CODI News

Customers of Dynix, Incorporated

Editor's Note: Please send submissions for the next issue of "CODI News" by January 14, 2000 to Caren Soltysiak, Newsletter Editor, csoltysi@nslslilus.org

Send mailing changes and other pertinent inquiries to: Frances Orton, CODI Membership Services Coordinator, 381 W. 3700 N., Provo, UT 84604. 801-226-6054. codi@uswest.net

Table of Contents

NOTE:  Some contents are restricted to current CODI members only.
If you did not receive a login ID and password, please contact 
Frances Orton, CODI Membership Services Coordinator, at codi@uswest.net

•   President's Letter

•  CODI Past-President’s Letter

• The Acquisition of Ameritech Library Services by an investor group

• Dialogue from the Federated User Group Board [restricted to CODI members only]

• Correspondence between Lana Porter and the Federated User Group Board [restricted to CODI members only]

•  CODI Board Meeting Minutes – August 11, 1999  [restricted to CODI members only]

• CODI Draft Budget Meeting – August 16, 1999  [restricted to CODI members only]

• CODI Board Meeting Minutes - September 15, 1999  [restricted to CODI members only]

• CODI International News - DUG-UK

•  CODI International News - CODA

• HUG Meeting, Kansas City

•  Notes from the HUG Conference

•  CODI Board of Trustees 1999-2000

• CODI Meets the Millennium

• Susanne Woodford's Letter to CODI

• Editorial Musings

"CODI, heading into the millennium"

 President’s Letter

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Welcome to the November issue of the CODI Newsletter. There have been many news items since the last issue that are of particular interest to the membership. As you all know, Susanne Woodford has resigned her position as President. The entire Board wishes her well in her new position at King County Library System. Please be assured that we are carrying our work for the membership forward. Our main focus has always been the welfare of our members and we will continue on our course.

With the recent announcement of the sale of Ameritech Library Services, the Board will be exploring what changes, if any, will affect the customers. This very important announcement will take a lot of thought and exploration on our part. It is far too early to say what the ramifications will be, but be assured that the CODI Board will keep the membership well informed and will represent your interests first. Those of us attending the HUG conference will be meeting with Lana Porter and will report back to you.

In the months to come we will be addressing issues identified in the last membership survey. We will be evaluating those surveys and drafting a document for the membership to review. The objectives that you identified as important to your libraries will be the focus of our work in the coming months.  

We have made great strides in forming close working relationships with our sister organizations worldwide. This Board will continue that work. Our partners around the globe bring fresh perspectives and insights that will benefit CODI. We hope we, as well, will bring ideas to them. When we speak as one we truly are heard. With this shared voice we can work with Ameritech to make a better product.

Since I am serving a dual role on the Board I will be leaning very heavily on my very competent colleagues. Take some time to become familiar with all of the names of the Board officers and At-Large members. Any and all of us would be happy to hear from you.

You will see the Conference Report later in this issue, but keep in mind that the success of the conference depends on your participation and attendance. We want to see as many of you as possible making presentations. Contact John Hurley, Program Chair with your ideas. It is not too late to get a slot in the program. Ameritech has some very exciting presentations planned. As we all consider the eventual move toward the Sunrise product, we must become familiar with the issues involved.

I thank you all for your letters of support. My leap into the CODI presidency has come a bit earlier than I planned but with your help and the help of the Board and ALS I know we can do great things.

Eileen R. Kontrovitz

Acting President, Customers of Dynix, Inc.

CODI Past-President's Letter

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 Standing at the Front of the Line for the Harvest…

About this time each year academic librarians grit their teeth and find a small knot in a rope to hang on to, hoping to last through to the end of the semester.  I've never quite figured out what public librarians do, if it's that you have better teeth, or a longer rope, or more knots, but I do know you all know the feeling and the effort that it takes to get from point A on the calendar to point B.  And I do know that relatively few public librarians disappear for weeks on end after the last grades are turned in to recover from the stress!

All joking aside, when is a good time to ask someone for help?  Surely the month of November in anyone's day planner is not a restful, quiet time.  I can't imagine any library directors or system administrators jumping up and down on the top of their server and raising their hands over their heads shrieking, "me, me, choose me!" like a field of volunteer corn stalks amid a crop of soybeans!  (If anyone is seen shrieking, waving their hands, or tap-dancing on top of their server, please have your supervisor call me immediately at 316-235-4115!) 

But as CODI once again cycles through the necessities outlined in our Bylaws, the time approaches to think of new officer nominations for terms beginning in Summer 2000.  This, of course, is also an affirmation that we will survive Y2K, as it would appear that the CODI Bylaws are Y2K-compliant as far as we can tell J

When is it a good time to volunteer?  Volunteering for any position can be thought of in two different views:  do you ever have a good time to get wisdom teeth pulled? Have a car accident?  Have your furnace go out?  Or is volunteering more like making time to have children?  Take a honeymoon?  Move to a new job?  Maybe now's the time to talk to your director about completely reclassifying your Dewey library to LC call numbers?

