Library introduces new Franklin system

When students return to Van Pelt Library to hit the books after summer vacation, they will be greeted by improvements to the Franklin online catalogue and the circulation system. Library officials chose the system software over a year ago and have been working with Endeavor Information Systems to implement the new technology ever since, according to Associate Director of Libraries Patricia Renfro. Because the upgrades involved transferring information on 2.8 million books and 48,000 library patrons and required the assistance of every staff member in every library, Renfro explained that it had to be done during a vacation period. "This is the only time we have changed the circulation, cataloguing, and acquisitions all at once rather than module by module and piece by piece," Renfro explained. "This is not the kind of change you want to make in the middle of a semester when it would be much more disruptive." The new version of Franklin designed for the World Wide Web uses point-and-click graphical interface and incorporates direct links to journals and other resources on the web. Jane Bryan -- Head of Reference for Van Pelt -- explained that the web version of Franklin also includes several new search functions, such as journal title searching to access periodicals and a keyword search option which ranks results by relevance. And while the original Franklin printed only one record per page, the new version is capable of printing several records on a page. Patrons whose computers are not capable of supporting Netscape can use the telnet version of Franklin. Bryan noted that the telnet version can search by author, title, subject, journal title and keyword with ranking and is faster than the web version, but noted that it does not include graphics or links. The introduction of the new Franklin coincides with improvements to the library circulation system. Patrons can now use the telnet version to view their records -- including checked out books and fines -- without going to the circulation desk, and this feature will be added to the web version in the near future. Patrons will soon be able to use Franklin to recall books as well. Joe Zucca -- Executive Assistant to the Vice Provost for Libraries -- explained that the University is a test site for Endeavor's latest online catalogue software, which allows the University to get the latest software improvements first and "brings us very up to date in our technology." But he said that there are also glitches in the system which need to be reported and fixed, and noted that the library website includes a form where patrons can suggest ways to modify and improve the system. "We will be working closely with Endeavor to really sharpen the new technology," he said. "We have an opportunity to shape the product and influence the software designers to make the system responsive to patron needs."

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