Gateway replaces UWIN for access to UW Libraries

People who have been accessing UW Libraries services through UWIN (the UW Information Navigator online information system) are going to have to learn some new tricks by June 30, when UWIN will cease to exist.

The good news is the new enhanced Information Gateway (http://www.lib.washington.edu/) provides a method of accessing library services that in most cases is at least as speedy as UWIN. Moreover, the variety of services is superior to UWIN and will grow larger in the coming months.

Right now, Gateway users can put holds on books, renew books and request that needed books and other material are transferred to another library—services that were never available on UWIN. The current services were those that scored high in user surveys. The services are the subject of frequent review, and the Information Gateway has been tested through usability studies.

No wonder that, in one recent week, the Information Gateway recorded nearly a quarter million hits.

One of the most popular new features is electronic reserves, according to Thom Deardorff, coordinator for access services. Before the Web, the only way to store and retrieve reserve documents was manually: One document would be put on reserve in the library and one student at a time could retrieve it. Now, faculty members can put articles and chapters of books on electronic reserve for as long as a quarter, and there is no limit on the number of students that can access the article at the same time. “This is an area of experimentation for us,” Deardorff says, “not just for printed material but for other kinds of media as well. We have agreements with ASCAP and BMI, organizations that control the copyrights on music, so that we can actually put music selections in our electronic reserves when faculty request them.” More than 70 courses are reserving material through the libraries.

Another ongoing project is to digitize significant collections of the Libraries. Already, material related to the Japanese internment and relocation during World War II is available (drawn partly from a Libraries exhibit), as are photographs from the Klondike Gold Rush. “We thought, since this year is the 100^th anniversary of the Gold Rush, that there would be increased interest in this material,” says Betsy Wilson, associate director of libraries for research and instructional services.

Another major project under way involves a visual collection of “Cities and Buildings,” assembled by Professor Meredith Clauson of art history and architecture, which includes more than 4,000 photographic images from around the world. The Libraries staff is building a “content” database so that the images are searchable by subject or keyword. This system was developed on campus by Greg Zick, professor of electrical engineering, and the Center for Information Systems Optimization (CISO). The Digital Library Initiative home page is: http://content.lib.washington.edu/diginit/

“We try to choose material to which we have acquired rights,” says Wilson, “and where we are seeing potential problems with access. For example, we have been working closely with the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest. The center is involved in many collaborations with the K-12 schools, which then would like source material related to the syllabus. By putting this information on the Web, we are reducing wear and tear on the original printed material while making it widely available to students of all ages. We also are opening up possibilities for collaboration across disciplines on campus.”

The Digital Library Initiative home page is: http://content-dev.lib.washington.edu/diginit/index.html

Slated for unveiling this spring is the Web-based online Libraries catalog. For now, Gateway users are directed to the character based system—the same service offered through UWIN.

The Web-based catalog will allow for more direct links to Internet services such as online journals. “What we’ll be moving toward,” Wilson says, “is what we might call ‘virtual shelf browsing,’ where remote users can browse through our collections much as they would if they were in the library looking at the stacks. More and more, students and faculty are doing library work on their own, removed from the campus. Some of the enhancements that originally were put in place for distance learners end up benefiting the general community.”

The catalog will be more than simply a move of the character-based information to the Web. Subject headings, authors and call numbers will all be linked to related information in the Libraries’ collections.

The challenge of converting the Libraries’ information would be great, by itself, but the technological world has not stood still. While some of the Libraries’ information is available to the general public, other sources are restricted to members of the UW community—and authenticating remote UW users who are employing devices such as cable modems or digital subscriber lines is proving to be an additional challenge for the team working on the catalog conversion.

The Health Sciences Libraries has been gearing up for transition to the Web for some time, offering a series of classes called “Preparing for Life After UWIN,” and working with personnel in the health sciences schools. One of the major transitions will be for MEDLINE, which will be available primarily through the PUBMED service. “People will be able to get to MEDLINE from anywhere, not just on campus,” says Terry Jankowski, acting head of information services for the Health Sciences Library. “We recently did a test, comparing access from UWIN as compared with the Web, and the graphic interface was faster. In addition, users now will have access in a single search to information going back to 1965, whereas the UWIN interface stored information in five year increments.”

The PUBMED service contains links and pointers to the full text of articles, sometimes with direct access—and that access will improve as the Libraries catalog goes to the Web. In addition, users can order copies of articles online, which can be delivered electronically or in printed version, with a very fast turnaround.

PUBMED permits searches that are either very broad or exceedingly narrow, or by related categories. For example, a search could include articles about both the diagnosis and treatment of a particular condition. “One of the challenges is to help users become fluent in using information technology,” Jankowski says. “We are happy to help users in refining searches and showing them how to be develop successful search strategies.” Libraries personnel will perform searches for users, and simple searches are usually free of charge.

“Change is always difficult,” she says. “What we had worked well for many users, but it was no longer possible to support multiple interfaces. We are here to help users, through our classes and one-on-one coaching.”

HealthLinks serves as the information gateway for the health sciences. Databases can be found at: http:/healthlinks.washington.edu/databases/. For class information, visit the Website: http://healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/classes/ or e-mail the Health Sciences Libraries at: hsl@u.washington.edu. ¶

Bob Roseth, News and Information