Ideally, one might volunteer if one is bored, but most system administrators and directors that I know haven't been bored since, oh, maybe, the summer after they graduated from college.  There is much truth to the old adage, if you need something done, give it to someone who does a lot already.  Do-ers, overachievers, type-A personalities, or generally successful people often tend to be organized, passionately committed to service, and full of energy that they freely share and contagiously spread to their colleagues.  That said, we always need to keep reality in check:  we need to know our limits, we need to acknowledge our creaky bones (at least those of us over 40!), and we need to learn when to say when for both our time and abilities if we become ineffective and distracted from the tasks we hold dear.  Knowing when this reality needs to be acknowledged is one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves in today's busy world, the knowledge of knowing when to let other colleagues carry the baton for a race or two.

All that being said, CODI needs passionate and committed officers and volunteers for our Board each and every year.  Despite our own complicated day jobs, the CODI organization needs committed and visionary leaders to carry CODI into the New Millennium.  The challenges are many:  new product design, global user group cooperation, and new strategic alliances with our sister Horizon User Group.   Like our own day jobs, the CODI officers grapple with contracts, accountants, lawyers, conference planners, negotiations, and budgets.  Ten years ago CODI users sat around a sofa and started to get organized.  Ten years later, today, we're organized all right, with significant structure and a need for Board members who are able and willing to take on many of the same tasks that we do in our daily work. 

Those among you with previous regional or state-wide library committee experience may know the administrative demands of such positions.  Library directors are highly adept at balancing multiple demands and budget issues.  System administrators bring skills of passion for the product and development, clear understanding of implementation and support issues, dogged persistence and meticulous reporting and tracking of issues which we do daily with our own software.  Even non-directors and non-system administrators can contribute to the CODI Board with skills in analysis, great fiction writing (okay, I know a lot of you are really closet English majors), persistent communication, and keen understanding of user and public service issues.

The challenges, administratively, for CODI in the next three years will be both technical and service-oriented.  Changes will occur to the organization in a global sense, and will require respectful alliances with colleagues from across the world.  The passionate understanding of our product must continue to drive our desire for improvement in customer service, product development, and be the source of our continued positive energy and relationship with our parent company. 

And finally, do you come to CODI to get wisdom teeth extracted, or do you come to enjoy and glean satisfaction from your job, your duties, and your hopes for the future? All Board members can tell you now, we don't do this for the money.  The commitment of our Board, committee chairs, and past Boards, has been one of service:  to our family of users that span the globe, and our commitment to improve our product. 

These are big shoes.  You know, though, one person can't fit into them.  Generally it takes about 8, sometimes more with added committee chairs.   Our conference committees are good examples of opportunities to test your stamina and skill in working with others.  The skills each Board member brings to the whole of the organization generally complement the skills of the others.  Teamwork such as this fosters camaraderie, and when camaraderie gets on a roll, there's no stopping it, no limits to what it can achieve. 

As you slog home tonight through falling leaves, slush, or just the weight of another day's tasks, do take a moment and ask yourself if a Board position in the year 2000 is something that excites you, something that stirs you, and something you would indeed like take on.  As Nominations Chair, I'll begin looking for all those stalks of volunteer corn standing on the top of the server waving their arms with smiles on their faces in the next few weeks.  The harvest is rich, the rewards are priceless.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Susan Johns / CODI Past President / (Masquerading as the Nominations Chair) 

The Acquisition of Ameritech Library Services by an Investor Group

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Thank you, Eileen, for the invitation to contribute a personal note to the CODI newsletter about our recent announcement of the acquisition of ALS by an investor group. You asked me to give your members an “insider’s perspective” on this important news.

I’m gratified by the positive feedback coming from ALS customers. It seems to take some of you back to the early years when Dynix, Inc. charted its own course so successfully. We want to recapture the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit of those early years, enriched by the breadth of experience we’ve earned. Ultimately, the success of our new company will be measured by how creatively and dependably we deliver what you need.

More than a year ago, I knew that the stars had aligned for ALS and for me personally to take the company to a new level in its evolution—for several reasons. ALS was stronger than it had ever been in its history, both financially and in terms of leadership and creative talent. We were managing our business responsibly, showing consistent, modest profits. Thanks to the dedication of ALS employees, we had weathered some tough times and had come through determined to make the company even better. I was also impressed by the vision of ALS employees for new products to help libraries thrive in an Internet world.

The merger between SBC and Ameritech was under consideration, meaning that we would eventually have new reporting lines within one of the largest corporations in the world. The 520+ employees of ALS would become a tiny part of the more than 240,000-combined SBC/Ameritech employee base—a sobering reality! In addition, ALS would have been the only software application company within the new corporation. Given these facts, it became clear that we needed to win our independence sooner rather than later.

