Landeskirchliche Zentralbibliothek (LKZB) Stuttgart (Regional Church Central Library Stuttgart): Electronic article delivery service expands readership
In the age of the internet, the currentness of information has become a fundamental criteria of quality. The Landeskirchliche Zentralbibliothek (LKZB = Regional Church Central Library) Stuttgart demonstrates how a library can meet the information needs of a modern society by introducing an electronic article delivery service.
The classic circulation of periodicals, whereby readers are only able to obtain specialised magazines after a delay of many days, is no longer in keeping with the times. Distribution lists are often based on traditional staff structures and don’t truly reflect the personal information needs of individual staff members sufficiently. Furthermore, it poses a huge stumbling block to modern working methods, such as telework.
A contemporary paradigm shift
At the end of 2010, the Landeskirchliche Zentralbibliothek Stuttgart, therefore, decided to rethink distribution of periodicals and provision of specialist articles.
The project in this case was part of an extensive concept to modernise the regional church library system. Besides introducing an electronic document delivery system, this also included implementation of an authorisation system for online access to electronic media and consolidation of all book stocks of the libraries within the Württemberg Regional Church into a common regional church central catalogue known as the Landeskirchlichen Zentralkatalog. This already contains approximately 745,000 titles of books, periodicals, articles, conference reports, microforms, electronic documents, data media, music scores, maps etc., with a total of 1,000,000 copies accounted for.
“Our goal was to modernise working methods by using cutting-edge methods and through this update the image of our library”, Dr. Andreas Lütjen Kirchenbibliotheksrat (Church Senior Librarian Civil Service Level) summarises the intentions of the LKZB.
Besides eliminating the existing limitations involved in traditional periodical circulation, innovative IT solutions are to create a paradigm shift in the distribution of information at the same time. In the past, information was sent to staff via the existing distribution lists almost automatically, however, in future, every staff member will themselves have the opportunity of subscribing to the table of contents of periodicals of their own choosing – in line with personal work areas – and of receiving these in good time. At the same time, current specialist articles from publications are also to be made available to a wider readership.
A Gradual Approach to an Ideal Solution
In the search for a technical system solution that can be integrated into existing library management software and which also reduces the administrative burden, the library managers came upon Hermes Digital.
The document delivery system was developed by Zeutschel, specialists in digitisation solutions based in Tübingen, and electronically displays all the administrative steps relating to ordering and provision of information. Hermes Digital is a server-based software solution with an intuitive web interface for semi-automatic capture, administration, processing and distribution of scan orders to originating institutions and for automatic delivery of digitised documents.
Following a current state analysis by Zeutschel, a comprehensive list of requirements was jointly drawn up, detailing integration into the existing library infrastructure as well as the kind of functionalities desired.
In designing the concept for the Landeskirchliche Zentralbibliothek in Stuttgart-Möhringen, a further point needed to be taken into consideration, this was to include a mid-term solution regarding integration of the building in Birkach, a branch located in the Evangelical Training Centre (EBZ) with a stock focusing on religious education and practical theology. The first step in the project was completed in mid-2011, permitting all those registered with the LKZB to order specialist articles and papers from the collection of periodicals. A common user pass was introduced in March 2012, also making this possible for registered users of the library in Birkach. From 2014, substantive and technical requirements will be in place that will also permit article orders to be processed in the library of Haus Birkach using Hermes Digital and will also permit newspaper articles to be ordered which are only in stock in the Birkach library.
Automated Workflows
Library users will be able to receive information regarding new, digitised periodical table of contents via RSS feeds on a regular basis. All the digitised tables of contents will also be clearly structured and published on the library’s homepage.
If a library user finds an interesting article, he can use a link to directly access the order form.
This form completes the journal’s title, volume and issue number automatically, the user then only needs to enter the requested article’s title, author and page number.
After this, the user registers using his library card’s user number and accompanying password, places his order in the shopping cart and subsequently has the option to add further orders or to complete the order.
If the completed and sent order cannot be immediately found in the library owing to incomplete or wrong bibliographic data, it lands in a central processing station for inspection. Once all the necessary conditions have been met, the order is registered and then transferred to the “signed orders” folder.
Depending upon where the original document is located – in the LKZB in Stuttgart-Möhringen or in the Stuttgart-Birkach branch – the purchase order is sent to the printer located at the relevant site, assigned a barcode and printed out as an order form. The librarian staff member goes to the periodical rack with the order form and retrieves the desired volume.
