Peter Brophy

Delivering the library to its users: from the BIBDEL Project to the Virtual Academic Library of the North‐West

Describes the networking solutions used in the experimental extension of academic library services from the University of Central Lancashire to an agricultural college some 100km distant, under the EC‐funded BIBDEL Project. Includes a detailed description of the functionality of each service. Summarizes the experimental findings of the research, in terms of cost, staff training needs, user training needs and liaison with external third parties. Considers the University of Central Lancashire’s retention and expansion of the extended service, on an operational footing, after the close of the experiment. Contrasts the functionalities of the operational services with those of the experiment.

EQLIPSE: Evaluation and Quality in Library Performance: system for Europe

The authors locate the EQLIPSE Project in the context of the growing interest in the application of performance measurement and quality assurance techniques to libraries. The EQLIPSE consortium is described, and the main works which informed the Projects design are enumerated. The six workpackages of the Project are outlined, followed by details of progress to date. Of the completed workpackages, the first resulted in a deliverable report defining user requirements. The output from the second was an initial functional specification for the EQLIPSE system. In the second phase of the Project a prototype system was developed and data collection procedures were defined. The prototype was tested in July 1996 and amended accordingly. EQLIPSE is to be one of four Projects in the EC Concerted Action CAMILE; the purpose and aims of which are described.

An examination of the costs and benefits of an experimental extension of academic library services to remote users

The authors describe the networking solutions used in the experimental extension of academic library services from the University of Central Lancashire to an agricultural college some 100 km distant, under the aegis of the EC‐funded BIBDEL Project. Emphasis is placed on the projects use of inexpensive, off‐the‐shelf products, in preference to the commissioning of bespoke software applications. A discussion of the philosophy and ethos of the BIBDEL Project is included, and the extant library services of the two institutions participating in the experiment are compared. The technological and other costs of the experiment are given in tabular form and considered in the text, and are contrasted with the benefits perceived by the remote users of the service. Reference is made to the University of Central Lancashires retention and expansion of the extended service, on an operational footing, after the close of the experiment.