Over 25,000 participants attended the 120th American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference held in San Francisco, June 14-20. The following is a sampling of the highlights of this huge and exciting conference and trade show.

Heather Tunender provides a detailed overview of exciting activities and developments in the fast moving electronic reference services arena. Her contribution describes many exhibit floor vendor products and demonstrations. She pairs these descriptions with summaries of several poster sessions by practicing librarians actually using the electronic reference services products.

Lisa Tatum and Ellen Purcell comprehensively covered the sessions related to adaptive and assistive technologies, and accessibility issues. They provide not only thorough descriptions of the issues and related products in use to enhance accessibility but some implementation solutions in acquisition of resources, training and support.

Peter Murray gives an interesting report on a program of the state-of the-art way of making a connection to the "best or appropriate copy" of an article using open URLs with link servers. He summarizes the solutions described by three speakers and the potential offered by these new technologies.

Margaret Tapper investigates a few of the new technologies demonstrated on the exhibit floor. She discovered some interesting applications and extensions of existing technologies. She also describes some of the innovations and new directions taken by integrated library system vendors.

The ALA 2002 Annual Conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, June 13-19, 2002.

Heather Tunender

Electronic Reference Sessions

Shortly after becoming Electronic Reference Services Librarian at the University of California, Irvine, I began to plan for my annual pilgrimage to ALA. The 2001 ALA Annual Conference was to be held in San Francisco, June 14-20, and I was looking forward to it with great anticipation. For the first time in my ALA Conference experience my activities would be uniquely defined. No longer would I be running to and fro in order to attend events ranging from assessing library instruction to purchasing electronic resources. This ALA, I presumed, would be, for once, manageable, due in part to the distinct focus of my new position, Electronic Reference Services Librarian. I began paying close attention to the upcoming events associated with electronic reference and my ALA schedule slowly began to fill out. By monitoring listservs (DIG-REF) and Web sites (http://www.vrd.org/) a remarkable number of electronic reference activities began to emerge. My expectations for a manageable ALA were obscured by the excitement surrounding electronic reference developments. Ultimately, I happily joined many other librarians who were eager to learn about the fast moving developments into electronic reference.

QandACafe Virtual Conference Concierge Service

Even before the conference began, the QandACafe Virtual Conference Concierge Service was up and running. This service was provided by a group of San Francisco Bay area libraries, the Golden Gate Library Network and Library Systems & Services' (LSSI) Virtual Reference Desk software. The Concierge service offered real-time, Web-based assistance with conference related needs such as hotel and restaurant locations and program schedules 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (More information concerning QandACafe will follow.) If you missed the chance to ask for assistance from the Concierge, do not fear, additional opportunities for electronic reference experimentation do exist.

Exhibit hall opens, 9 a.m.

There were several booths on the exhibit floor offering a glimpse of real-time, Web-based reference software. Apart from the traditional leaders (LSSI, 24/7 Reference) some new players have joined the electronic reference game and I planned to explore their offerings. The following booths provided details on the projects and software packages currently being used by library consortiums and individual public and academic libraries in order to provide real-time reference service. I have presented them here in the order in which I visited each booth.

Library Systems & Services (LSSI) http://www.lssi.com/virtual/

Virtual Reference Desk Software creates a Web-based interface for libraries to offer live reference service to their patrons, using technology that allows the exchange of Web pages, PowerPoint slides and chat. Some features of LSSI's software:

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The ability to "escort" patrons in the World Wide Web, so the patron follows what the librarian is doing. The librarian "pushes" her/his Web pages to the patron's browser, one page at a time in the basic version of the software.
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The ability to "co-browse" the World Wide Web with the patron, so the patron can push pages to the librarian and vice versa. This feature is only available with the "Interact" version of the software. It requires Hipbone software, which is integrated into the Interact version.
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Capable of co-browsing proprietary databases when configured properly.
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Transcripts of each session are sent to the patron with each URL exchanged and all chat messages.
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The librarian has access to and can define pre-scripted chat messages that she/he can automatically send, thereby reducing typing time.
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Call management options allow the librarian to transfer "calls" when a subject specialist is needed or when call volume increases, etc.
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The librarian can share screen shots (from non-Web-based resources) and files.
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The software is "hosted" by LSSI so there is no need for dedicated servers on your campus, nor is any special software or hardware needed.
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Training, support and a "professionally staffed 24 x 7 Reference Call Center" are all available (for a fee.)

LSSI demonstrated their "Virtual Reference Desk Software" and hosted several live online discussions. I visited the booth several times and each time, the representatives were busy answering questions from curious librarians. Several academic and public libraries are currently using LSSI's software (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Library, MIT Libraries, CLEVNET Library Consortium).

For the future, LSSI plans to integrate voice over IP and video technology to improve communication between patron and librarian while using the software.

QandACafe.com For Libraries http://www.qandacafe.com

Using their experience designing and building a real-time, online reference service (see QandACafe poster session coverage below), the librarians of the San Francisco Bay area decided to put together a "complete virtual reference package." During the ALA conference (Monday, June 18, 10-11.30 a.m. at the San Francisco Public Library Main Library), they celebrated the grand opening of QandACafe.com for Libraries. This package provides the resources necessary for any library to begin offering their own real-time, online reference service. QandACafe.com for libraries provides the front end (Web design - including the catchy logo for QandACafe), graphics, a marketing plan, model policies and guidelines, chat scripts, assistance with scheduling, training on the software and support for a fee.