For me, this move represents the end of a satisfying twenty-three-year career with Ameritech. But I’ve found the last three years with Ameritech Library Services to be the most fulfilling yet. I enjoy working with our customer libraries, our employees, and the library industry to bring about positive changes for your user communities. I admire the missionary zeal and dedication you bring to your role as information providers in a democratic society. At the end of the day, I’m proud to help libraries accomplish these goals.

For all these reasons, it was the right time for ALS to become a private, independent company again. After quietly considering a number of possibilities, we were very fortunate to locate the right backers in 21^st Century Group and Green Leaf Ridge Company, who support our plans to invest in aggressive development. I’m pleased to become the president of the new company, as well as an equity owner, as we take this next step together. 

I look forward to talking with your membership at the CODI conference in Tampa, Florida. I wish all of you happy holidays and the very best in the coming new year and millennium.

Dialogue from the Federated User Group Board

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Correspondence between Lana Porter and the Federated User Group Board

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CODI Board Meeting Minutes

August 11, 1999 / Electronic Chat Room, 2 – 4:20 p.m. CST

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CODI Draft Budget meeting minutes

August 16, 1999 / Conference call meeting

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CODI Board Meeting Minutes 

              September 15, 1999 / Telephone conference call

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CODI International News --  DUG-UK

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Dynix Users Group/Horizon Users Group

Annual Conference and AGM / September 1-3, 1999, University of Wales, Swansea, Wales, UK

The weather was better than expected for my journey to DUG-UK (Dynix/Horizon Users Group) annual conference at University of Swansea, Wales.  It was sunny and warm (70-80 degrees) and no rain unlike Seattle!  Dynix and Horizon clients from all parts of the UK come together for two and half days of networking, sharing of information and renewing friendships similar to CODI conferences.  By the end of my stay, many people became friends who have an interest in sharing information between our libraries and countries.  This conference is a joint conference between DUG-UK and HUG-UK. It is on a smaller scale than CODI with 100 attendees from both users group, which I found quite refreshing.  At each meal, I sat at a different table in order to meet as many as I could during the conference. It was nice to put faces to the names of those that often contribute to Dynix_L on a regular basis. A warm, friendly welcome I received from all.

(Photo 1) J.D. Hardy and Peter Cousins, South Bank University at the Ameritech Library Services Mugs displays created by DUG-UK.

The conference committee consisted of the executive board members from both groups. I met Brian Hackett, HUG-UK Chair, George Geddes, HUG-UK Secretary and Paul Keightley, HUG-UK Treasurer, as well as,  Steven Heywood, DUG Newsletter Editor, Kathryn McKee, DUG Secretary, Andrew Muirhead, DUG Treasure, Chris Pearce, Conference co-ordinator, Lesley Ray, DUG Chair and Rob Smith, Vice-Chair at the pre-conference dinner on Tuesday, August 31^st.. Before leaving Seattle, I had the opportunity to exchange email between Lesley Ray, DUG-UK, Chair and Chris Pearce, Local Arrangements, from Neath Port Talbot CBC (public) who provided me with lots of local information for my short stay in Wales after conference.  Both Dynix and Horizon users had separate tracks for specific software, but met together for meals and the general sessions given by Ameritech Library Services staff which provided an opportunity to meet and talk with both Dynix and Horizon users.  Scott Wheelhouse, VP of Product Management, gave the keynote address on "The Big Picture - Amlibs Strategy for the Millennium and beyond".  Gretchen Freeman presented many sessions on product development along with key players in UK, Donna Hinton, Product Manager and Chris Ezekiel, Sales and Marketing Director.  I enjoyed meeting Liz Finlayson, Amlibs' Director of International Implementation Centre, too.

Several presentations really caught my interest. I was impressed by various approaches to Dynix software now in use in the UK. Gill Hamilton from Napier University on using (JAVA) WebPAC to support Distance Learning. Paul Mansfield, Cardiff County Council (public) created a bilingual OPAC giving instant language translation between English and Welsh.  Andrew Muirhead, Stirling Council Libraries (public) presented on the topic of small village libraries using Dynix.  Since my library system has large to small (5000 square feet or less in size) libraries, it is rewarding to see other patrons using their libraries  at a high percentage rate.  In addition, Joint Application Development (JAD) work done by Mike Surr, Sheffield Libraries, Archives and Information (public) on cash management. I enjoyed learning about training issues from Susan Williamson, West Lothian Libraries (public) and Joy Drever, Sheffield Libraries, Archives and Information.

On Thursday, I presented on Horizon/Sunrise decision based on a sampling of public libraries in Washington State that was well received. Sunrise_L information was enthusiastically received as well.  Marge Freeman's JAD report was published in the latest DUG newsletter. Participation by DUG-UK in the Good Ideas database is somewhat limited because the UK Internet connections are based on fees to access web sites outside the UK.  Hopefully, as e-commerce becomes as common as cellular phones, everyone can participate more readily. 

Overall, the conference setting, planning and food was outstanding!  All meals were included in the registration fee. The first of two evening meals included a traditional Welsh flavor with roast lamb, stories and songs.

