HIT: Rationale for automation

[Rayna Patton <kmv_patton@K12.MEC.OHIO.GOV>]

This is the request I submitted to our administrators after I posted a
request for information to this group. A number of you will recognize
your own prose; I pretty much summarized the various points that you
raised, and accompanied it with a cover sheet saying I had requested this
many times; what I estimated the cost to be in money and extra staff
time, and offered to make a presentation to the Board of Education. I
hope this may help others......
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REQUEST FOR AUTOMATION OF HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY

The library print resources at the MHS library are up-to-date,
curriculum-based, and costly.  However, students are not utilizing them
as fully as they should because they are averse to using the card
catalog, or lack the skills to do so effectively.  The card catalog has
always been an imperfect method of locating materials in the library.
For this reason, colleges, universities, and most small public libraries
and schools have made the transition to automated catalogs.  I believe it
is essential for Marysville Schools to make the same transition as
quickly as possible.  The card catalg is a ball and chain that hobbles
our students as they attempt to access materials they need.  The public
library in Marysville, though it is automated, lacks the breadth of
curriculum related information that our high school students and teachers
are looking for; they need the resources we are equipped to provide.

A summary of automations' many benefits follows:

1.  Provides better access to expensive resources.  Automated systems
allow keyword searches, Boolean logic, truncated word searches and spell
checking.  Searching an automated catalog is simple and easy to do in
addition to being flexible and fast.  Studies show that students don't
persist very long at the card catalog.  They make an attempt to find what
they want and then quit, frequently in frustration.  Automated systems
utilize skills which are readily transferable to other information
searches, for example, on CD-ROM and the internet.  Skills needed to
search a card catalog are utilized nowhere else.

        * Key word searches of subtitles, subject heaing and annotations
function in addition to the traditional author, title and subject
searches.  If a student wants information on "fractals," for example,
he/she would probably not find that as the first word of a title or as a
subject heading in a traditional card catalg.  However, "fractals," would
be annotated on the computer description of the bokk, or it might be
included in the title or sub-title, and the student would find it
immediately.  In many ways, keyword searching looks at an abridged table
of contents so students will use books that they might not have thought
would contain the material.

2  The speed of access changes students' main focus in the library from
locating information to using information.

3.  Increases circulation, and therefore use, of expensive library
materials.  Every media center with automation reports their print
collection is being used as never been used before.  ..... High School
recorded a 50% increase in curculation after automationg.  Several high
schools report their circulation doubled or tripled.  This occurs because
students are much more successful identifying neede resources using the
expanded search options of an automated catalog.

4. Provides individualized and detailed service to teachers and
students.  For each unit or question, an individually tailored
bibliography of citations that fulfills the criteria set by the uset can
be printed in minutes.

5.  The automated catalg is always up-to -date, as new materials can be
entered in minutes.  In contrast, the card catalg is always weeks or
months behind in showing new acquisitions.

6.  Creates a resource that can be accessed on any station of a LAN and
WAN.  This is especially important as the LAN is expanded to include all
classroom-based computers.

7.  Provides an opportunity for our students to learn skills they need in
every public and college library, as well as in accessing databases and
the Interne.  This is particularly important for the majority of MHS
students who do not go to college and who are only familiar with an
archaic and obsolete system.

8.  Streamlines record keeping and inventory so that my time can be used
more productively to assist students and teacher.

                                                Rayna Patton
                                                Librarian, MHS
                                                May 31, 1996

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   Rayna Patton, Librarian                Marysville Exempted Village Schools
   Marysville High School                 Voice   513/642-0010
   800 Amrine Mill Rd                     FAX     513/642-2033
   Marysville, Ohio  43040                E'Mail  KMV_PATTON@K12.MEC.OHIO.GOV