24/7 Reference, Metropolitan Cooperative Library System (MCLS) http://www.247ref.org

24/7 Reference offers access to the "software and tools" for libraries to begin offering real-time, online reference services. Federal LSTA funding supports the project and it is administered by the California State Library.

24/7 Reference software permits Web-based escorting, co-browsing (utilizing integrated Hipbone software), pre-defined chat scripts, "call" transferring, co-browsing proprietary databases, software hosting, session transcripts, training and support. They also offer a statistical interface that captures details on each online reference transaction. Libraries can then track the type of questions asked and how each question was answered in order to assess and improve their online reference services.

For the future, 27/7 Reference plans to integrate voice-over IP and video technology to improve communication between patron and librarian using the software.

The people at 24/7 Reference are looking into offering after-hours reference service (for a fee) to member libraries who do not have the staff, but still want to offer late-night, or 24-hour real-time, online reference service.

The following libraries are currently using 24/7 Reference software: Orange County Public Library, Fullerton Public Library, Los Angeles Public Library, University of California, Irvine (trial), University of California, Los Angeles (trial), University of Alberta.

Note: You may have noticed that both the LSSI and 24/7 Reference software packages have very similar features - almost identical, in fact. That is due to the fact that each organization has purchased eGain call center software (http://www.egain.com). They each adapted the software to improve its usability and application for library reference services.

Convey Systems http://ww.conveysystems.com

Convey Systems offers a real-time, online reference software package for libraries called OnDemand. OnDemand allows chat messaging, co-browsing, video and voice exchange and database sharing. The OnDemand software offers a "share feature" that allows the librarian to illustrate searching in the library's proprietary databases. Patrons are required to download the companion software before they can connect with the librarian. Voice-over IP is currently being offered by Convey Systems as part of the OnDemand software.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is offering a "Web-based interactive" reference service utilizing the OnDemand software. They are calling the service AskWendt Live (http://www.wisc.edu/wendt/contact/vg.html).

Docutek http://www.docutek.com

Docutek is offering a simplified real-time, online reference product called Virtual Reference Librarian. The Docutek representative emphasized their desire to offer a product that is easy to use, easy to implement and does not break your library's budget. The software allows the librarian to send chat messages and push URLs, rather than the actual Web pages. They are planning to upgrade the software so that when the librarian sends a URL, a second browser window will automatically open displaying that page. They are also working on a feature to store scripted chat messages. Transcripts are sent to the librarian who then forwards the transcript to the patron.

Virtual Reference Librarian software can be stored on the subscribing library's servers or hosted by the company. Statistics on its use are captured and available for assessment purposes.

Right now, the software does not have the capability to share or co-browse proprietary databases; however, if a URL is stable, the librarian can send it. The patron will then be able to access the resource on their own when they have been authenticated outside of the Virtual Reference Librarian software.

Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) http://www.loc.gov/rr/digiref/

CDRS is a 2nd level reference service that allows libraries to access the subject expertise of participating librarians and subject specialists around the world. Each participating library must complete an extensive "member profile" that allows them to describe the subject expertise they can provide, hours of availability, etc. When a member library determines they want to use CDRS, they submit a completed electronic form describing and classifying the question. A database matches the query with the most appropriate member profile and the question is routed to that library for an answer.

Perhaps the most exciting application for this service is the ongoing creation of a knowledge base. The knowledge base contains every question and answer that has passed through the service. CDRS is hoping to provide access to this knowledge base in some form, perhaps for a fee, in the future. Other developments under consideration include the ability for patrons to directly query the service rather than relying on library staff to serve as their intermediary.

Diane Kresh, director of the CDRS Project, spoke to a large crowd of people interested in CDRS at two back-to-back sessions Saturday afternoon. The sessions were billed as "participatory" and were sponsored by CDRS, OCLC, LSSI and the Library of Congress. The excellent turnout certainly helped the CDRS Project gather marketing information, but I will get to that in a minute. Ms Kresh did note that there are major issues to consider as libraries further develop electronic reference offerings and, specifically, as the CDRS Project develops:

1.
Standards. Standards for the format of our answers as well as the consistent quality of answers.
2.
Staffing. How will services like CDRS fit within existing staffing models? The scope and role of services like CDRS will have to be precisely defined within each library so they know under what circumstances questions will be referred, and how best to take advantage of such services.
3.
Marketing. Marketing plans for libraries are necessary to assure the success of services like CDRS. OCLC is working with CDRS on a marketing plan that they hope will strengthen libraries' marketing skills. Libraries are notoriously poor at marketing themselves. Only by promoting the role of libraries and librarians in our society will we become a more visible and a valued commodity.
4.
We need to define a financial model for pricing such services (or not pricing.) For example, the knowledge base may be available for a fee in the future, but patron initiated use of the service could be free.

