Is Your Library Providing Services on the Internet?

[Helen Flynn]

This announcement has been posted on a number of bulletin boards 
and mailing lists. Please excuse any duplication you may encounter.

Thursday, February 22, 1996
  

To Our Colleagues in 
Libraries and Information Centers 
Around the World.


Dear Colleagues:
 
Is Your Library Providing Services on the Internet?

If your library is currently offering or will shortly be offering "real"
library services over the Internet, we would like to know about it.  We
will define what "real library services" means in a minute, but first a
few introductions are in order. 

We are Steve Coffman, Director of FYI Information Services at the County
of Los Angeles Public Library, and Cindy Kehoe, Director of Information
Researchers at the School of Library and Information Science at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Over the next few months, the
two of us and our staffs will be working hard to compile the first
directory of real library services available on the Internet.  The
directory will be published by the American Library Association, ALA
Editions later this Fall.  We will provide more detailed publication
information (like, the exact title and price) when it becomes available. 

The purpose of the Directory is to help some of those 30 million patrons
(plus or minus a few million) out there on the "Net" find their way to
libraries where they can actually request copies of articles, check out
books, order research projects, or get their reference questions answered
by a real human being not a FAQ.  These services may be offered for free
as with the reference services available from the Internet Public Library,
or for a fee, as with the services available from FYI, Information
Researchers, or the Corporate Information Services at New York Public
Library and hundreds of others.  However, whether fee or free, all
services offered must be available to the general public and not just
restricted to the library'’s own patrons, students, staff, faculty, or
other local clientele.  Your connection to the Internet may be anything
from a simple email address where you can receive requests to a
full-fledged Web site complete with order forms.  We will even include
libraries that are offering these services but have not yet made them
available over the Internet...as long as they are otherwise qualified for
the Directory (please see Qualifications Questionnaire, below).  Finally,
this is an international directory, and libraries outside the US are
particularly encouraged to apply. 

If your library would like to be included in the Directory, please
complete the brief questionnaire below, and then email, fax or mail it
back to us at any of the addresses listed at the end of this message. 
That'’s all there is to it; if we have any questions, or need further
information, we will get in touch with you.  Later on this Spring we will
be launching a Web site for the Directory, where you will be able to
register your services right online; stay tuned for further information
and the URL.  Please feel free to contact us at 1- 800-582-1093 or
310-868-4003 (voice), 310-868-4065 fax or coffman at cerf.net (Internet), if
you have any questions, concerns, or simply need more information.  We
look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely, 

Steve Coffman, Director FYI 
County of Los Angeles Public Library

Cindy Kehoe, Director
Information Researchers
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


*****************************************************************************

Questionnaire for the Directory of Library Services on the Internet

(If you would rather work with a print copy of this form, just give us a
call at 1-800-582-1093 and we will fax you one right away). 

 
Qualifications
 
Please answer the few questions below to determine whether your library is 
qualified for inclusion in the directory.

A.   Are you affiliated with a library or archive? 

 ___ Yes     ____No

The directory is limited to libraries and archives or services affiliated
with libraries or archives only. A library is an institution with a
significant collection of books and periodicals and an archive is defined
as an institution with a significant collection of historical and or
research materials.  If you are a private information broker or commercial
research company, we suggest that you get in touch with the Burwell
Directory of Information Brokers at 713- 537-9051. 
 

B.  Does your library offer any of the following services?

You must offer at least one of these services and offer them to the
general public to be included in the directory. 
 
 ___Document Delivery (rapid delivery of articles, etc. directly to the patron)
 ___Print or Traditional Library Research Services
 ___Online or Computer-Assisted Research Services
 ___Book Loans
 ___Reference Assistance


C.  Does your library offer these services to the general public? 

 ___ Yes     ____No

To be included in the directory, your services must be available to the
general public, not just your own patrons or other libraries.  The general
public means anybody who wants to use them (or in the case of fee-based
services, purchase them) regardless of their affiliation with your
institution or where they happen to live.  You may choose to limit book
loans to foreign countries, or impose other reasonable restrictions on
your service, as long as you note such restrictions in your entry. 
 
If you answered these three questions correctly, congratulations your
library qualifies for the directory. Please complete the remainder of this
brief survey form and return it to us at any of the addresses listed as
quickly as possible.  If your library does not currently qualify, please
keep us in mind, and if your library does decide to implement these
services, we would be happy to include you in future editions of the
directory. 



2. Contact Information.  

Service Name		
Library		
Address		
City, St.  Zip		
Country		
Contact Name		
Number of Staff		
Year Founded
Languages		
Phone
Phone 2		
Fax		
Internet:  URL (for WWW page)		
Internet: Telnet (for library catalog)
Email		
Library Codes  (bibliographic codes)		

 
3. Types of Services Offered.  

Check all that apply, and provide turnaround and price (where applicable)
for all services offered.  If this is a fee-based service, please indicate
fee-ranges in the spaces provided.  If it is a free service, just check
the services available and indicate "No Charge" or "N/C". 
 
Book Loans	
___from this library only		 
___will obtain from any source		
	Fastest Rush turnaround:		Price:
	Regular turnaround:			Price:		
Article Copies	                	
___from this library only		
___will obtain from any source
	Fastest Rush turnaround:		Price:
	Regular turnaround:			Price:		
Research Services
___Manual / print research	
___Database searching	
	research hourly rates exclusive of database charges and costs
	Fastest Rush turnaround:		Price:
	Regular turnaround:			Price:	
Other (describe)
	
Payment Methods:
___Cash
___Credit Cards
___Invoice
___Currencies Accepted

Delivery Options
___Mail
___Fax
___Courier
___Internet



4. Description Of Service

Briefly describe your service and your library --100 words max.

Number of Books

Number of Periodicals:   

Description of Library and Service:



















5. Subject Specialties

List up to 5 major subject specialties for your service.










That'’s all folks, now all you have to do is...

Complete no later than March 8, 1996 and return to: 
 
FYI, County of Los Angeles Public Library
12350 Imperial Highway, Norwalk, CA  USA 90650
FAX  310-868-4065,  voice 1-800-582-1093 or 310-868-4003
Internet E-mail:  coffman at cerf.net