How to use Web OPAC to facilitate selection, ordering and collection

assessing functions :the HKBU Library experience

LI Yiu On

Systems Librarian

Hong Kong Baptist University Library yoli@hkbu.edu.hk

Second Annual Hong Kong INNOPAC User Group Meeting 10 December, 2001

Chinese University of Hong Kong

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Outlines

I. Introduction

II. Traditional Acquisitions Work Flow

III. A New Automatic and Systematic Approach for New Book Selection and Ordering

IV. Automatic Collection Assessing Function

I. Introduction

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Our Project Aim

Routine Acquisitions Works -- review/selecting new items, checking duplicates against OPAC, keying in new records to library system

Existing Traditional Approach – manual, unorganized, repetitive data inputting

Our Aim -- to advocate a new automatic and systematic approach to replace the existing traditional manual approach

II. Traditional Acquisitions Work Flow

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3 main acquisitions process

Reviewing / Selecting

Checking duplicates

Keying in new records

Selectors

Acquisitions staff

Acquisitions staff

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Reviewing & selecting (1)

1. Selectors in HKBU, selectors comprised a team of 40 faculty members from

various departments/programs they are responsible to review and select items from the new title lists

supplied by book vendors

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Reviewing & selecting (2)

2. New titles lists two major book vendors:

English books --> YBP: approval slips Chinese books --> Man Sing ( 文星 ): Excel file

YBP approval slips are arranged by department/program fund codes Man Sing title lists are arranged by broad subject areas supplied monthly

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Reviewing & selecting (3)

Problems of routing approval slips and title lists a long routing time before returning Acquisition for

ordering

some lists are missing in the process of routing

department/program based routing process is problematic and unsatisfactory when interdisciplinary titles are involved

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Reviewing & selecting (4)

Some common questions asked in the selection process How many books written by a author under review?

How many books in this series did the library acquired?

How many books of the same subject areas are acquired?

Where to an answer to the above questions Check OPAC

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Check Duplicates

Selected lists return to Acquisitions section Before placing order, Acquisitions staff are

responsible for removing duplicate items from selected by checking against OPAC

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Keying in New Order Records

After all duplicate items are removed, Acquisitions staff are responsible for keying in new bibliographic and order records to Innopac system (OPAC)

Data include: bibliographic data in vendor supplied new list and;

Selector’s name, and dept fund code

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Center of 3 main acquisitions process

If we study the 3 main acquisitions process carefully: Selecting and review

Check duplicates

Keying in new bib and order records

we will discover that OPAC is the center of these activities

However, these 3 activities in the traditional approach are isolated and cannot establish an organic relationship among them and OPAC

OPAC

Reviewing & Selecting

Check duplicates

Keying new bib & order records

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Basic characteristics of traditional acquisitions workflow (1)

Manual routing new title list

data entry

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Basic characteristics of traditional acquisitions workflow (2)

Inorganic and redundant data each process is individual and discontinued

data entered in one process cannot be used by the followed process selectors have to key in OPAC author/title searching for

collection assessment

acquisition staff have to key in bibliographic data for duplicate checking

acquisition staff have to key in selector’s name and fund in the order record

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Disadvantages of traditional acquisitions workflow

Slow new title list routing

manual data inputting

Repetitive data input data inconsistencies --> inaccurate

waste manpower and time

III. A New Automatic and Systematic Approach to

New Book Selection and Ordering

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3 new acquisitions process

Reviewing / Selecting

Checking duplicates

Keying in new records

Online Selection From

Automatic duplicate checking program

Automatic MARC conversion program

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System Requirements

Software Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP)

Microsoft Visual FoxPro

Hardware Windows NT

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Online Selection Form (1)

Book lists at this stage include YBP approval slip and Man Sing title list

Contains two rounds first round by dept/program fund code posted for two

weeks

unselected items go to second round for multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary selection

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Online Selection Form (2)

Built-in relationship with OPAC (see Selection Critique) A selector has the capability of checking a particular title,

through HTML links, against the OPAC in the following fields: author, title, series, DDC, ISBN, and subject headings

The interface thus assists the selectors in developing a heuristic awareness of the Library’s collection

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Automatic Duplicate Checking Program (1)

Automatically check against OPAC on two fields ISBN

author-title keyword searching

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Automatic Duplicate Checking Program (2)

An example: a book entitled by Art Across Time by Laurie Schneider Adams with ISBN 0072449977

Through the ASP program, the following two links are generated: http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk/search/i?

SEARCH=0072449977

http://hkbulib.hkbu.edu.hk/search/X?SEARCH=au%3A+Laurie+Schneider+and+ti%3AArt+Across+Time+&searchscope=5&SORT=D&l=&m=&p=&b=&Da=&Db=

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Automatic Duplicate Checking Program (3)

The ASP program will check the returned Web OPAC HTML page

Identify as non-duplicate item if the HTML page contains “NO ENTRY FOUND” for author-title keyword searching

“NO MATCHES FOUND” for ISBN searching

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Automatic MARC Conversion Program

Duplicate records are deleted Selected titles are automatically converted to create

MARC format bibliographic and order records and uploaded to Innopac system directly

Note: all the bib and order record data are either supplied by book vendors or keying in by the selectors

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Basic characteristics of new acquisitions workflow

Multi-processing printed book list can be read by one person while online

selection form can be used by many people simultaneously

Organic each process activity is inter-related and has a built-in

relationship with OPAC

data entered in one process can be used by the followed process

Automatic save manpower and time from keying in redundant data

IV. Automatic Collection Assessing Function

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Reasons for Collection Assessment (1)

Sun Tzu, the famous Chinese military philosopher:

“So it said that if you know both the enemy and yourself, you will fight a hundred battles without danger of defeat;

if you are ignorant of the enemy but only know yourselves, your chances of winning and losing are equal;

if you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will certainly be defeated in every battle.”

-- Art of War: Offensive Strategy, 21

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Reasons for Collection Assessment (2)

孫子 << 謀 攻 篇 >>:

“ 知 彼 知 已 者﹐ 百 戰 不 殆 ﹔不 知 彼 而 知 已﹐ 一 胜 一 負﹔ 不 知 彼﹐ 不 知 已﹐ 每 戰 必 殆﹒“

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Reasons for Collection Assessment (3)

Sun Tzu’s principle is a rule for collection development. The question is how to put forward his principle in operation

An effective and balanced collection development policy must be build on a strategy that we can assess our library collection on a comprehensive and periodically basis

The operation of this principle in computer age is that we can design a computer program to evaluate the strength and weakness of library collection automatically and efficiently

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Check against HKBU Library Web OPAC

1. Compare the books on logic in CUHK Library with the HKBU Library

2. Searching and downloading of titles in specific subject areas from anther Innopac library Web OPAC LC call number = bc and published between 1989 and 1999 and language = “English”

199 records found stored in end note format

3. Use the Automatic Assessing Function to check against the titles in the HKBU Web OPAC to determine which are included or missing from the HKBU holdings

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Checking Another Library Web OPAC

By the same token, it allows the HKBU Library to assess its own collection strength in a particular area by outputting a file for checking against the collection of another library using Innopac Web OPAC

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Conclusion

Our working assumptions for new book selection, ordering, and collection assessing functions: automatic --> reduce manual input error

systematic --> data input in one process can be used by the followed process

organic --> OPAC always serves as the center of all activities

Advantages efficient, reduce cost, accurate