Saturday's CDRS interactive session gave attendees the opportunity to comment on particular issues related to the future of electronic reference. The sponsors of this event asked for our opinions on topics relating to electronic reference. Questions ranging from what librarians feel will be the impact of electronic reference on libraries to how much they would be willing to pay for accessing a content-rich knowledge base consumed much of the two-hour session. A simultaneous online session was available to those who were unable to attend the conference (thanks to event co-sponsor, LSSI) online via the LSSI Virtual Reference Desk software.

Look for the results of this session's questionnaire on the CDRS Web site.

"Virtual Reference Opportunities for Collaboration"

Sponsored by OCLC, this event was an information session on the Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) project. The panel members spoke about their experiences with the CDRS project and some touched on what they see as major issues for the future of electronic reference. The panel included:

1.
Diane Kresh, director for Public Service Collections at the Library of Congress and director of the CDRS Project.Ms Kresh provided an overview of the CDRS project.
2.
Rosemary Cooper, Boise Public Library.Ms Cooper's library has participated successfully in the CDRS project. She noted the value inherent in the collaborative nature of this service. Her patrons have access to subject specialists all over the world. She did note, however, that the model for such a service requires three components: the CDRS service must be staff driven without staff support and staff confidence in its value, the service will fail; the CDRS service must be management supported. Management must also be convinced of the value in order to define its use and support staff participation in the service; and the CDRS service must be community supported. In order for the service to grow, the community must be convinced that this is a service that will be beneficial to them. When the community benefits, the community will participate.
3.
Paul Constantine, Cornell.At Cornell, CDRS is handled separately from other electronic reference services they currently offer (chat, e-mail). CDRS questions are received and input by a support staff member. Mr Constantine noted that the form for sending requests to the CDRS system is somewhat difficult. His staff is sometimes hesitant to expend the effort.

He noted several reason for using CDRS: for questions you cannot answer on your own; questions you do not have time to answer; questions for which you do not possess the necessary expertise. Although these are all good reasons to use CDRS, Mr. Constantine noted that most librarians like (and are accustomed to) answering their own reference questions. It may be seen as a weakness for them to admit they need assistance on a question; however, he noted that services like CDRS give us a reason to reevaluate our approach to reference. Collaborative services such as CDRS expand access to subject specialists all over the world and we should not be afraid to look outside our institution to find the best answer for our patrons.
4.
Sally Drew, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.Ms Drew's involvement in the service has, thus far, been slow to start for several reasons. Her department is used to receiving reference referrals from libraries throughout Wisconsin. They "seem to be reluctant to send" questions out. Second, the extensive form for CDRS requests has been a deterrent and finally, because the service is so new, the staff has not yet incorporated CDRS into their figurative catalog of information resources.
5.
Joan Stahl, Smithsonian.Ms Stahl emphasized the need to "redefine and re-establish reference service." She identified several problems that electronic reference faces:
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  electronic reference requires software designed for "virtual reference" that is "affordable" and includes chat, e-mail, archiving, and statistical modules;
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  librarianship needs a "model for reference across all disciplines and types of libraries";
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  electronic resource licensing must allow resource sharing.

Every panelist was pleased with their CDRS experience. Reference collaboration was a benefit noted repeatedly. Collaborative efforts have been beneficial for other library initiatives such as interlibrary loan and cataloging, and a model for collaborative reference services will certainly develop if electronic reference initiatives such as CDRS continue to evolve and redefine library reference services.

Poster Sessions

There were several relevant poster sessions where I had the opportunity to discuss real-time online reference service implementation issues with librarians who have experience offering such services.

QandACafe

This poster described QandACafe, a "live, online reference service" provided by a consortium of Bay area public and academic libraries that share live reference services. They are using Virtual Reference Desk software from LSSI.

The service began in August 2000, and was designed to offer real-time, online reference services to libraries in the Bay area. Each member library is responsible for four hours per week on the "virtual reference" desk. The service is currently being offered from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Friday and is staffed by librarians. The librarian on duty receives and answers reference requests for the entire consortium. Each librarian completed a 1-day training session designed and organized by InfoPeople (http://www.infopeople.org).

North Carolina State University Libraries services to Off-Site users: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/libref/

Josh Boyer, Distance Learning Services Librarian, presented an interesting poster session describing NCSU's "Off-Site Services Room." NCSU Libraries created the Off-Site Services Room to better serve off-campus patrons via a dedicated, "separate service point." They began offering special services to off-campus patrons in Fall 1999. It has evolved into a sort of call center. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, the Off-Site Services Room is staffed by either a librarian or a library staff member. NCSU Libraries offer telephone, e-mail and real-time online reference services (using LSSI's Virtual Reference Desk software) from this location. E-mail reference questions are answered in between phone and real-time reference requests.

Mr Boyer identified what he feels are the important challenges to such a service point:

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Balancing chat, phone and e-mail questions.
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Balancing staffing between reference desk and off-site services.
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Learning to use chat software effectively, including:
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  adjusting to perceived differences in pace of communication with chat;
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  managing simultaneous chat questions;
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  lack of visual and verbal cues with chat;
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  technical problems with co-browsing using licensed databases.

Usage statistics and issues for the future development of the service were also noted in the session. For more information, please contact Josh Boyer directly at josh_boyer@ncsu.edu

The Chat Reference Experience at Carnegie Mellon University, http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm/ALA_2001_chat.html

Matt Marsteller and Paul Neuhaus presented a poster session concerning their library's "online reference service to remote users." In October 2000 they began using LivePerson software (http://www.liveperson.com/ ) to offer chat reference service. The service is offered from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday and is staffed by librarians and graduate students.

