century."
The award of the ILS contract is the culmination of
many years of effort to modernize the Library's core systems
and automate its remaining manual processes. In the last
five years, vendors of automated library systems have
demonstrated the capacity to support successfully a
collection of the Library's size. For that reason, the
Library began to seek cost-effective solutions already
available in the commercial marketplace, rather than invest
in developing its own system.
"It has long been my dream that we would be able to
acquire an integrated library system that would help us
perform our core functions in a holistic manner," said
Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian for Library Services.
"The ILS will make it possible at last to implement some of
the great ideas that staff have generated over the past few
years."
Congressional appropriation of $5.6 million for the
project in fiscal 1998 will cover the Endeavor Information
Systems software, training, maintenance and support, in
addition to some new system hardware and other items to
support inventory tracking and the initial conversion of the
card files.
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PR 98-080
5/15/98
ISSN 0731-3527