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the once and future data base
joseph a. natale Once, timely and widely disseminated information about continuing education and professional development activities was a problem. No more. The dilemma has been resolved by the Illinois State Library Advisory Committee for Education and Training (ACET), with the input of continuing education (CE) and staff development personnel in the state, and a Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) grant. 35 The idea of constructing an automated data base of continuing education activities emerged at the "CE and YOU" workshop prior to the Illinois Library Association 1982 Annual Conference. About seventy-five people, representing all types of libraries as well as library educators, addressed the interrelated issues of recognition of CE; quality control of CE; and who is responsible for coordination of CE, development of recognition systems and standards. Monitoring the comments were ACET members, Joan Roeder, David King, Valerie Wilford, Alexi Fosse, Virginia Maulding, Carl Volkman, and Kathleen Heim. The participants correctly pointed out that no clearinghouse existed to effectively collect, publicize, and disseminate CE information in the state. This void had created costly and needless duplication of efforts on the part of CE providers and CE consumers. At the December 1982 meeting of ACET, the committee analyzed the comments at the pre-conference and determined its immediate task was to develop a data base that could be accessed through a toll-free line. A letter of intent and a proposal requesting LSCA funds for the On-Line Network of Continuing Education (ONCE) was submitted to the Illinois State Library Advisory Committee, which recommended it for funding at its March 1983 meeting. The objectives of the project were as follows: — The project can, through the creation of an online data base, identify components of upcoming CE activities in a systematic method for retrieval. — The data base could also be used as a retrospective CE file providing valuable references to resources and speakers. — The information can be disseminated on a statewide basis to librarians and library-related personnel in all segments of the library community. — The project could serve as a model, with national applications, for the cost effective use of telecommunications technology for multitype CE networking. The proposal was endorsed by Elizabeth Stone, a founder of the Continuing Library Education Network and Exchange (CLENE). CLENE attempted a similar service on a national level by using on-line services made available through government agencies. Because of high costs and limited access, the service was discontinued. However, advancements in computer technology in the 1980s have lessened the barriers that faced CLENE's endeavor in the 1970s. After the project was approved, the next step was to secure the proper computer hardware and software. After an in-depth study, a Victor 9000 microcomputer and DataFlex program was selected. The hardware includes ten megabytes of memory in a hard-drive system. This abundance of memory not only provides for the storage of Illinois CE activities over several years, but appropriate national and even international activities can be included. The software allows for an eighty character display in a modified MARC format. It provides for searches by subject, title, date, place, ILLINET area, sponsor, speaker, and contact person. DataFlex is a menu-driven program which provides for convenient on-line searching. There are a total of twenty-six fields in the ONCE display. The sixteen character subject headings was taken from the "CLENE Directory of Continuing Education Opportunities for Library—Information —Media Personnel." In many cases, a workshop will be listed more than once in the data base. For example, accompanying this article is a sample entry for a workshop on "The Output Measures" which is listed under the subject heading PLANNING/DEVEL for Planning and Development. The workshop will also be listed under ADMINISTRATION for Administration and Management. The date field will provide a useful reference tool for meeting planners. By checking the dates of activities, CE providers can be assured they do not set up a major conference on — let's say — ILA's Annual Conference. An interest of ACET is tracking workshops on a regional basis. An obvious geographic breakdown is by individual system, but ACET decided to broaden the regional tracking than by system identiftcation The field ILLINET area was established for this purpose. By breaking the state into regions, trends and interests in certain parts of Illinois can be identified and acted upon. The areas are Metro, East, West, and South. There is some "natural" logic to the assignment of these areas. 36 The Metro area consists of systems which are members of the Metropolitan Library Systems (Chicago, Bur Oak, DuPage, Suburban, North Suburban, Starved Rock, and Northern Illinois); the East area consists of Corn Belt, Rolling Prairie, and Lincoln Trail; the West consists of River Bend, Illinois Valley, and Great River; the South consists of Lewis and Clark, Cumberland Trail, Kaskaskia, and Shawnee. Other major fields which should be highlighted include speakers and contact persons. By searching and manipulating these fields, CE providers and consumers will be able to locate an expert presenter and a person to contact about programming, materials, and other information. The software features a report generator and ad hoc query capabilities. This means that on a regular basis, reports can be generated, for example, on the number of workshops on Administration and Management in the Metro area during a specified period of time. The most important feature of ONCE is that it will be accessible through a toll-free line. The user will need a microcomputer, a telephone modem, and a password issued by the Illinois State Library, where ONCE is based. For instance, Lincoln Library in Springfield will be able to enter its annual staff development activity in ONCE, just as the North Suburban Library System will be able to do. If someone at Gibault High School in Waterloo is interested in seeing what type of workshop is being offered in microcomputers in the area, she will be able to search ONCE. And, if someone at Des Plaines Public Library is trying to locate someone to make a presentation on "Avenues to Excellence," all she has to do is access the ONCE data base. Of course, access to ONCE will not be limited to those institutions with microcomputers and modems. Information, whether general or specific, will be provided upon request either through the Illinois library systems or the Illinois State Library. The On-line Network of Continuing Education will be a useful material resource of the Illinois Library and Information Network. It will benefit the human resources of the network, as well as the patrons they serve. Example RECORD#: 12 INPUT LIBRARY: ISL COMMENTS: THE WORKSHOP WILL COVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OUTPUT MEASURES; RELATIONSHIP TO "A PLANNING PROCESS" AND "AVENUES TO EXCELLENCE"; AND THE 12 OUTPUT MEASURES. DEADLINE: 2 WEEKS PRIOR, BUT WALK-INS WELCOMED.
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