The next evening was held at Dylan Thomas Centre (recently completed museum of Dylan Thomas' life and works) for another lovely meal and presentation by Roy Noble.

It was a pleasure to meet several DUG representatives who have attended a CODI conference in the past years.

Helen Wright from Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, George Kerr, West Lothian Libraries (Scotland) whose willingness to play a round golf, was lots of fun, Kathryn McKee, St John's College, Cambridge was good to see again, and Rob Smith, DUG Vice-Chair, who along with Lesley Ray did an admirable job as conference co-chairs.  

I wish to thank Elinor Le Bourdon and Sally Wilkinson from Trinity College, Carmarthen, Wales, for their wonderful hospitality and time given to show me Welsh castles and area on the Saturday following  the conference. 

In closing, it was an honor for me to represent the CODI Board and membership at this conference.  I thank CODI for giving me this enriching opportunity. It was rewarding for me to meet other Dynix users that have the same problems and strive for expedient solutions that we can all benefit from in the future.  DUG-UK/HUG-UK conference for 2000 is planned for Stirling University, Scotland.  Another lovely location, I bet!

Respectfully submitted,

Susanne L. Woodford / CODI President – 1999 / susannew@kcls.org

 CODI International News --  CODA

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 1999 CODA Conference / Report from the CODI representative / Marjorie M. Freeman

The Conference took place in Townsville, Queensland, Australia on the 27^th to 29^th of September at the Mercure Inn.    Approximately 85 Dynix and Horizon users took part in the meeting, as well as Ameritech staff members.  Representing the Ameritech  home office was Shelley Neville.

The main concern of most of the participants was the anticipated change to the new Sunrise software and a great deal of time was spent on the timetables and costs associated with this change.   The pricing structure that was announced gives credit for already installed products and modules:  100% credit for ConnectLib and Web products and 50% for existing Dynix modules.   There will be no cost to Horizon users since Sunrise is basically an upgrade of the Horizon software.   Relicensing  of simultaneous users will be a cost for Dynix users.  For Dynix users it has been estimated that the software maintenance costs will drop by close to 30%. It is anticipated that the  full range of modules will be available in Sunrise software within two years or by the end of 2001.  Additionally Dynix sites will need to budget for training of the System Administrator in Sysbase and SQL before the change is made to Sunrise.

Bob Claxton of Ameritech reported that the return of the Australian Office General Manager to the States was something that had been in the planning for some time as part of a move to shorten the chain of command back to the Provo office.  He stressed that the input of the international clients was even more important than ever as demonstrated by their inclusion in the development process through JAD.  He also announced that the Horizon product is selling very well in China because it can handle CJK characters.  This was developed by the Australian office.

Ameritech provided demonstrations of their new software products during a number of sessions on the first two days of the conference including:

• UNICODE searching on Horizon - this allows the use of CJK characters and English in the same database.  This will be part of Horizon 6.0 in the States.
• Patron Access limiting through PAC for Windows and WEB PAC that will allow limits on sites and amounts of time for different categories of Patrons.
• Patron authentication to check who may access certain databases.
• URL checker will be available in Dynix release 181 and will check the validity of field 856 from the MARC Bib record and report those that are no longer valid.
• EDI is now EDIfac compliant in Dynix release 180; orders can be sent and invoices can be received back.
• Auto checkin of items with a conveyor that sorts the books to trucks for shelving will soon be available.
• Dynix release 181 will be available in February of 2000 and will include the URL checker, improvements to holds, and improvements to serial summaries.
• The Sunrise staff work station was demonstrated.  Currently this is limited to cataloging functions but the acquisitions component is under development.
• Brief comments on the Resource Sharing software, Telecirc II, and PC Reliance were offered.
• English Wizard is a product from an other company that Ameritech is offering  that allows data warehousing  and report generation was shown.  This is like the BiblioStat product being offered in the U.S.

CODA President Margaret Nicholas gave a very thoughtful session on preparing for the future entitled “What’s on the horizon?”  She addressed the need for libraries to have a technology plan and that we must realize that any plan will change within a short time.  She also dealt with the options to be considered for automation paths and how to prepare for the changes these decisions will bring. 

I gave a presentation of the JAD process and how international sites can take part in the development of new software.  I was pleased that a number of the JAD’s included participants from Australia and they spoke favorably of their experience.  They were also glad to know that the enhancement ideas they had contributed to CODI-ED were now included in the Good Ideas database.  Several expressed interest in contributing ideas to Good ideas since they have ideas they would like to see included in new software.   Several questions arose dealing with how software is tested and why southern hemisphere sites had not been asked in the past.  I explained how the new JAD process makes testing a world-wide possibility now which had been difficult in the past.  From this discussion an additional session developed where I talked about what it is like to be a beta test site and how features are tested.  Several sites told me that they thought that anyone who tested was very “brave” and that they appreciated knowing that a real client checked the software before it was released.  I felt very good about the sessions and the way in which CODI and CODA are working together.

