HKALL/InnReach Experiment 1 December 2004 HKALL - Hong Kong Academic Library Link 港書網 - 香港高校圖書聯網

Technical Issues David Palmer Systems Librarian Technical Services Support Team Leader The University of Hong Kong HKALL - Hong Kong Academic Library Link 港書網 - 香港高校圖書聯網

HKALL is - a pilot project in accelerated resource sharing jointly undertaken by the academic libraries of three Hong Kong tertiary institutions, City University of Hong Kong, Lingnan University and The University of Hong Kong. a union catalogue based on the INNReach software from Innovative Interfaces which allow staff and students of participating libraries to initiate borrowing requests while they search. HKALL - Hong Kong Academic Library Link 港書網 - 香港高校圖書聯網

How does InnReach work? HKALL - Hong Kong Academic Library Link 港書網 - 香港高校圖書聯網

INN-Reach Components Union Catalogue Automatic de-duping Automatic updating in real time from members to Union Choice of exclusion of certain records, certain fields Choice of how to handle 856 e-resources Patron-Initiated Circulation

Architecture INN-REACH SERVER millennium Bibliographic Item Order Checkin Authority Patron Course Bibliographic Item Order Checkin Authority Patron Course Bibliographic Institution

Lending/Borrowing HKALL Central Server Local System Local System Local System Local System Patron Request Options: via own system or via central server Item Circulated Patron Verified Request Filled Item Request Item Sent Record Contribution Patron

Step - by - step 1.User at HKU requests LU bk 2.LU prints paging slip 3.LU retrieves from shelf 4.LU institutional checkout 5.Courier, from LU to HKU 6.HKU institutional checkin 7.HKU notice to user 8.HKU normal checkout to user 9.HKU normal checkin from user 10.Courier, from HKU to LU 11.LU inst. checkin 12.Return to shelf

Resource Sharing Features & Options Request Load Balancing Multiple Pickup Locations allowed Paging Slips Notices: pickup, etc. , etc. of various. Patron renewals at either borrowing library or owning library Owning library recalls Borrowing library cannot make holds or recalls on non-owned items Statistics In development: NON-Returnable Module i.e, journal articles

Patron Interface

1. Title Not Found at your library 2. Click on HKALL button to automatically search INN-Reach catalogue

3. Click link to request item

4. Patron selects/ indicates which is their library

5. Information verified at patron library

6. System Selects Copy and Confirms Request

Some Technical Problems How to display e-resource URLs Resolved Courier service Agreed to use existing service, 48 hours Merge rate: 2%  17.91% in November CJK in 880 & in 245 etc. Practices differed. November rebuild, new algorithm Nov Rebuild Unicode is internal code Some cleanup needs to be done TSVCC, or synonymy of CJK variants soon 台湾 vs. 臺灣 still working on this.

HKALL Circulation Policies Alice Tai Circulation / Reserve / Interlibrary Loans Librarian City University of Hong Kong

Some Basic Principles Make the policies as simple as possible. Minimize policies that interfere with local circulation practices while still trying to maximize use of the mega collection. Policies should not undermine the interest of users in the owning libraries.

HKALL Basic Policies 1.Strive to circulate to others what you circulate to your own users.* 2.Circulate to all classes of users. 3.Users get 10 books for 15 days (undergraduates) and 30 days (postgraduates) and they have 5 days to pick up their requests. A single renewal is allowed for the same number of days. * Excepting AV, short term loan materials, and other collections you dictate.

More Basic Policies 1.Local patrons are given priority, e.g., local patrons can place recalls and holds but the other library’s patrons cannot. 2.Normal and recalled overdue fines are HK$2.00 and HK$4.00 per item per calendar day respectively and are collected and held by the borrowing library. 3.Book replacement and penalty policies per the owning library. 4.Decision to not display URLs in e-resources in HKALL to avoid licensing problems.

HKALL Statistics

1.There are net borrowers and lenders. 2.Users at 2 of 3 libraries borrowed significant numbers of books owned but checked out. 3.Undergraduates were the largest user group irrespective of the size of their own library. 4.2/3rds+ of the items borrowed were non-CJK. 5.Three subjects dominated the borrowing/lending activities of these three libraries. 6.HKALL increases the amount and speed of borrowing. 7.Unique items borrowed were frequently out of scope. What our use statistics tell us What our use statistics tell us:

Net Borrowing/Lending BorrowLend CityU3,8701,682 HKU1,7363,191 Lingnan U1,1521,885 Totals6,758

Owned Not Owned CityU 2,577 1,917 HKU 1, Lingnan U Borrowing What Is Owned

TypeNo. Staff 1,409 PG Student 1,357 UG Student 4,257 Borrower’s Status

LanguageNo. CJK 2,306 Non CJK 5,205 Language of Titles Borrowed

Three subject clusters dominated the borrowing and lending scene during the experiment. Subject City U Top 3 B/L HKU Top 3 B/L Lingnan U Top 3 B/L General Works / Bibliography --- Philosophy / Psychology / Religion --B1, Social Science / Law / Education B1, L1 B2, L1 Science / Technology B2, L3B2, L2L2 Arts / Architecture --- Language / Literatures B3, L2B3, L3B1, L3 History / Geography --- B=Borrow L=Lend 1. Social Science /Law/Education 2.Science/Technology 3.Language/Literature Subjects Borrowed

