CD ROM to WWW migration

[Julie Castelluzzo]

At our library we have a CD-ROM LAN for in-library use only, with a 21
disc capacity (NetWare 4.10 with SCSI Express, DOS/Win 3.x/Win95 clients, 
soon to all be Win95 clients). It is very reliable. I think the server has
actually gone down only twice in over 2 years, once because someone blew a
fuse and the other time is a complete mystery. We've had occasional
problems with individual discs, but this happens only about once every 2-3
months. I think that the time I spend on LAN maintenance is well worth the
wonderful performance we've seen using the discs.

Over the past year, we have begun to offer campuswide access to some
web-based databases, for 2 basic reasons: 
1. It is much easier to offer campuswide and remote access to a database
on the web than it is using a CD-ROM 
2. It gives our users access to some basic research sources when the
library is closed.
(Also, moving one database to the web will free up about 10 drives in the
towers for other things.)

However, we do not plan to migrate completely to the web in the
foreseeable future.  Even though we have a fast Internet connection on
campus, there are too many factors which do sometimes slow down access.
Also, there are some databases on the LAN which are just not available on
the web, and probably will never be.  On the other hand, I have
recommended that we not increase the number of networked drives beyond
what we currently have. 

Julie Castelluzzo          juliec at cooper.edu
Electronic Services Librarian
The Cooper Union Library   www.cooper.edu/facilities/library/library.html