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ILLINET Online: Funding Support from the Illinois State Library ILCSO and ILLINET Online The mission statement of the Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization (ILCSO) reads: The mission of the Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization is to enhance and expand access to and effectively utilize information resources through collaborative partnerships among ILCSO members and with the Illinois library community. ILCSO membership includes the libraries of each state-supported university, 25 private colleges and universities, five community colleges, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy and the Illinois State Library. Appendix A lists the 45 ILCSO direct participant institutions. ILCSO's primary service is ILLINET Online, a computer-based library system that supports the local library operations of ILCSO members, and facilities resource sharing. ILLINET Online, described in the Office of the Governor's Illinois Technology Blueprint as "one of the largest automated library systems in the world," is a nationally recognized example of how technology can promote interinstitutional collaboration and enhance productivity and efficiency. By using a shared system, ILCSO members enjoy economics of scale that would not be available if each library supported its own local system. ILLINET Online's resource sharing capabilities serve to greatly enhance the research process for faculty and students. The student or faculty member at a community college or small private college has access to the same universe of resources as do their counterparts at large research institutions. Resource sharing is a central aspect of ILCSO and IO services. ILLINET Online facilitates nearly 500,000 intra-ILCSO interlibrary resource sharing transactions annually. During FY 1997, the ILCSO libraries initiated 459,199 requests against the holdings of other ILCSO libraries. Since the inception of resource sharing services in 1980, more than 6 million intra-ILCSO resource sharing transactions have been initiated. In addition to supporting resource sharing among ILCSO members, ILLINET Online serves as a vehicle for sharing materials with the broader Illinois library community. ILCSO supports statewide dial access and Internet access facilities that allow Illinois libraries of all types to request materials from the ILCSO libraries, ILCSO library materials are shared with public libraries, school libraries, non-ILCSO academic libraries and special libraries (e.g., corporate libraries and medical libraries) that are members of ILLINET. During FY 1997, these libraries and agencies requested 104,956 items from the ILCSO libraries. The regional library system headquarters requested an additional 12,610 items during FY 1997. Since 1980, the regional library system and ILLINET member libraries have initiated 2 million resource sharing transactions against the holdings of ILCSO libraries. ILLINET Online has been a fundamental element in the policy and programmatic activities of a number of organizations. The roots of ILLINET Online can be traced back to the Illinois Board of Higher Education's (IBHE) Report of the Library Committee, published in June 1969. More recently, the IBHE has recognized ILLINET Online's role in its Information Technology and Academic Quality and Productivity report. ILLINET Online has long been an element of the Illinois State Library's plans for funding library automation, beginning with the 1985 Statewide Library Automation Priorities and Principles Paper. Finally, the Illinois Library Association has included ILLINET Online in its legislative program for both 1995 and 1996, noting that the Association will "work with others to support replacement of hardware and software for ILLINET Online...in order to continue to meet the needs of Illinois libraries." State Library Support for ILLINET Online Development and Operations ILLINET Online is funded through a partnership among the IBHE, ILCSO member institutions and the Illinois State Library (ISL). The biggest share of annual
* Bernie Sloan, Senior Library Information Systems Consultant, University of Illinois Office for Planning and Budgeting, Urbana. 182 operating costs comes from the IBHE, followed by the ILCSO membership and the ISL. Using FY 1998's operating budget of $8.1 million as an example, the IBHE provides 60 percent of the required funds, the ILCSO member libraries contribute 31 percent of the total, and the ISL provides 9 percent. While the majority of the funding used to support ILLINET Online and related services is derived from the IBHE and the ILCSO member libraries, the generous funding support of the Illinois State Library has played a vital and critical role in the ongoing development and support of ILLINET Online. Figure 2 summarizes funding support from FY 1985 through 1998 for the development and support of ILLINET Online as a union catalog. During that time frame, the ISL provided $5.2 million in funds in support of ILLINET Online. More than $1.5 million came from LSCA Title III grant awards from FY 1985 through FY 1993. Nearly $3.7 million came from state funding sources, largely from Research and Reference (R&R) Center funds. Please note that these figures itemize funds received for the development and ongoing support of ILLINET Online as a union catalog and do not include items such as the ISL's share of the Library Technology Grants program ($315,808 in FY 1997, and $393,627 in FY 1998). The ISL's role in supporting ILLINET Online began in FY 1985 with a $51,100 LSCA Title III grant to the university library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the River Bend Library System. Followed by additional LSCA grants in FY 1986 and FY 1987 totaling $553,900, these funds were used to expand the university's online public access catalog (FBR) into a union catalog containing the OCLC records of the more than 700 ILLINET/OCLC member libraries. In FY 1998, the ISL contributed $330,000 ($200,000 in LSCA funds and $130,600 in state funds) as the ILLINET Online Expansion and Enhancement Program began. This program took the expanded UIUC online catalog (FBR) and extended the service to the ILCSO member libraries so that these libraries could use the catalog as a local public access catalog and union catalog. The Statewide Library Computer System (LCS), which had been in use by the ILCSO libraries since FY 1980, merged with FBR to create ILLINET Online in January 1988. LSCA Title III funds played an integral role in the ongoing development of ILLINET Online from FY 1988 through FY 1993. In FY 1994, the ISL succeeded in shifting support entirely to state funding sources, and the role of Library Services and Construction Act in funding ILLINET Online ended. From FY 1994 through FY 1998, the ISL has contributed $430,000 annually in state funds for the ongoing support of ILLINET Online. LSCA funding support was especially important during the early years of ILLINET Online development. From FY 1985 through FY 1987, LSCA provided 100 percent of the funding ($605,000) required to expand UIUC's FBR catalog to include the OCLC cataloging of all ILINET/OCLC member libraries. During the first year (FY 1988) of the 10 Expansion and Enhancement program, the ISL provided 38 percent of the incremental funds required to expand 10 beyond the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Of the $330,600 provided in FY 1988, $200,000 of the award was from LSCA Title III funds. In the first full fiscal year of 10 operation as a statewide catalog (FY 1989), the ISL contributed 37.5 percent ($430,600) of the incremental funds required to allow 10 operations. Of that amount, $200,000 came from LSCA funds. During the first five years of 10 development and operation (FY 1985 through FY 1989), the ISL contributed $1.3 million. Of that, $1 million came from LSCA Title III funds. One could easily make the argument that ILLINET Online would never have gotten off the ground without the generous support of the ISL. And the ISL would not have been able to be so generous without the availability of LSCA funds. ILLINET Online stands as a lasting legacy of the Library Services and Construction Act and a testimony to the Illinois State Library's wise use of LSCA fiscal resources. APPENDIX A ILCSO Direct Participant Institutions
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APPENDIX 2
Illinois State Library Support for
1. Support for 10 development and operations only. Does not include funds for ILDS, IBIS, or Library Technology Grants. 2. Funds to UIUC Library for developing FBR as ILLINET/ OCLC union catalog. 3. Funds to ILCSO for operating 10 as union catalog. |
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