The business meeting made the following decisions:

The group supported continued dialog with the other Dynix and Horizon groups as they pursue a closer federation

They elected  the following:

President -   Margareta Nicholas 

                        Treasurer -   Don Ray

                        Secretary -   Margaret Kennedy

                        Representative to the CODI meeting - Margareta Nicholas

The next meeting will be in Canberra in late October  2000.

Some general observations are that the group is so much smaller than CODI that it knows personally most of the other CODA members as well as the Ameritech staff and this makes for a more relaxed meeting.   They are much more likely to call Ameritech to account when they think something is not working well or information is unclear.   The Dynix and Horizon clients generally do not feel the need to cite their differences, rather they stress that they are both trying to work toward the best software.  Each did have a session that dealt with their software and they called this session “Silly questions”  Most of the questions were not silly but dealt with clients wanting to maximize their use of the software.

On the fun side of things I must say that they gave some wonderful teas on the patio, provided a great place to meet, and without exception  were delightful people to meet.   The banquet was held at the Reef Aquarium and allowed us to get a look at the corals and fish  from a nocturnal perspective that was truly beautiful.  On the last day visits to area Dynix and Horizon libraries provided an insight into the fact that libraries operate much the same way throughout the world.

Special thanks go to CODA President Margareta Nicholas for her hospitality and friendship.  And very special thanks go to Mike Shearer of James Cook University who was the site coordinator for the meeting and who also acted as a tour guide for Margareta and me for several days after the conference.

My thanks to CODI for sending me to Australia and for the opportunity to attend the CODA meeting.

Marjorie M. Freeman / JAD Coordinator for CODI

HUG Meeting, Kansas City

November 8-11, 1999

Submitted by Eileen R. Kontrovitz, CODI President

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The meeting got off to a good start with the General Session on Monday, November 8^th. The keynote speaker, Landon Rowland, gave a talk about information theory as developed at Bell Labs. He sent us home with assignments to look up the works of Claude Shannon and relate them to 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics. My son, the Engineer, tried to explain it to me but, alas, I am an English Major!

John Opgaard, former President of HUG now a Dynix user, gave a presentation titled Partnerships to Success. He discussed the alternatives facing us all as the products move toward merging. He had many good points to make about possible scenarios for merging of the user groups. He urged the membership to get involved through active participation.

Lana Porter spoke about ALS today. It is the market leader with 7600 libraries worldwide. Financially it is on a strong footing with 11 straight quarters of profitability. The employee and management team is strong and will continue with the company after the separation from Ameritech. Lana was quite candid about her reasons for staying with the library division. She revealed that she felt ALS needed to be on its own as it was only a very small portion of an already large corporate giant. With the SMC merger she felt it might be lost or even sold out from under the management team.

She worked very hard to find the right match for the buyout. The two firms, 21^st Century and Green Leaf Ridge will be the “bankers”. The current management, with Lana at the helm, will make all of the decisions for growth and development. They are in this for a long-term investment. She, as CEO, is a member of their Board but does not have to “ask permission” to make necessary decisions.

The immediate plans are to increase the staff by 10% and choose a new name and logo. R & D will increase and get products to market faster. International staff will be increased as well. More strategic partnerships are planned.  These are all the “good news” items. To quote Lana, “The bad news is – there is no bad news.” We should see some additional press releases, changes on the web page and a customer letter with a Q & A section.

Susan Johns, Bob Gale and I met with Kit Darling and Jim Forrester, CANDU representatives, to discuss possible merger. Bob will be exploring the Bylaws issues. Several items need to be clarified such as the escrow issue. We are making very good progress toward a consensus. Representation on the Board and how that position will be filled was discussed. On the whole, I feel we are very close to joining with our Canadian neighbors and hope to have concrete proposals to present to the membership soon.

On Tuesday, Susan, Bob and I had a private meeting with Lana Porter. We discussed the sale of ALS in detail. Some of the interesting statistics she shared with us was that there are still 100 NOTIS libraries. While the NOTIS product will no longer be developed it will be supported for “years”. 15 ARL libraries are using Dynix software. There are 600 sites on Horizon, 6000 on Dynix (representing 5000 libraries). It will conservatively take 5 to 8 years to upgrade all of the Dynix libraries to Sunrise. Dynix will continued to be developed during that time and will be supported for an additional five years after development ends. So, as you can see, there is no need for any library to feel pressured to move immediately. ALS is preparing a comparison between Horizon and Dynix software. Ricc Ferrante and Shelley Neville are working on this. It will be reviewed by users of both groups. The product plan for Dynix is due out in early December.  Lana promised to write a personal message to the membership about the sale and related issues.

The HUG Business Meeting was interesting to attend. There is an overall increase in membership of 42 libraries. This reflects both new systems and migrations from Dynix users. Brian Hackett gave a report from the International Committee. He talked briefly about the formation of the HUGCODIFD listserv so that all of the various Board members could discuss issues of mutual concern. The HUG Board decided to disband as a committee and create a Memorandum of Understanding. The HUG Board recommended that a committee of all groups be formed. A web site is being developed for the Federation.