Turnaround TimeDelay factors? #Filled requests through HKALLILLHKALLILL* 2 working days Nil 95%9% 3 working days 1. Time of requests submission 2. Number of search trials e.g., after-hour submission plus 2 nd search of the item 1. Staff mediation 2. Time of requests submission 3. Number of search trials 4%12% 4 working days 1. Time of requests submission 2. Number of search trials 3. Pick-up time of internal courier for resources reside in branches and remote storage facilities Staff mediation 2. Time of requests submission 3. Number of search trials 4. Pick-up time of internal courier for resources reside in branches and remote storage facilities. + 1%22% 5+ working days Same 57% # To avoid overweight charges, sometimes we need to hold up some non-urgent items for dispatch the day after. This will lead to some delay. Hiring Youth Outreach as our courier service supplier which offers a larger weight allowance compared to DHL has eased the situation to a great extent though not 100%. *These figures are for HKU only and reflect the experience during the year prior to the introduction of HKALL. + Except Lingnan University HKALL Increases the Speed of Borrowing

HKALL increased the amount of borrowing but decreased the amount of traditional ILL between participating libraries CityUHKULU ILL 03 1, ILL HKALL 4,4941,8581,281

Subject Percent Appropriate Medical17 Law24 Arts/Architecture24 Social Science / Education 41 Science / Technology 49 HKU librarians reviewed the non- duplicate titles to determine what percent fell within HKU’s collecting policies. Collecting Scope of Titles Borrowed

HKALL User Survey Tommy Yeung Associate Librarian (Reader Services) Lingnan University

Objectives of Survey To find out users’ general comments on the HKALL service To find out comments from specific groups of users To enable users to express their own opinions To compare HKALL with ILLiad To identify areas for future improvement

Online questionnaire 19 structured questions on a 5-point scale Open-ended questions 9 focus group meetings for academic staff, library staff and studentsMethodology

Comments on the general features of HKALL Rating of performance, e.g. fulfillment, turnaround time, etc. Future expectations Comparison of HKALL with ILLiad Other comments Online Questionnaire

Users Like HKALL Because It: Acts as a source of obtaining materials not available in your own library. (80%*) Enables users just to click a few buttons and easily make a request instead of typing the item information into the borrowing system again. (80%*) Generates notices, e.g. pickup, overdue, cancellation, etc. to inform users of the request status. (76%*) Integrates with the library’s online catalogue so that separate searches of other library catalogues are not required. (73%) * Chose either good / excellent

Fulfillment rate (67%*) Turnaround time (62%*) HKALL and ILLiad are considered the same by 50% of respondents Detail result available at: * Chose either good / excellent Comments on HKALL Performance

Include more libraries so that more items can be made available to users (88%*) Allow users to self-renew items more than once (82%*) Remind users to return the loan items before the due date (74%*) Handle requests for journal articles (70%*) * Chose either important / extremely important Users Wish HKALL Would

“Excellent on the whole.” “I would say this scheme has been excellently carried out. with this scheme, resources in the universities can be better utilised …” “HKALL simply makes life easier. thank you …” “A convenient system for academic exchanges.” “it would be great if the collaboration can extend to …” “It should include all eight institutions in HK.” Positive Comments

“loan period is too short, why not allow longer period in case no one request it.” “I think giving us a larger quota is better …” “the turnaround time is a little bit long …” “Sometimes I was a bit confused, as HKALL services are processed by the ILLiad counter.” “Books in our HKU libraries should be sufficient … I don’t see there’s any needs for collaborations with other U’s libraries.” Complaints / Negative Comments

Including external customers and internal staff Individual sessions for academic staff, students and library staff Opportunity for interaction Focus Group Meeting

Learned about HKALL through different channels Liked the service a lot Considered that wider access would not be a good alternative of information access Wished more libraries could join HKALL Focus Group Meeting - Students

Learned about HKALL through different channels Opined that HKALL had good integration with Web-OPAC Considered that JULAC Card was not a convenient form of information access Wished more libraries could join HKALL Focus Group Meeting – Academic Staff

Service became more complicated Impact varied from section to section Believed that users liked ILLiad more Worried on work pressure if more libraries were going to join Focus Group Meeting – Library Staff

Strategic Level More member libraries Better promotion strategy Operational Level Loan quota and period extended More renewals Hold requests become possible Due date alert Handle journal requests HKALL Will Become More Successful If:

Thank You ! HKALL - Hong Kong Academic Library Link 港書網 - 香港高校圖書聯網