LivePerson software is capable of chat message exchange, but it does not offer co-browsing or session transcripts. Sharing database results is requires cutting and pasting the results in a chat message, rather than authenticated access and page pushing.

They do provide statistics on sessions and when a librarian is not available, LivePerson requests are sent to an e-mail account.

Carnegie Mellon advertised the service on their Libraries' home page, through campus-wide e-mail announcements, with flyers in the student newspaper and through liaison librarian contacts. Initial statistics show that the service averaged "60 to 80 chat session per month" during the regular semester.

Mr Marsteller and Mr Neuhaus identified several pros and cons after conducting a survey of their chat reference staff:

Pros:

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Provides immediate assistance for remote users.
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Good for distance education students.
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Since the patron is already online, he or she can implement the librarian's instruction right away.
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Better than e-mail for conducting a reference interview.
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Allows anonymity.
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Raises awareness of the library among user community.

Cons:

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Staffing the chat service without hiring additional personnel places greater demands upon already busy librarians.
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Librarians sometimes lack the necessary subject knowledge.
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Librarian receives no visual or auditory cues during the reference interview.
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Less interactive than in-person or phone reference.
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Typing takes time.
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Some patrons log off before librarian finishes answering the query.
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If communications are slow, users may just log off or leave before connecting.

Conference Wrap-up

There were other events that I wished to attend; however, I had to make some sacrifices. My belief that this ALA would be relatively easy to navigate was only partially correct I was able to focus on electronic reference service related activities and events, but the increasing number of such activities kept me running as much as in prior years. Although I was surprised that my refined focus did not have the impact I had presumed, the number of developments in electronic reference services inspired me. I spoke with many librarians who were sent by their institutions to investigate the pricing models and details associated with live-reference tools and service models. Electronic reference service, it seems, is the newest wave in library reference services. This California librarian is headed into surf! Join me!

Heather Tunender (tunender@lib.uci.edu) is the Electronic Reference Services Librarian at the University of California, Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California, USA.

Lisa Tatum and Ellen Purcell

Accessibility Sessions

Equal Access for All: Networking Adaptive Technology for Public Access - Program

Physically and visually impaired persons are often under-served when it comes to online public access. In this session, three experts in the use and design of adaptive networked products presented their approaches to equal access with emphasis on the visually impaired: Judith Dixon, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS); Everyl Yankee, Usability Product Manager, Bell & Howell and William Reed, Cleveland Public Library.

Judith Dixon works at the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) which through a national network of cooperating libraries, administers a free library program of Braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the USA. Judith introduced us to the Internet through her point of view. In other words, she showed us how the visually impaired surf the Web. There are many well-known software programs that the physically and visually impaired use. Judith spoke of JAWS and Window-Eyes. She uses the current version of Window-Eyes. This was our first encounter with this type of software as well as this type of user. We work at an automation center that does not come in contact with public users so this was a very good learning experience for us.

This is the first time we ever really had to think about the serious barrier to access that the physically and visually impaired have. Most all navigation on the Internet uses a mouse and since physically and visually impaired users are not able to use the mouse there must be a separate tool for navigation. The software that Judith uses has keyboard equivalents for most mouse chores. Judith's software also outputs speech and prints Braille displays. The speech reader reads the content and tells you where all the links, images and elements of a table are on a Web page. Her demonstration proved how sensitive a Web page developer should be when considering what should be on a Web page layout. Web developers should take into account the requirements defined in "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" (http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/ ).

Using her software, she searched SETI: Search Engine Technology Interface. It is a highly accessible search tool for that wide audience of people. She also searched the Web-BLND: NLS Online Union Catalog to find different types of information for the physically and visually impaired in accessible formats. For example, there are many items available on the Internet that can be downloaded and printed in Braille. Judith made the software look easy but we knew that it must have taken an extraordinary amount of patience and courage to learn it. She claims that 80 percent of what she wants from the Internet she gets. That is really good news! However, we believe that percentage could be higher if more people took into consideration how this kind of software works and if more people heeded the suggestions for Web site design. There are demo versions of Window-Eyes available on the Internet. You do not have to master the software to understand the physically and visually impaired perspective. We suggest you give it a try!

Everyl Yankee is the Usability Product Manager at Bell & Howell. Everyl addressed Web site design and its compatibility with screen readers and similar software used by the physically and visually impaired. Her company supports and produces ProQuest, an online information service providing summaries of articles from over 8,000 publications, with many in full-text, full image format. Federal guidelines outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act has driven some vendors to get involved with ensuring that their information is compatible with technology used by the physically and visually impaired.

Bell & Howell is proud to say that they are actively bridging the gap between their database developers and physically and visually impaired ProQuest users. Bell & Howell's Usability team talks to real users. They either contact them about how they are using the product or they actually watch users work with their products. They learn what works and what does not work with all different types of technology. They have been working with JAWS users to help make ProQuest better and more accessible to them. Can you imagine having a software developer turn off his or her monitor and use JAWS or Window-Eyes to test their latest enhancements?! Everyl told us that the best way to get vendors to pay more attention to designing their products to be compatible with adaptive technology is to contact them and volunteer to actively participate in their development process. She claims that vendors who are convinced that the insights they get from your physically and visually impaired users can help make their product more marketable will want to help.