On Wednesday, Scott Wheelhouse, from ALS, gave a truly stunning presentation on where the new company is headed. He feels there will be sensitivity to customers and industry to develop the product and help in pricing structures. Today Amlibs has 35,000 servers worldwide, 6 offices and 5 distributors. They are exploring increased partnerships with third party companies to interface with ALS software. Some of the ideas are partnering with smart card technology, thin client software, facilities management and Vantive and People Soft deployment worldwide.

Scott talked about taking libraries beyond the year 2000 in the most exciting ways. ALS envisions this as four areas revolving around PAC. First, Internet delivery will mean an “E-everything world.” Telecom networks will carry e-data and services will replace products. E-commerce will be a part of the services we will provide our patrons. Second, Online content will bring knowledge directly to patrons through E-book technology. With the advent of products like the SoftBook and Rocket eBook libraries will need to make downloading available. In a nutshell, partnerships with other companies and decisions on rights management, patron authentication and print on demand will all need to be resolved. Imagine a world when patrons can either check out a book or an E-book with the same transaction being credited to circulation. The third item Scott talked about was Internet portals. Patrons, from PACs using smart cards like the new American Express Blue, can choose self-services items and custom services. If the library does not own the book of interest the patron can dynamically connect to a commercial service like Amazon.com and buy the book. Then he can choose to donate it to the library after he reads it and get a printed receipt for tax purposes. On-the-fly language translation and data warehousing was also discussed. The fourth and last item was ubiquitous access. Anywhere, anytime, any device access from school or campus or the Net will be possible.Scott's presentation was the most exciting thing I attended at HUG and he will be giving an updated version at CODI 2000.

Ricc Ferrante gave a detailed report on the various Horizon releases and their dates of delivery. Version 5.3 is due out in December, 6.0 in June of 2000, and 7.0 in the 4^th quarter of 2000. Version 6.0 will be needed for Sunrise Cataloging, Staff Searching and Launcher. Version 7.0 will be needed for Sunrise Circulation and Java WebPAC 2.0. Sunrise Acquisitions and Serials are due out at the end of 2001. Jed Gilmore suggested that the minimum requirements for PCs running Horizon is a Pentium. However, he said that libraries should buy as much as they can afford to in order to run efficiently. Either NT or Windows 2000 will need to be run on each workstation.  They are considering ODBC for future development. UNICODE is also being looked at.

Wednesday afternoon, the CODI members attending HUG met with ALS representatives to discuss future plans. Jed Gilmore suggested that the time frame for consideration of migration should be when a library anticipates a large increase in users or the installation of a new box. Quite a bit of detail about extracting information from the PICK database to be put into SQL was discussed. When you are on track to upgrade the platform is a good time to make the commitment to Sunrise on a “timetable of your choosing.” In other words, a library can sign a contract to make the move be schedule that move even a year or two down the road. Discounts and specials will be given to libraries that make the commitment to continue staying with the company.

Release 181, scheduled sometime in Feb. 2000, will have some new features like Executive Information System. EIS will allow you to pull out data and load it onto third party software like SQL to run reports. It will also have a URL checking utility.

Notes from the Horizon User Group Conference

CODI Members:  Living in the Present, Future, and Future Perfect Tense

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Needless to say, CODI Board members attending the recent Horizon User Group Conference in Kansas City found the annual conference abuzz with changes announced recently at Ameritech Library Services.   Bob Gale, CODI Bylaws Chair; Eileen Kontrovitz, CODI Acting President; and I attended, aided and supported by our Canadian colleagues Kit Darling, CANDU President, and Jim Forrester, CANDU Past-President. 

Kansas City provided sunny temptations to leave the darkened 65F conference rooms, and we often retreated out into fiercely sunny 82F and windy atypical November Kansas weather.  The atmosphere this year, in comparison to last year, could also easily be classified as "sunny" in many ways.  One always has the sense that the whole world could pass by after three days of living in a conference hotel and one would never know what happened on the other side of the world, let alone across the street.  Thankfully the HUG Conference gave us focus and tapped into the natural sun energy and provided us with a great deal of insight into our future products, as well as our future as peer user groups.

Three specific programs were hammered out by the respective three Boards while the HUG Conference was underway.  Between sessions, during sessions, during breakfasts, lunch, dinners, and the usual late-evening banter, the CODI, HUG, and CANDU Board members found opportunities for outlining present and future goals for their respective membership groups.  These can be perhaps more easily understood in a grammatical sense, designated by a) the  "present tense" (goals we hope to accomplish within the next six months); b)  the "future tense" (goals we hope to accomplish in the next year or two); and c) the "future perfect tense" (goals we hope to accomplish to forge longer-term relationships, programs, and initiatives.

