"Managing Intra-faculty and Inter-faculty Communication using an Electronic Bulletin Board to store and Organize Internet Listserv Messages" : Paul Keenan, M.S.

"Managing Intra-faculty and Inter-faculty Communication using an Electronic Bulletin Board to store and Organize Internet Listserv Messages"

Paul Keenan, M.S., Database Administrator
Carol H. Fenichel, Ph.D., Director of the Library and Center for Biomedical and Health Informatics
John J. Murphy, Library Systems Manager
Andrew Brennan, M.S., Manager, Learning Resource Center
Judith Baker, M.S., Associate Director for Public Services
Hahnemann University Library
Ms 499
Broad & Vine St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102

ABSTRACT

This session will focus on an inexpensive method for managing and accessing the wealth of information available via Internet LISTSERV lists. Messages are stored in a public domain electronic bulletin board system, relieving users of the burden of trying to find lists to subscribe to and of organizing the flood of messages that often accompanies subscription to a list. BULLETIN also offers users with common interests, but not necessarily from the same department, a forum for online discussions.

PAPER

At Hahnemann University the library systems staff manages the institution's primary interface to the
Internet as well as the current institution-wide electronic mail system. This responsibility furnishes the opportunity to integrate Internet resources with the library's online system and local databases. Access
to information resources distributed around the campus, the country and the world is available from a single user interface that makes finding information as easy as possible.

Concurrently with the development of the public interface, the library's reference and technical services staff began to explore the "Net." Already dedicated users of the library's electronic mail system, they first corresponded with colleagues at other institutions and then subscribed to relevant LISTSERVs.
Over time more and more uses became apparent. It was a quiet transformation. But today the Internet is woven into the fabric of the library in so many ways, that even the weavers were surprised when they looked at what had happened. No department is untouched.
The hardware for the system, dubbed HAL for Hahnemann Automated Library, is a MicroVAX 3100-80. The next addition was the CD-PlusNet2 version of MEDLINE. This is a PC-based system running on a Novell network. HAL also now includes a CD-ROM server with several health sciences databases.
Two UNIX systems have recently been added. One of these will provide application and database
support for researchers. The other will eventually host a UNIX version of the CD-Plus Medline system. The library's Learning Resource Center (LRC), which houses over 30 Macintosh and IBM-type PCs is also networked. See Figure 1. Students access Internet from the LRC.

User Applications

The HAL menus provide transparent access to the following suite of services available to users:

* Online Catalog
* MEDLINE (CDPlusNet2 on a Novell network)
* MICROMEDEX, CINAHL, PSYCLIT, ERIC and SPORT on a CD-ROM network
* (Genetics Computer Group (GCG) sequencing and analysis software for GENBANK and other molecular biology databases
* Molecular biology freeware
* Electronic mail including a user list and alias facility
* Internet services (electronic mail, telnet, ftp, gopher and LYNX WWW client)
* Freeware menu program for accessing online catalogs, campus information systems, and wide-area
access tools
* BULLETIN (a bulletin board system for capturing and organizing Internet LISTSERVs, and internal special interest groups
* Clinical Alerts from the National Library of Medicine
* American Health Line (newsletter)
* A Campus Wide Information Systems
* Databases of faculty expertise, research equipment and research resources
* A "chat" feature used by faculty for online office hours
* Online documentation

The Internet is used to receive databases and database updates on a daily basis. HAL is connected to Hahnemann's institutional LAN and is also available by dial-in. Through a "Connections" grant from the National Science Foundation Hahnemann personnel may access HAL from affiliated hospitals through either the Internet or a wide-area network.

Staff Uses

*Keeping current and communicating with colleagues
*Finding software programs and making them available to users or staff
*Reference - asking for help with difficult reference questions
*Online searching - use of the Internet to search remote databases
*Collection Development - asking for evaluation of expensive databases and services, and checking holdings of libraries on the Internet
*Interlibrary Loan - sending and receiving messages via the Research Library Group's Ariel system
*User support - finding answers to questions regarding computer hardware and software

Implications for Staff

Organization and support for this network is rapidly becoming the major task of most of the library staff.
Staff from the systems area, public services, technical services and the Learning Resource Center all participate in training, providing help and preparation of documentation. The magnitude and the complexity of the documentation has led to a new staff role, documentation editor. Similarly, considerable team effort goes into organizing the system menu structure to make it appear logical and intuitive to users. To coordinate this task, another staff member has assumed the role of menu editor.
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As collaboration becomes increasingly important in academia, it has become crucial for investigators to find and communicate with colleagues who have similar interests or complementary skills at other institutions as well as within their own organization. A frequent complaint among faculty is that
"nobody knows what anyone else around here is doing." For obvious reasons, it is even more difficult to know what faculty and staff are doing at other institutions. The Hahnemann University Library uses BULLETIN, a public domain bulletin board system for VMS to facilitate communication between our faculty
and staff and their colleagues at other institutions.

Used in conjunction with Message Exchange (MX), (another public domain program for VMS), BULLETIN can store and organize messages from Internet and Bitnet LISTSERV mailing lists. These lists are a common way for university faculty and others to communicate with their colleagues. However, finding the appropriate lists to subscribe to can be a significant obstacle for anyone. In addition, the volume of traffic on some of these lists can quickly become overwhelming. BULLETIN makes using lists much easier for the user. The software allows us to set up individual folders within BULLETIN for each LISTSERV of interest to our users. This means that they do not have to wade through "lists of lists" in order to find relevant lists. Another significant advantage is that their electronic mailboxes do not become cluttered with postings from a variety of lists interfering with their ability to read and respond to their "real" E-mail. Yet they can still post to lists and the posting will be sent from their username and electronic mail address. The system also keeps track of which messages an individual has already read.

BULLETIN offers a natural structure for setting up interest groups where local faculty can post announcements, questions and answers. Currently we have folders for the Genetics Computer Group (GCG) Users, the Research Faculty Liaison Panel, the Research Hazard Committee, the Institutional Ethics Committees, and the Neuroscience and Immunology programs (which both cross departmental lines).
The keys to garnering participation in the Bulletin Board System are publicity, and reaching the "critical mass" of users necessary to keep discussions moving and make posting worthwhile. Because its interface is modeled on VMS Mail, already familiar to our users, it is relatively easy to use.

Currently, the Library has divided the menu for BULLETIN into several sections including:
RESEARCH which includes all of the bionet groups, as well as several other research oriented lists.
MEDICAL & CLINICAL AREAS for patient care oriented lists as well as general interest to healthcare topics such as American Healthline which provides a daily synopsis of healthcare news.
COMPUTERS & NETWORKS stores lists of interest to the more technically inclined users, the Library, and the Information Services
department.
LIBRARY stores a variety of library related lists.
EDUCATION stores lists related to distance learning, educational technologies, and others that discuss educational topics.
HAHNEMANN is a section dedicated to local Hahnemann interest groups. Figure 1 illustrates how these choices appear on the menus. While Figure 2 includes a few of the lists available in the BULLETIN system and indicates how some of the listserv lists look to users.
The Library's use of BULLETIN allows faculty to read LISTSERV messages at their convenience, while providing their full communication benefits. In addition, it provides local forums for researchers with similar interests or concerns.
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