Selection and Implementation of a Digital Management Software Solution: A Public Library

Experience

OLA Session 1216

Greg Smith,

Manager Systems & Technical Services

David Bott,

Manager Information Technology & Networks

St. Catharines Public Library

Purpose of Presentation

Learn from our experience– Digital collection choice– Project path– Software selection process– Software/Hardware set-up & implementation– Current and future projects

Digitization Project Purpose

• Develop and provide access to digital collections

Choice of Collection to Digitize

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta Held in St. Catharines since 1882 Premier rowing regatta in North America 100 year celebration in 2003 of

– St. Catharines Rowing Club – Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen regatta sponsorship of

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta

Canadian Henley Regatta Trophies On display at the St. Catharines

Public Library

Project Proposal

– “Virtual Museum” of the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta

Significance to: – the local community – Local, Ontario, Canadian and international rowing community

Small manageable project – 72 trophies– Henley race winners– Henley programs– Henley paraphernalia

Information Sources

– Local Information sources Library

– Trophy information– Newspapers on microfilm – Special Collections– Regatta Programs – Special Collections

Museum– Regatta Programs– Photographs– Posters– Medals– Etc.

Funding

External Financial Resources– Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Recreation: Library Strategic

Development Fund: Submitted Grant Application in 2001

– Virtual Museum of Royal Canadian Henley Regatta Awarded Grant in May 2002

Internal Financial Resources– Limited to in-kind contributions, such as hardware and staff

time: 2 full-time staff persons Internet connection – 2 Mbps Hardware (servers, desktop PCs, scanners, etc.)

Partnerships

St. Catharines Museum– Regatta artifacts bequeathed to the museum

Rowing Canada– The trophies and regatta programs are the property of

Rowing Canada

Preliminary Research

What products are available? What are other organizations (libraries, museums,

corporations) using? Trade publications Internet research

Preliminary Research (cont’d)

In-house vs. Commercial Solution In-house

– Advantages Small expenditure on software Customizable

– Disadvantages Staff time Centered on staff expertise Internal maintenance costs & responsibilities

Preliminary Research (cont’d)

Commercial – Advantages

Minimum staff resources and time to setup and implement. Available expert staff and user community. Increased functionality Regular upgrades and maintenance

– Disadvantages High purchase price Annual maintenance fees

Preliminary Research (cont’d)

Evaluating Commercial Vendors Compiled list of vendors Submitted survey questions to vendors Graded vendor responses on a 1 – 5 scale Tabulated and Compared results

Vendor Survey

Vendor Survey

Target Market for Vendor Products– Public, academic, school & special libraries– Museums– Public & private organizations

Vendor Survey (cont’d)

Cost – Prices ranged from $1,600 – $70,000– Annual Maintenance costs from $0 - $20,000

Vendor Survey (cont’d)

Web-enabled Public access via internet Data entry via internet

Easy search and sort functions Integrate with other ILS portal interfaces Supports meta-tag schemas like “Dublin Core” Full-text index

Vendor Survey (cont’d)

Scaleable– Relational– Support for multiple databases

Henley, BMD, Special Collections, etc.

Provides “thumbnail” association with digital images in database.

Copyright management:– Attaches copyright statements to digital images and tracks

usage for owned and licensed digital materials

Vendor Survey (cont’d)

– Customizable– Support for various file types

Images (.jpg, .bmp, .tiff, etc.) Text documents (.txt, .pdf, .doc, etc.)

– Hardware/Software requirements Server & operating system Web server (if publishing to the web) Network infrastructure Systems staff (installation, configuration, design, support)

– Integration with current Integrated Library System Dynix, Horizon, Sirsi, Innovative Interfaces, etc.