William (Will) Reed gave an overview of how adaptive technology was implemented and is now supported at the Cleveland Public Library. Before the program was put into place, the hardware had to be purchased. Will claims that an effective suite of adaptive technology products can be purchased for under $7,500. Some of the hardware that the Cleveland Public Library purchased was: screen magnifiers and closed circuit TVs, screen readers for the computers, text readers for printed text, and Braille translators. Cleveland Public Library's program has three goals for their program. First, is to facilitate accessibility. Will reminded us that a library's automation department is primarily responsible for the security of the computer network, not accessibility. Therefore, including the securing of hardware and software, there should be a specific person who is responsible for the adaptive technology. This person should be able to install, run and maintain the hardware and software. Will's library is lucky enough to be able to have a specific person it is Will himself. His duties include: demonstrations, patron and staff training, writing instructions, and providing technical assistance and trouble-shooting on the adaptive technology. Cleveland Public Library has made sure that there are special workstations for physically and visually impaired patrons and that the staff is trained and comfortable with helping those patrons with the technology.

This leads to the second objective, to educate, train and tutor library patrons and staff on the adaptive technology. Will has helped set up a system of training and supporting the Cleveland Public Library staff so that they can attend demonstrations, obtain written instruction and reference binders as well as learn the basic operations of the software programs used by the physically and visually impaired.

The third objective is to promote adaptive technology to the community. Cleveland Public Library distributes newsletters and posts flyers to all of the branch libraries, patrons, community groups and leaders and agencies that serve physically and visually impaired persons. They provide a library Web site with information about their equipment and services as well as contact information. The Cleveland Public Library even sponsors events and activities that introduce adaptive technology to the community. They recently had a Louis Braille Birthday Party. Their program is very successful. Will told of the challenges of training reluctant library staff and patrons but he claims that persistence, patience, staying informed of their needs and tailoring the training to those needs is the foundation of their success.

Assistive Technologies: The Real Issues Behind Access - Program

The evolution of laws that govern the way organizations such as libraries handle their physically and visually impaired patrons has made much progress. However, there are still many issues that linger behind due to the rapid advance of technology. Sometimes the assistive technology that enables access to computers and the Internet cannot keep up with the advances. Five speakers presented their experiences with these very real issues:

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Sarah Hawthorne, Senior Attorney, US Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights.
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Carl Brown, Director, High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges.
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Marcia Norris, Training Specialist/Instructor, High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges.
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Tebzeera Dosu, Director of Library Services at Butte College.
•
Johanna Bowen, Director, Library/Learning Resources Center, Cabrillo College Library.

Sarah Hawthorne spoke briefly about two jurisdictional basis of Federal Law. First, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which spells out rules that must be followed if your entity receives federal funding. Second, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which covers three aspects of accessibility - employers, public entities and private entities. She focused mainly on the sections that cover the way public entities, especially libraries, deal with persons with disabilities and she gave examples and suggestions on the kinds of accommodations that might be requested of a library. Many times it only requires a change in policy such as allowing a seeing-eye dog in the building or spacing the aisles and tables accordingly. Sometimes the requests are a bit more costly such as providing information in an alternative format or purchasing technologies that meet specific needs. Sarah did say that not all requests have to be accommodated. A public entity can deny a request if there is a comparable, equally effective alternative solution; or if it causes fundamental alteration of the operation of the entity, if the accommodation has to do with assisting something of a personal nature (like eating); and if it causes an undue burden administratively an financially (however, this has tough guidelines for documentation).

Sarah also spoke about how the courts have held that a public entity violates its obligations under the ADA when it responds to individual requests for accommodation on an ad hoc basis. Her office suggests that the best way to establish a comprehensive policy is to consult with the disability community at large.

Carl Brown gave an overview of the center's objective. The High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges is a training and support facility for community college faculty and staff in the use of assistive and instructional computer technologies. The Center supports Assistive Computer Technology programs at all of the California community colleges. Their goal is to meet and exceed the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide equal access to all college resources for students with disabilities. These resources include all the campus computing labs, libraries (including the OPACs), multimedia and any other information resources. This center started out 14 years ago as a project with a small group of students with disabilities that wanted to use computers. It has evolved into a center that supports 114 California community colleges with more than 7,000 students with disabilities.

Carl was happy to announce a new undertaking of the center. It also supports an Alternate Text Production Center which produces electronic text, Braille, large print and tactile graphics using state of the art technology for the California community colleges. The center adheres to guidelines and standards adopted for producing instructional materials and other printed materials in alternate media for disabled students under California law. The High Tech Center Training Unit keeps up with assistive technology by testing and evaluating new and emerging technologies of potential benefit to persons with disabilities.

Marcia Norris reported on some specific issues concerning assistive technology and why training is very important. She discussed some different kinds of assistive technologies that allow persons with disabilities to use a computer effectively, such as screen reader, screen magnifiers, keyboard and mouse modifications and alternatives. Marcia spoke about using this technology to access library Web sites, OPACs, collections and workstations. She reported that most of the technology works well in the Windows environment. She added that the Web based types of access posed the most barriers to efficient access.

