OACIS: Overview of a Collaborative Project Online Access to Consolidated Information on Serials (for the Middle East) SCOPA Presentation December 11, 2003

Review of Project Goals: To create a freely available publicly accessible web site featuring a continuously updated union list of ME serials To lay foundations for the future, through: –Expanded cooperation and participation –Document delivery/ILL –Digitization and preservation

Current OACIS Partners: Cornell University Ohio State University University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania University of Texas University of Washington Yale University Universitaets- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen- Anhalt, Halle, Germany

Why Now? ME has always been a key part of the world –Historically, economically, politically –Now more so than ever before Scholars and librarians have cooperated for some time –CRL’s Middle East Microform Project (MEMP) –Khoury/Bates Directory, U Washington, 1991 But no tradition of cooperation in the following: –Technologically supported projects, or –Across national boundaries

Beginnings: US Department of Education Title VI program activated TICFIA portion in 1999 (Technological Innovation & Cooperation for Foreign Information Access) A series of 3-year projects: –We fall into Round projects: Indonesia, Japan, Latin America, ME, Asia, language teaching, Africa, South Asia, Tibet –We will reapply in late 2004 for Round 3

Collaborations: Year 1 - Database creation, loading –Database expansion in US, Europe, ME –Assessment of success, refinements Year 2 - ILL/document delivery partnerships Year 3 - Identify future phases (digitizing, preservation) Annual internships from ME to work on OACIS –Enable participation from home library & beyond Synergies with other Title VI participants Presentations at conferences, workshops

Today: After 1 year, OACIS is “On Target, On Time” Some travel and internship delays because of volatile political situation Recently completed: –First full partners meeting –Halle project is very complementary; build links, mirroring, cross-mapping with European PICA format –Offer of full text digitization from one of our partners (Texas) –Prototype launched on November 10, 2003

Home Page -

Potential Middle Eastern Participants: University of Jordan, Jordan American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon Balamand University, Lebanon Tishreen University, Syria Assad National Library in Syria The American University in Cairo Arab Institute for Human Rights in Tunisia

Breaking MARC

Data Display Issues

On the Inside

Encoding 101

System Specifications The Open Source system consists of the following components: - Server operating system: Linux via Red Hat Web server: Apache Database: MySQL Application languages: PHP 4.3.0, JavaScript 2.0, HTML This system currently runs as a test environment on a purchased DELL Precision 350 with Intel Pentium 4 (2.26 GHz).

What’s Next? Middle Eastern Interns -A pplications for first intern being reviewed right now -First intern will concentrate on issues of inputting non- MARC catalog records into OACIS using entry forms. -Second intern will focus on questions of document delivery Adding new participant data -Beginning in February we will start adding content from non-partner institutions at a slow and steady pace so as not to disrupt continuous project work.

What’s Next? (2) Exploring linking and other synergies with our Halle partner’s MENALIB project Fleshing out our thinking and plans for document delivery Fleshing out our thinking and plans for digitizing Seeking sustainability