In our "present tense", many of you know that CANDU members have authorized their Board to explore merger issues, or an amalgamation, with CODI, effectively making the CODI organization a "North American" group in scope.   As Kit and Jim were already attending HUG, the CODI Board capitalized on their presence and had Bob Gale, our  CODI Bylaws Chair, joined us at HUG for these discussions.   Bylaws changes will be needed in order to bring about this successful merger in Spring 2000, but much progress and positive negotiation was realized at HUG.  CANDU members currently number 42, with a possible 113 Canadian library sites that may potentially join forces with the CODI organization.   More information on these negotiations, and the required Bylaws modifications, will be forthcoming for our members at the Tampa Conference.

In our immediate "future tense", many of you are also aware of a "federation" of global users.  The first step last year towards a global federation goal was to provide a discussion forum for all Board members by using a listserver, some 50-60 people at any one given time, who serve on the Boards of the international and U.S. user groups for both Dynix and Horizon products. The ability to communicate easily, routinely and informally by email with these Boards, including the HUG Board, was a very good and successful first step, evidenced this year by the more cordial rapport among the U.S. HUG and CODI Board members.   The "federation", however needs to go beyond the U.S.-based groups in order to be truly effective, and as you will see elsewhere in this newsletter, several cooperative initiatives were undertaken in early summer 1999 by the combined user group Boards.   The initial "federation" proposal was brought to the HUG Board last year by Brian Hackett, UK HUG President.   The proposal was well received, but did not take into account the closer paths of the Dynix and Horizon products, and was originally intended only for Horizon international users.  It was clear that a federation of users needed to include both Dynix and Horizon users in order to have the maximum effect.  To this end, our "future tense" builds on the federation concept to a less formal "Memorandum of Understanding", which will be proposed to all global user groups.  This "Memorandum" will be drafted within the next 3-6 months.  When in place, the "Memorandum" will provide the Boards with contacts and representatives of a virtual organization without impacting bylaws, voting, or funding issues, giving us a forum for discussion of common issues amongst the world's users, without the overhead of re-structuring any of the groups.   The "Memorandum" will permit the Boards to begin other initiatives, including providing a stronger "single voice" to our vendor of choice, on many issues of support, development, product and market strategy, etc., without having to spend endless hours restructuring or drafting formal changes to their respective internal organizational structures.

The "future perfect tense" is really not far away, but has many issues that need to be hammered out.  In the future, there may be a single user group several years down the line.  The Boards envision a "perfect future tense" as a sort of "third eye", a super user group.  In order to achieve such "perfection" in our utopia user group of the future, working committees from users around the world will need to plot out commonality and differences among the user communities.  These blueprints will then allow us to bring together the strengths and benefits of both Dynix and Horizon user groups to a single point of "perfection", the best possible user group and user community for our members and our product.   Cooperative Board committees will be necessary before the "perfect future tense" becomes a reality.   Among challenges for these committees will be examining and understanding international law, bylaws, and escrow agreements.   These committees will need talented members skilled in negotiation, consensus and global diversity.  The "future perfect tense" will be the best possible way to provide a strong and united forum for a healthy relationship with our parent organization. 

For today -- this week, this month, this year -- we start with the short term and achievable goals for the year.  We begin our planning one step at a time, and begin planning the longer-term in a careful manner.  It is wise to remember that when climbing up the mountain, the hand-holds and foot-holds are planted deliberately and in a calculating manner: a rockslide due to rapid and careless footing is of no benefit to the climber or to the climbing party standing below.  Similarly, when skiing down the mountain, the exhilaration and energy of surrounding one's self in good, beauty, and magnificence must be controlled and measured carefully:  an avalanche does not allow a successful trek down the mountain to tell of the mountaintop experience. 

In this metaphoric way, your CODI Board continues to work on your behalf to position the CODI User Group this year in many different initiatives: full of hope, full of energy, and full of even more opportunities and benefits to the individual member as the year unfolds. 

Aha!  And you just thought the three of us were eating barbeque in Kansas City!   Little did you know your future was being mapped out for you on a mountain!

Susan Johns / CODI Past President / International Liaison

CODI Board of Trustees
July 1999 - June 2000

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CODI Appointed

July 1999 - June 2000

CODI Meets the Millennium

11^th Annual CODI Conference

March 1-3, 2000

Tampa, Florida

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Make your plans now to attend the CODI 2000 Conference.

Users of the Dynix line of library automation from Ameritech Library Services will meet and exchange ideas with one another and ALS representatives in an effort to learn and grow. This year we hope you will find the conference programs exciting and informative, the contacts with your colleagues stimulating and worthwhile, and the activities enjoyable!

The CODI Annual Conference has always been rated by attendees as a great value for the money. Dynix system administrators always get valuable experience and insight from the seasoned veterans and ALS staff. Programs on product development and direction keep the membership up-to-date on the cutting edge of library automation. Valuable insights can be made in order to help you plan your system’s growth in the years to come. Networking with fellow administrators and company representatives will help you solve problems and find those time saving tips we all need to do our jobs better.