Most Web designs do not follow any universal design principles. This, she claims, is very hard for screen reader access. The best way to test if your Web site is a serious barrier to information access is the SWAT test (Simple Web Access Test). It involves turning off the images and not using the mouse. Marcia demonstrated this by visiting some of the California community colleges library OPACs using the screen reader JAWS. This was the best way to understand what accessibility is in a library context. She gave some basic design suggestions collected by librarians to improve your library's Web site.

Some of those examples included using radio buttons and Bobby (http://www.cast.org/bobby). Bobby is a free service provided by CAST to help Web page authors identify and repair significant barriers to access by individuals with disabilities. She also suggested some basic access tips such as using "alt" tags, using meaningful text for links, creating tables with care, and using single column text. Marcia talked about workstation accessibility for those who are unable to use the keyboard, persons with low vision, persons who are blind as well as persons who have learning disabilities. Marcia certainly demonstrated how important and successful the training is at the High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges.

After attending a workshop given by the High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges, Tebzeera Dosu was inspired to try some new things. She briefly spoke of how she took to practice some of the issues she learned from the workshop. One of the projects in her library was to design units with some basic assistive technologies. She and staff at her library learned about some specialized technologies and then set them up. They experimented with technologies such as screen readers and screen magnifiers as well as headsets and tape recorders. They try very hard to be proactive in their approach and the results have made their project much better. For example, to better serve the needs of their particular students with disabilities they confer with those students themselves. Specifically, when their library upgrades a particular program they advertise and encourage the students about the upgrade. They also try to include students with disabilities during preview periods of databases. The library staff also have assignments to use the programs used by the students with disabilities. Tebzeera attests to the fact that attending the workshops and using proactive approaches really make a difference in the support for disabled students at California community colleges.

Johanna Bowen reiterated the fact that technology sometimes presents the biggest barriers to accessibility for disabled students. Johanna believes that librarians should be the advocates for accessibility. Librarians should be some of the loudest voices requesting accessible Web pages by pressing for the concepts behind universal design and advertising the use of Bobby (http://www.cast.org/bobby) which, as mentioned earlier, helps Web page authors identify and repair significant barriers to access by individuals with disabilities. Librarians should also be advocates for public terminals with large monitors, enabled assistive software and other tools that support access for persons with disabilities. Librarians should actively monitor vendor compliance as well. Johanna suggests that adding a remark about users with special needs in your library's mission statement is a wonderful way to get started. She would like this idea to carry across campus to computer labs, disabled student services, instructional technology departments, faculty senates and unions.

Accessibility Pavilion - Exhibit Floor 4100 Aisle

The Accessibility Pavilion provided a wonderful opportunity to experience the emerging technologies available today for people with varying special needs. Its location on the exhibit floor made it an easy find and pulled together vendors, organizations, and services in one convenient area. What a great way to find out about the latest in voice output and voice input, screen readers, and other products available and affordable in today's market. In addition you could explore some low tech and no tech options. These products certainly expand intellectual freedom by enabling intellectual access for all. You may have thought some of these products were years away or never thought of them at all. There are hardware and software solutions to problems you may not have thought of yet, but will soon need to.

Here is a sample of services and vendors we discovered in our visit. The National Federation of the Blind provides information to the many services available to the blind in our communities. Some examples are Social Security benefits, the library resources, rehabilitation, employment, scholarships, and technological products and aids. They publish a monthly magazine, The Braille Monitor in print, on cassette, and on disc. They recently created the Newsline for the Blind^® Network which provides access to the information in national and local newspapers. With simply a touch-tone telephone, anyone can access the Newsline^®system. Readers can choose from today's paper, yesterday's paper and the Sunday paper, in addition to the section and article they wish to read.

IBM is introducing the new Home Page Reader version 3.0 for Windows. With the touch of a key or click of a mouse, this software brings the world of the Internet to blind and low vision users. A multilingual speech synthesizer is used to speak aloud Web-based information just as it appears on the computer screen.

Software that works with Windows, JAWS^® (Job Access With Speech), provides speech technology to access applications and the Internet. It also utilizes an integrated voice synthesizer and your computer's sound card to output the information on your computer screen to the speakers. In addition, JAWS outputs to refreshable Braille displays. This device converts text characters from a computer screen into Braille on a display by pins that are raised and lowered in combinations to form Braille characters.

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) is a national nonprofit organization that provides recorded and computerized textbooks at all academic levels to people who cannot read standard print.

Wizcom Technologies, Inc. has created a pen to capture and read printed text and data with the ease of using a highlighter. You can scan and store printed information and transfer the data to your PC, laptop, PDA, or text enabled cellular phone. The QuickLine Pen™ is lightweight, small, convenient and simple to use. The Reading PenII allows you to scan printed text, display in large characters, hear the words read aloud, and see the word and definition read aloud.

The MicroReader^® by Vision Technology, Inc. reads microcards or microfiche, including zoom magnification, auto-focus and easy one touch print capability.