Vendor Survey (cont’d)

Training options Maintenance support

Related Costs

Software Licensing– Database application

MS SQL Server, Oracle– Single vs. multi-user licenses

– Server Operating Systems & Client Licenses Windows NT/2000 Unix Linux

Other Costs & Considerations

Consulting Costs Internal vs. External Web / Database Hosting

– Do you want to make database available online?– Do you have internal infrastructure to host website?– Most ISPs will host websites & databases

Internal Library Resources

Technical Staff– Managers of Systems/Technical services, and IT

and Networks Computer Hardware & Peripherals

– Server to store database– Web server– High speed Internet Access (2 Mbps)– Internal network infrastructure– PCs for data entry– Scanner & digital camera

Cost Breakdown

Received $38,000 grant Selected software - $14,000

– Single client license for database software ($2,000)– Web publishing software ($9,000)– Annual maintenance (software upgrades, etc. $1,650 ~ 15%)– Telephone support for non-technical issues (i.e. How do I…

$1175) Consultant costs - $7,000

– Optional, typically $1,000 per day– Installation & configuration database software – 1 day– Database design – 5 days– Training – 1 day

Cost Breakdown (cont’d)

Hardware purchases - $3,000– Computer, scanner & image editing software

Data Entry Clerk - $14,000– 160 working days @ 7 hrs/day

In-kind hardware contributions - $22,000+– Not exclusive to project– Server to host database - $9,000– Web Server to host www.stcatharines.library.on.ca - $8,000– 2 Mbps Internet connection - $800.00 per month– 2nd Computer workstation, scanner, digital camera - $5,000

Cost Breakdown (cont’d)

Recurring Costs– Annual software maintenance, technical support– Internet (or hosting costs), equipment refresh– Staff (data entry)

Final Thoughts

Investigate educational software discounts– Dell offers educational/charitable discounts on most

commercial software Consulting Services

– Can save tremendous time, money & aggravation in the long run

– Consultants have the skill & expertise to set database up correctly – the FIRST time

– Can provide necessary staff training– Quick start to project– One-time cost, long-term benefits

Current and Future Projects

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta– Continue to add search results on an annual basis– Add programs, photographs, posters, medals, etc– Develop a “Virtual Museum”

Local Names Index– Continue to add data from current and historical sources

Intranet– Staff document storage, Board minutes, etc.

Database Structure

Record structure in general– Review source material – Identify as many data fields as possible– Create data-entry template with data fields

Henley Database

Data-entry Fields for Trophy Record

1. Record ID2. Date record

created3. Entered by 4. Trophy Name

5. Race 6. Category 7. Donated by 8. Year donated

9. History10. Trophy

location11. Manufactured

by12. Image of

Trophy

13. High Res image of trophy

14. Image of document

15. Trophy maintenance

16. Notes

Data-Entry Template

Data Entry Fields for Race Results Record

1. Year 2. Date of race 3. Event Number 4. Event Name

5. Boat Category 6. Gender 7. Age 8. Weight

9. Trophy name 10. Winning Club 11. Club Website 12. Club City

13. Club Prov/State 14. Club Country 15. Club site 16. Crew member names

17. Race time 18. Lane number 19. Lane number 20. Source of results

21. Source data 22. 2nd place 23. 3rd place, etc 24. Coaches

25. Photos 26. Photo captions 27. Article image 28. Article source file

29. Article full-text 30. Program image 31. Paraphernalia

Data-Entry template

Data-Entry Template (cont’d)

Main Interface

Search Screen / Word Wheel

Results Screen

Record Screen

High Resolution Image

Local Names Data Entry Structure

1. Record type

2. Source type

3. Source name

4. Pub. Date

5. Section 6. Page number

7. Event date.

Marriage

1. Husband’s name

2. Wife’s name

3. Place of marriage

4. City or town of marriage

5. Marriage notes

Death

1. Name of Deceased

2. City were death occurred

3. Place of burial

4. Survivor names

5. Notes

Births, Birthdays, Anniversary, Adoptions

Local Names Index Data Entry Template

Database Structure (cont’d)

Database query structure– Determine user query needs– Setup search query options in search template

1. Any word or phrase

2. Trophy name 3. Category

Local Names Index

Local Names Index Interface

Questions?

Contact us:– Greg Smith

gsmith@stcatharines.library.on.ca 905-688-6103 x202

– David Bott dbott@stcatharines.library.on.ca 905-688-6103 x212

Download this presentation at: http://www.stcatharines.library.on.ca/content/ola2006