Our Program Committee, chaired by John Hurley, has worked hard to provide the most stimulating topics for you to choose from. Every session will be useful for you as Dynix administrators. This year the programs will be set up in four tracks to help you follow your interests better. The tracks are: 

• Module Discussions and Product Information, 

• System Administration, 

• Planning for the Future and New Products. 

A more detailed description can be found on the program page. It’s not too late to become a presenter. Follow the link on the CODI Conference page http://204.198.80.3/codi/conference/index.html to John’s email and share your knowledge with your fellow CODI members.

Ameritech Library Services plan some very exciting product previews and developments. Their staff will also present several sessions on topics to help you get the most out of your system. More than thirty Ameritech Library Service staff members will be on hand to take a very active role in workshops, a hands-on software lab, programs, exhibits, and demonstrations of new products.

For CODI 2000, ALS will be featuring these ConnectLib products: PAC for Windows 1.3, Java WebPAC 1.2, remote Patron Authentication (RPA), TeleCirc II, and PC Backup. The “Planning for the Future” track is co-sponsored with CODI to highlight the development of the new Sunrise modules and the long-term upgrade path for Dynix customers.

The Tampa Marriott Waterside is already taking reservations for the conference. To make a reservation you can call 1-800-228-9290. Be sure to mention you are with the CODI 2000 Conference. You can visit their website as well, or just continue on our website under Conference Information and Tampa Marriott Waterside. Also visit our registration page (coming soon) to register for the conference. The deadline for registration is January 15, 2000. If you have any questions about CODI 2000, follow the mail link from our web page and I will be happy to get you the answer. Registration packets will be mailed by November 30.

Our hosts in the city of Tampa and the Tampa Marriott Waterside, our Local Arrangements Committee, chaired by Marilyn Sheck, have worked extremely hard to make this conference a fun experience as well. They will have lots of information on some fun tours to take from the hotel. They also plan to continue the popular dinner groups begun last year. Complete information will be available on their web page.

While you are in Tampa be sure to take some time to visit historic Ybor Square in Ybor City with its walking tours, specialty boutiques, flamenco dancers and nightclubs. Of course, Busch Gardens is right here and Disney World is only an hour away. And don’t forget the museums and Florida Aquarium with its coral reefs, sharks, rays and other denizens of the deep. Check the Places to go section of the web page for a more detailed list.

On Thursday evening we have planned, “A Party At The Fountain” featuring live music, lots of food, a cigar rolling demonstration, limbo contest, loudest shirt contest and much more. If we try hard we may even get Ed Riding to jam with the band!

The work begins with the first session on Wednesday, March 1st.We expect you all to work hard and play hard. So, pack up your pink flamingos and come on down!

See you at the pool!

Eileen Kontrovitz, CODI Acting-President  and CODI Conference Chair

Registration Information on the CODI 2000 Conference.

Packets with registration material will be mailed at the November 30. To help begin your planning visit the CODI Conference website: http://204.198.80.3/codi/conference/index.html

Your membership must be current before registering for the CODI conference. If membership fees have not been paid prior to conference registration you will be billed for the late registration fees. Invoices for CODI 1999-2000 membership were sent in July. If you need a new invoice please contact:

Invoices can be faxed, sent through the mail, or sent as an attachment (MS Word 97) to an email. Registration is due by January 15, 2000. If your registration is received after that date you will be billed for late fees.

Dynix Workshops from Ameritech Library Services

For course descriptions, registration, and payment options refer to the Ameritech Library Services website at www.amlibs.com. Choose “Training” from the Support Services section. Or you may also call Education Services at 800-713-9649.

Susanne Woodford's letter to the CODI membership

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Dear CODI Members:

I am writing to submit my resignation as President of CODI, Inc.  After thinking about this for some time, I have reached the following conclusions:

1. My new work responsibilities as Trainer Planner make it difficult for me to devote the amount of time this position has come to require.

2. Since I no longer work in our technology department, it is a larger challenge to stay on top of issues.

3. The nature of the job is substantially different than I expected.

I continue to value my association with the CODI membership and friendships made around the world.  I appreciate the honor of having presented as CODI president at DUG/Horizon User Group Conference in Swansea, Wales.  You can read about this experience in the forthcoming CODI News.

I wish CODI success in all future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Susanne L. Woodford, Training Planner

King County Library System

Seattle, WA

 Editorial Musings

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The best thing about being involved with CODI as the newsletter editor is the opportunity it provides to correspond with the CODI officers. I have learned so much already that I am grateful to be a part of this dedicated group.  And now you too can get involved and really develop those hidden skills that have been waiting to burst forth as an elected officer of CODI.  Don’t disappoint Susan!  Give her a call and add your name to the next list of nominations.  I know she’d love to hear from you!

Keep in touch.

Caren Soltysiak
Vernon Area Public Library District
300 Olde Half Day Road
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Voice: 847-634-3650 X140
Fax: 847-634-9174
csoltysi@nslsilus.org