The American Foundation for the Blind is a nationally recognized organization providing information about blindness and low vision. It publishes the AFB Directory of Services, the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, AccessWorld, and AFP Press publications. It is a great source for community listings, such as job postings, events and an accessible message board.

A unique system was developed in the early 1980s to teach Braille. A father trying to teach his son Braille, transformed Lego building blocks into Braille cells. Today Tack Tiles^® Braille Systems provides an easy and effective way to learn Braille for both children and adults.

Lisa Tatum fcllat@nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu) and Ellen Purcell, (fclecp@nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu)are coordinators for Computer Applications at the Florida Center for Library Automation, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

Peter Murray

Open URLs and Link Servers

Silver Bullet? Open URL and Link Servers (SFX, Openly Jake) Take Aim at the Appropriate Copy Program

To a packed audience, ALA attendees learned about making the connection to the best copy of an article at the MARS (Machine-Assisted Reference Section) session "Silver Bullet? OpenURL and Link Servers (SFX, Openly Jake) Take Aim at the Appropriate Copy." Two presenters discussed the state-of-the-art ways to accomplish this goal: Eric Hellman, founder and President of Openly Informatics, and Margery Tibbetts, California Digital Library. George Porter from the California Institute of Technology demonstrated the integration of SFX with Web of Science.

Eric Hellman's talk was entitled "OpenURL: 1-click access to everything." He started by describing the goal of link servers: from indexing services the user should be one click away to the full text of the article. What users don't want is to have to go to the e-journal section of the library and navigate to the issue. Since libraries can receive the full text of articles from many sources, the challenge is connect the user to the "correct" source. Or, as Eric said, "one click access to the stuff you've paid for!"

The first key component is the OpenURL standard. OpenURL is like a call number: it contains the details of the items along with the instructions of how to get to it. OpenURL is a standard in development by National Information Standards Organization (NISO) (http://www.niso.org/commitax.html).

The second component is a link server running in the library. The link server knows about the resources to which the library has access and how to connect to those resources. The link server receives an OpenURL from a library service (data "inbound" to the link server), makes a decision as to the appropriate resource, and directs the user to that resource (data "outbound" from the link server).

Eric went on to describe "1cate for Jake" (formerly called "Openly Jake"), an open-source link server from Openly Informatics (http://www.openly.com/1cate/ ). Using "1cate for Jake", a library can build their own link server database and start redirecting users to journal articles.

So what works with OpenURLs today? Eric broke this question down into three categories. First, the link servers; there are two available, SFX from ExLibris and Openly Jake from Openly Informatics. The second category is systems generating OpenURLs inbound to a link server. In this category Eric listed the hooks-to-holdings features in Ebsco, ProQuest, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, and others that generate simple, practical OpenURLs. In the last category, outbound references from the link server, Eric listed publishers such as Ideal, Springer, Swets-Blackwell, Catchword, Gale, Ovid, American Institute of Physics, Highwire, and others. Also in the outbound category is CrossRef DOI retrieval, although it requires a $500 membership and a plug-in from Openly.

How can libraries help? Eric listed three ways. First, when negotiating with vendors, demand OpenURL be supported in links to and from the vendor's system. Next, install and use a link server in the library, and last, support NISO as it leads the effort to standardize effort to package bibliographic information in URLs.

The next speaker at the presentation was Margery Tibbetts from the California Digital Library (CDL). Margery gave an overview of context-sensitive linking in the CDL from 1996-2001. After a brief introduction to the California Digital Library, Margery described the CDL's problem: with about a dozen hosted databases and journal content from 18 publishers or providers, how can the CDL incorporate the e-journal content that the CDL is purchasing into the display of A&I citations?

The CDL chose to create a database to support dynamic linking. For digital content to which the CDL subscribed, the database held elements such as ISSN, journal title, the beginning and ending date of electronic publication, the beginning volume and issue of electronic access, and an algorithm describing how to construct URLs into the publisher's system for article-level retrieval.

From the user's perspective, for each article found in a search is performed in a CDL-hosted database, the ISSN of the journal is checked against the linking database. If an ISSN match is found, the system verifies that the publication date, volume and issue are valid. The system then creates a URL to the full text using the algorithm stored in the database. That URL is added to the MARC record built by the CDL Z39.50 server. The link is then available to the user viewing the article citation.

Although this scheme is successful, several problems have been encountered. First, the linking elements are different for each publisher and the algorithms for generating links vary from publisher to publisher. The publisher without warning also changes the linking algorithms, which breaks access for everyone until a new algorithm can be constructed. The CDL has also discovered that articles can appear in indexing and abstracting databases before the text is available on the publisher's site.

Development in the area of content linking continues at the CDL. The system is planning on moving to digital certificates for access control to databases and content. They are also going to address the "appropriate copy" issue, a problem enhanced by the fact that the same article can be available from multiple sources and the level of subscription by CDL institutions varies. The CDL is also exploring the use of the CrossRef system to facilitate linking to publishers using DOIs.

A major transition has also begun at the CDL as a whole. The MELVYL catalog and periodicals databases are migrating to ExLibris Aleph. At the same time, locally mounted index and abstract databases are moving to vendor-supported systems. The locally written linking database is moving to SFX, and staff are working to get the level of linking knowledge down to the article level imbedded into the SFX product. (One can only go as far as the table of contents level right now for some publishers.)

