Selection and Implementation of a Digital
Management Software Solution: A Public Library
Experience
OLA Session 1216
Greg Smith,
Manager Systems & Technical Services
David Bott,
Manager Information Technology & Networks
St. Catharines Public Library
Purpose of Presentation

Learn from our experience
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Digital collection choice
Project path
Software selection process
Software/Hardware set-up & implementation
Current and future projects
Digitization Project Purpose
• Develop and provide access to digital
collections
Choice of Collection to Digitize

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta

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Held in St. Catharines since 1882
Premier rowing regatta in North America
100 year celebration in 2003 of
–
St. Catharines Rowing Club
– Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen regatta sponsorship of
Royal Canadian Henley Regatta

Canadian Henley Regatta Trophies

On display at the St. Catharines
Public Library
Project Proposal
–
“Virtual Museum” of the Royal Canadian Henley
Regatta

Significance to:
–
–

the local community
Local, Ontario, Canadian and international rowing community
Small manageable project
–
72 trophies
– Henley race winners
– Henley programs
– Henley paraphernalia
Information Sources
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Local Information sources

Library
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Trophy information
– Newspapers on microfilm – Special Collections
– Regatta Programs – Special Collections

Museum
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–
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Regatta Programs
Photographs
Posters
Medals
Etc.
Funding

External Financial Resources
–
Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Recreation: Library Strategic
Development Fund:
 Submitted Grant Application in 2001
–


Virtual Museum of Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
Awarded Grant in May 2002
Internal Financial Resources
–
Limited to in-kind contributions, such as hardware and staff
time:
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2 full-time staff persons
Internet connection – 2 Mbps
Hardware (servers, desktop PCs, scanners, etc.)
Partnerships

St. Catharines Museum
–
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Regatta artifacts bequeathed to the museum
Rowing Canada
–
The trophies and regatta programs are the property of
Rowing Canada
Preliminary Research

What products are available?
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What are other organizations (libraries, museums,
corporations) using?
Trade publications
Internet research
Preliminary Research (cont’d)
In-house vs. Commercial Solution

In-house
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Advantages
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Small expenditure on software
Customizable
Disadvantages

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Staff time
Centered on staff expertise
Internal maintenance costs & responsibilities
Preliminary Research (cont’d)

Commercial
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Advantages
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Minimum staff resources and time to setup and implement.
Available expert staff and user community.
Increased functionality
Regular upgrades and maintenance
Disadvantages

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High purchase price
Annual maintenance fees
Preliminary Research (cont’d)

Evaluating Commercial Vendors
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Compiled list of vendors
Submitted survey questions to vendors
Graded vendor responses on a 1 – 5 scale
Tabulated and Compared results
Vendor Survey
Vendor Survey
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Target Market for Vendor Products
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Public, academic, school & special libraries
Museums
Public & private organizations
Vendor Survey (cont’d)
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Cost
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Prices ranged from $1,600 – $70,000
Annual Maintenance costs from $0 - $20,000
Vendor Survey (cont’d)
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Web-enabled
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Public access via internet
Data entry via internet
Easy search and sort functions
Integrate with other ILS portal interfaces
Supports meta-tag schemas like “Dublin Core”
Full-text index
Vendor Survey (cont’d)
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Scaleable
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Relational
Support for multiple databases
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Henley, BMD, Special Collections, etc.
Provides “thumbnail” association with digital images in
database.
Copyright management:
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Attaches copyright statements to digital images and tracks
usage for owned and licensed digital materials
Vendor Survey (cont’d)
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Customizable
Support for various file types
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Hardware/Software requirements
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Images (.jpg, .bmp, .tiff, etc.)
Text documents (.txt, .pdf, .doc, etc.)
Server & operating system
Web server (if publishing to the web)
Network infrastructure
Systems staff (installation, configuration, design, support)
Integration with current Integrated Library System

Dynix, Horizon, Sirsi, Innovative Interfaces, etc.
Vendor Survey (cont’d)
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Training options
Maintenance support
Related Costs
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Software Licensing
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Database application
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MS SQL Server, Oracle
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Single vs. multi-user licenses
Server Operating Systems & Client Licenses
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Windows NT/2000
Unix
Linux
Other Costs & Considerations
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Consulting Costs
Internal vs. External Web / Database Hosting
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Do you want to make database available online?
Do you have internal infrastructure to host website?
Most ISPs will host websites & databases
Internal Library Resources

