ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 128 / C&RL News Research materials: Now only keystrokes away Faculty, staff, an d stu d en ts in th e College o f F o rest R esources an d th e D e p artm e n t o f M arine, E a rth an d A tm ospheric Sciences have beg u n using a n exciting n ew electronic delivery service being pilo t-tested by th e N o rth C arolina State U niversity (N C SU ) Libraries. R esearchers can now receive jo u rn al articles a n d o th e r library m aterials via th e co m p u ters located in th e ir offices, laboratories, and research facilities. T h e E lectro n ic D o c u m en t D e ­ liv e ry S e rv ic e (E D D S ) a u to m a te s , fro m th e re sea rc h e r’s perspective, th e e n tire process o f re ­ q u esting an d receiving research m aterials retriev ed from o th e r libraries’ collections. T h e E D D Service re p re sen ts th e second stage o f a larger cooperative research initiative lead b y th e N CSU Libraries en titled th e N CSU Digitized D ocu­ m e n t T r a n s m is s i o n Pro ject (N C SU D D TP). T h e N C SU D D T P is in­ vestigating th e feasibility o f delivering library m a­ terials electronically b e ­ tw een research libraries an d across cam pus n e t­ works to th e individual research er. T h e 14 land- gran t libraries participat­ ing in th e N C SU D D T P use com m ercially avail­ a b le c o m p u te r e q u ip ­ M em bers o f the N C Sm e n t to scan o r “digitize” Transm ission Project Tre q u e ste d research m a­ Abbott, E ric L. Morgterials an d tran sm it th e Tracy Mdigitized docu m en ts via th e In te rn e t to th e re q u estin g libraries. T h e E D D Service includes a m echanism th a t autom atically notifies th e re sea rc h e r th a t th e m aterial has arrived a t w hich p o in t th e re sea rc h e r accesses th e cam pus netw ork an d retrieves th e d o cum ent. T h e digitized d o cu m en t is a replica, “a p ic tu re ,” o f th e original m aterial th a t can include b o th text an d graphics. T h e N C SU D D T P p ro je c t has already e sta b ­ lished th a t p rin t copies o f digitized d ocum ents rival high-quality photocopies. T h e digitized d ocum ents can b e readily tra n sm itte d across hetero g en eo u s c o m p u te r platform s an d im p o rted into s ta n d a rd text o r graphics softw are packages. T h e N C SU D D T P pro ject builds upo n th e findings o f an earlier d em onstration study on th e transm ission o f digi­ tized docum ents co nducted from April 1989through S e p te m b e r 1990 by th e N C SU L ib raries, th e University’s C o m p u tin g C en ter, an d th e National A gricultural Library. T h e E D D Service consists o f tw o com ponents: electronic mail messaging and direct delivery/pickup U e an . o f th e digitized docum ents. T h e messaging system allows researchers to place th e ir article requests via e-m ail to p roject staff in th e Interlibrary C en ter (ILC). T he direct-delivery co m ponent allows the researcher to retrieve th e digitized docum ent(s) from a central cam pus fileserver via th e cam pus network. T he service delivers th e req u ested m aterial directly to th e research er in a m achine-readable form. T h e service is n o t lim ited solely to th e delivery ofjoumal articles; any type oflibrary information that can be captured in digital form o r that already exists in digital form can be delivered over th e Internet and across campus networks to the researcher. T h e N atu ral R esources Library (N R L) staff as­ sists p atro n s th a t are n o t c o n n ec te d to th e cam pus netw ork by providing netw ork access th ro u g h a p ro je c t w orkstation lo­ cated in th e N R L. T he p ilo t service is sched­ u led to b e im plem ented a t a s e c o n d s i t e — N C S U ’s B u r lin g to n Textiles Library— and available to researchers o f th e C ollege o f Tex­ tiles in early F e b ru a ry 1992. Lisa A bbott, w ho re ­ cently jo in ed th e N CSU D D T P team as assistant D igitized D ocum ent p r o j e c t m a n a g e r , is am (left to right): Lisa T. o v e rsee in g th e E D D , M arti A. Minor, and Service w hile working Casorso. closely w ith th e library staff in th e IL C — C arolynA rgentati, h e ad o f th e N R L an d Sam M oore o f th e university’s C om puting C en ter— to im plem ent an d refine th e E D D S model. T h e pilot service has b e e n m ade possible through th e Apple Library o f T om orrow (ALOT) eq u ip ­ m en t grant. T he D D T P is fu n d ed by a U.S. D ep art­ m en t o f E ducation Title II-D R esearch an d D em on­ stration grant and by th e participating institutions. T h e 12 land-grant institutions p articipating with N C SU a n d NAL in th e N C SU D D T P are: C lem son U niversity, U niversity o f D elaw are, Iow a State University, U niversity o f M aryland at College Park, M ichigan State U niversity, U niversity o f M inne­ sota, N o rth C arolina A gricultural a n d Technical State University, O hio State University, Pennsylva­ n ia State University, U tah State University, Virginia Polytechnic In stitu te an d State University, and W ashington State University.— Tracy M. Casorso, Project Manager, N C S U D igitized D ocum ent Trans­ m ission Prcject, N o rth Carolina State University Libraries ■ ■ February 1992 /1 2 9 W hile w e all know th e im portance o f m aintaining th e confidentiality o f library records, som etim es req u ests c om e in th a t m ay seem q u ite reasonable. I t is im p o rtan t to rem in d ourselves o f th e m any situations in w hich it is n o t ap p ropriate to reveal inform ation ab out library records. T h e University o f Illinois at U rbana-C ham paign has a task force chaired by circulation librarian M erri H artse devel­ oping a policy on th e confidentiality o f library records. P a rt o f th e ir policy d o cu m en t includes the following “Exam ples o f requests for library infor­ m ation th a t are c onfidential an d m ust n o t b e h o n ­ o re d ” th a t w e th o u g h t C & R L N ew s read ers m ight find helpful. E xam p les o f req u ests fo r library in form ation that are c o n fid e n tia l and m ust n o t b e h o n o red Circulation and Patron Records 1. A re q u e st for th e circulation records o f a faculty, stu d en t, staff o r o th e r library card h o ld e r by som eone else. 2. A re q u e st by a faculty m e m b e r for th e id e n ti­ ties o f stu d en ts w ho b o rro w ed reserved item s. 3. A re q u e st to review th e circulation records o f a stu d en t s u sp ected o f plagiarism. 4. Arequesttoseeinterlibraiyloanbonowingrecords. 5. A re q u e st for addresses, p h o n e num b ers, I.D . u m b ers o r o th e r personal inform ation contained th e p atro n database. 6. A req u est to see a list o f individuals w ho are not em bers o f th e university com m unity b u t w ho have e en g ranted library borrowing privileges. 7. A request by a parent for information such as fines r other fees by the hbrary to Student Accounts Receiv­ ble without the student’s permission. O ther Examples 1. A re q u e st for th e n am e o f th e perso n w ho has igned o u t a particu lar item. 2. A requestto reviewpast use o f study room, listening oom, study carrel o r CD-ROM work station. 3. A re q u e st to reveal th e n a tu re o f a p a tro n ’s e feren ce re q u e st o r d atabase search. 4. A re q u e st for th e nam es o f persons w ho have sed audio-visual materials. 5. A re q u e st for a list o f item s pho to co p ied for or elefaxed to a particu lar patron. 6. A re q u e st for a list o f suggested acquisitions u b m itted by a particu lar patron. 7. A re q u e st from law en fo rcem en t authorities or th e identity o f anyone conducting research on a articu lar subject. ■ ■ n in m b o a s r r u t s f p