The last speaker of the session, George Porter from the California Institute of Technology, gave a demonstration of SFX using Web of Science. Caltech staff wrote the Web of Science modifications, but they will be offered by ISI to other customers.

As with all SFX configurations, the links and services offered are controlled by library. The links that display to the user depend on the data in the record the full text option may be offered for one article but not for another. Other links can include searching the library catalog or searching the Web, links to cited author, links to cited work, or a link to a document delivery service.

There was time for questions to the speaker panel at the end of the session. One question was about the how ISSNs for print editions of journals in index and abstract databases affects linking to online content. Margery stated that in her experience most publishers resolve the print ISSN at this time, so this is not a big issue. But it could become an issue in the future.

Another question asked about SFX-enabled products other than Web of Science. George reported that the Caltech Library System started with Web of Science because it was loaded locally, but that they are working with other vendors now. Margery said that the CDL was working with other library vendors as well, and that there is a link to index and abstract services on the SFX Web site.

The speaker's presentations as well as links to other related sites can be found at: http://www.lib.utah.edu/genref/lkeiter/hot_topics.htm

Peter Murray (PMurray@law.uconn.edu) is the Computer Services Librarian at the University of Connecticut Law School, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

Margaret Tapper

ALA Exhibits Highlights New Technology in the Library

Also at ALA, I spent some time exploring the exhibits and talking to various vendors about new technologies they were showcasing. I focused on some interesting applications and extensions of existing technology. These technologies for the most part are an expansion of technology used in other industries that are being extended to the library world. In the second part, I will discuss innovations and new directions taken by Integrated Library Systems vendors.

Uses of Existing Technology for Extending Library OPAC Services

The first interesting innovation involves an application that utilizes "text to voice" and "voice to text." The concept of having a library user automatically contacted via phone for notification of overdue notices and holds ready for pickup has been around for a while ("text to voice"). The interesting new twist was software that not only translated text to voice, but also translated voice to text. The use of voice to text technology would allow the library user to communicate with the ILS via telephone (voice) and perform tasks such as renewing items checked out, placing holds, making queries about their library account for things such as checked out to them. This software was originally designed for use in the banking industry. Additional information can be found at: http://www.talkingtech.com

The next interesting technology involved the use of a PDA (personal digital assistant). As prices have dropped, PDAs have become more popular and more prevalent. There were a couple of vendors demonstrating an interesting PDA application that combined a PDA with a barcode scanner. This hardware could be used to scan barcodes in the collection and transfer them via the cradle (the attachment to the PC that comes with the PDA and allows communication/synchronization between the PC and the PDA). The file created is a delimited format and could be transmitted to the library system as an inventory/shelf report.

Another use of hand-held computing devices would allow patrons with Internet-enabled cell phones or PDAs to search the OPAC, browse titles, and peruse bib records or item lists. The handheld device becomes a searching tool with which users can issue OPAC searches from anywhere. This wireless OPAC frees users from the desktop. Searches can be issued from anywhere, anytime. For more information, see: http://www.iii.com/html/news/n_press6-16.shtml#article

The final interesting application of technology that has been used in another venue is real-time, interactive online help using a form of chat. This technology has been used by many of the major online vendors to offer interactive real-time help from their Web site. This service is a natural expansion of a service already offered in many libraries that allow communication with a librarian via e-mail. There were at least two vendors offering applications of this technology in library settings. Using this technology, a visitor to the library's Web site could click on a link and be connected to a librarian who could provide interactive and context-sensitive help. In addition, the "conversation" could be extended to allow the user to surrender control of his/her browser and be guided to relevant information and/or Web sites.

New Directions for OPACs

One of my goals was to focus on directions library automation vendors are taking with OPACs. One clear direction is to make the OPAC everything to the user by adding services such as Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The trend offered by several library automation vendors is the expansion of the capabilities of the OPAC. One expanded OPAC service gives a user the ability to search across resources (meta-searching) and the other is to enhance search results by providing context-sensitive links to other related information sources (content-enrichment).

The meta-searching concept allows an OPAC user to query a variety of resources with a single search. The library defines these resources and the authentication needed to access them. The resources could be OPACs, including the local OPAC, an abstract or a full-text database, electronic journals, a local database or information source, or selected Web sites. In most cases, the user only needs to authenticate once and the authentication is passed on to the resources requiring authentication. Connections to these external resources can be made in a couple of different ways: using the Z39.50 protocol or using the HTTP protocol. A user could search for terms such as "california water" in several OPACs, a group of online journals, etc. The results would display and let the user select which ones to pursue. Depending on the sophistication of the software, a user could request an item locally or remotely.

Content-enrichment of the OPAC provides linking from a result screen to relevant external resources such as online bookstores, content-enrichment vendor sites, and/or encyclopedias. These work by offering additional links (defined by the library) to a bibliographic record or search result screen. Using this technology, a user could search for a title and be presented with a result screen that has links to several resources such as the table of contents, an online bookstore, a site that has more information about the works of the author, etc.

Margaret Tapper(mmtapper@lib.uci.edu) is a Programmer Analyst at the University of California, Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California, USA.

American Library Association Annual Conference

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