The LKZB is equipped with a Zeutschel overhead scanner which is gentle to original documents and the Birkach library is looking to make a similar purchase. The Omniscan scanning software and Hermes Digital are directly linked, ensuring efficient workflow. After scanning the barcode, the librarian staff member can see all key data pertaining to the order. Once the scan job is completed, Hermes Digital automatically uploads the digitised article to a server. Copyright permitting, the electronic delivery can be downloaded from the internet, the user is sent the address via e-mail stating where the article can be retrieved. He only needs to click on the link in the notification e-mail. Documents are generally delivered in a PDF format. If copyright prevents this, then the user is sent a paper copy by post. If the library is unable to make a delivery, perhaps because the periodical volume is at the bookbinders or some other similar reason, the user is notified by e-mail. The library usually processes orders within three working days.
The delivery service is free for members of the Evangelical Oberkirchenrat (Supreme Church Council) in Stuttgart and the two branches in Haus Birkach and the Evangelical Academy in Bad Boll, all other registered users pay 0.10 euros per digital or analogue copy (per page) plus any necessary delivery charges.
The status of scan orders can be retrieved at any time via the Hermes Digital web interface using a standard web browser. Complaints can be handled quickly and easily as the original image and order data are temporarily retained and archived. Administration of the Hermes Digital server can also be carried out using the web interface. A statistics module permits targeted analyses according to customer groups, lead times, delivery locations, volumes as well as other criteria. Accounting information can be transferred directly to third-party systems for invoicing purposes.
Future-Proofing Included
According to Lütjen, it became clear during the course of the project that replacing the classic periodical circulation with an electronic delivery service would require serious changes in behaviour on the part of the library users concerned.
“Suddenly having to rely exclusively on electronic media instead of the usual print editions is not as ad hoc advantageous to every user”, he points out. In his opinion, it is essential the library actively promotes its new services, combining this with practical training, clearly explaining how it operates and what the advantages of the new system are. Interested libraries must also be aware that as acceptance grows so too will the number of electronic orders and to such an extent that it will place increased demands on the library’s human resources. This is particularly true regarding management of digitisation tasks.
Nevertheless, two years productive operation later, Lütjen’s conclusion is positive. “After initial scepticism, the feedback we are now hearing from our customers is much more positive. In terms of catalogue enrichment, our central catalogue has now created an additional option whereby copies of articles can be ordered directly or as digital copies.”
Using this method, all bibliographic information from the regional church central catalogue can even be directly transferred to Hermes Digital automatically.
“The Landeskirchliche Zentralbibliothek Stuttgart has catalogued approximately 180,000 articles over the past few years, these could recently be entered into the Südwestverbund (SWB = South West Association). As a result, thanks to cooperation with the Index Theologicus (lxTheo) of the University Library of Tübingen, we now additionally get large numbers of article data from periodicals. We do indeed have these in stock but our human resources are not nearly sufficient to catalogue these in a formal and realistic manner”, Lütjen is quietly confident about the cooperation expanding.
He feels well equipped with regard to gradual system expansion. The modular design of Hermes Digital means that functionality can be expanded in order to meet growing demands. Scalability through the server enables scanning to start with one scan station and for the number of scanners to be increased at any time as needs arise.
Short Information on Application
The Landeskirchliche Zentralbibliothek Stuttgart is able to overcome the disadvantages of traditional periodical circulation by using Zeutschel’s electronic document delivery system Hermes Digital and by making the content of selected specialist magazines available much more quickly to a significantly wider readership. Interesting articles can be found using the digitised table of contents on one’s own PC, ordered and quickly received either in electronic form or as a paper document.
OSCAR – Software for Digitisation Tasks
Hermes Digital is an integral part of OSCAR. The Zeutschel range of software applications and related services has been designed for implementing a diverse range of digital library services. The solution provider from Tübingen wants to help libraries master even complex digitisation workflows competently. Goobi ZED permits users to control and manage the entire workflow processes of mass digitisation projects consolidated in a single platform. Additional OSCAR applications include the scan software “Omniscan” and the OS QM tool for productive quality management by means of a Universal Test Target (UTT), a current calibration pattern.
Landeskirchliche Zentralbibliothek (LKZB) Stuttgart (Regional Church Central Library Stuttgart)
The Landeskirchliche Zentralbibliothek is spread over three locations, Stuttgart-Möhringen (LKZB), Stuttgart-Birkach (EBK, Haus Birkach) and Bad Boll (Evangelical Academy) and is the largest theological specialised library within the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). It provides literature and information to all employees of the Württemberg Regional Church. In addition, it is open to parishioners, students, pupils and all those interested in church or theological issues irrespective of denomination and national borders. The LKZB location in Stuttgart-Möhringen has a stock of approximately 250,000 media and around 500 current periodicals. The subject of the collection mainly concerns theology with all coterminous fields such as ecclesiastical history, canon law, philosophy, religious studies, psychology, music and art.