Technical Staff
–
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Managers of Systems/Technical services, and IT
and Networks
Computer Hardware & Peripherals
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Server to store database
Web server
High speed Internet Access (2 Mbps)
Internal network infrastructure
PCs for data entry
Scanner & digital camera
Cost Breakdown
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Received $38,000 grant
Selected software - $14,000
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Single client license for database software ($2,000)
Web publishing software ($9,000)
Annual maintenance (software upgrades, etc. $1,650 ~ 15%)
Telephone support for non-technical issues (i.e. How do I…
$1175)
Consultant costs - $7,000
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Optional, typically $1,000 per day
Installation & configuration database software – 1 day
Database design – 5 days
Training – 1 day
Cost Breakdown (cont’d)
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Hardware purchases - $3,000
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Data Entry Clerk - $14,000
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Computer, scanner & image editing software
160 working days @ 7 hrs/day
In-kind hardware contributions - $22,000+
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Not exclusive to project
Server to host database - $9,000
Web Server to host www.stcatharines.library.on.ca - $8,000
2 Mbps Internet connection - $800.00 per month
2nd Computer workstation, scanner, digital camera - $5,000
Cost Breakdown (cont’d)
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Recurring Costs
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Annual software maintenance, technical support
Internet (or hosting costs), equipment refresh
Staff (data entry)
Final Thoughts

Investigate educational software discounts
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Dell offers educational/charitable discounts on most
commercial software
Consulting Services
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Can save tremendous time, money & aggravation in
the long run
Consultants have the skill & expertise to set
database up correctly – the FIRST time
Can provide necessary staff training
Quick start to project
One-time cost, long-term benefits
Current and Future Projects

Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
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Local Names Index
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Continue to add search results on an annual basis
Add programs, photographs, posters, medals, etc
Develop a “Virtual Museum”
Continue to add data from current and historical sources
Intranet
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Staff document storage, Board minutes, etc.
Database Structure
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Record structure in general
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Review source material
Identify as many data fields as possible
Create data-entry template with data fields
Henley Database
Data-entry Fields for Trophy Record
1.
Record ID
5.
Race
9.
History
13.
High Res
image of
trophy
2.
Date record
created
3.
Entered by
4.
Trophy Name
6.
Category
7.
Donated by
8.
Year donated
10.
Trophy
location
11.
Manufactured
by
12.
Image of
Trophy
14.
Image of
document
15.
Trophy
maintenance
16.
Notes
Data-Entry Template
Data Entry Fields for Race Results
Record
1. Year
2. Date of race
3. Event Number
4. Event Name
5. Boat Category
6. Gender
7. Age
8. Weight
9. Trophy name
10. Winning Club
11. Club Website
12. Club City
13. Club Prov/State
14. Club Country
15. Club site
16. Crew member
names
17. Race time
18. Lane number
19. Lane number
20. Source of
results
21. Source data
22. 2nd place
23. 3rd place, etc
24. Coaches
25. Photos
26. Photo captions
27. Article image
28. Article source
file
29. Article full-text
30. Program image
31. Paraphernalia
Data-Entry template
Data-Entry Template (cont’d)
Main Interface
Search Screen / Word Wheel
Results Screen
Record Screen
High Resolution Image
Local Names Data Entry Structure
1. Record
type
2. Source
type
3. Source
name
4. Pub.
Date
5. Section
6. Page
number
Marriage
1.
2. Wife’s
Husband’s name
name
3. Place
of
marriage
4. City or
town of
marriage
5.
Marriage
notes
Death
1. Name
of
Deceased
2. City
were
death
occurred
3. Place
of burial
4.
Survivor
names
5. Notes
Births, Birthdays, Anniversary, Adoptions
7. Event
date.
Local Names Index Data Entry
Template
Database Structure (cont’d)

Database query structure
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Determine user query needs
Setup search query options in search template
1. Any word or
phrase
2. Trophy name
3. Category
Local Names Index
Local Names Index Interface
Questions?

Contact us:
–
Greg Smith


–
David Bott



gsmith@stcatharines.library.on.ca
905-688-6103 x202
dbott@stcatharines.library.on.ca
905-688-6103 x212
Download this presentation at:
http://www.stcatharines.library.on.ca/content/ola2006