The Willow Glen Resident

Council Watch

S.J. library plans an upgrade

Council to vote on high-tech catalog at April 14 meeting

By Cecily Barnes

Pending City Council approval on April 14, the San Jose Public Library, including the Willow Glen branch, is preparing to scrap its current electronic catalog in favor of a new Windows-based system with significantly more capabilities and memory.

"Our current system is about 10 years old and is highly inadequate," said city librarian Jane Light. "With the new system and the new wiring we'll be putting in at every branch, we'll be state-of-the-art as far as libraries go. That isn't necessarily Adobe, but for a library it's very good."

The new system, which will cost about $350,000, will be accessible from people's homes via the World Wide Web and will allow readers to reserve and request books electronically. The new system will make complex searches easier, and its information will be accessible in English, Spanish and Chinese.

"We will be able to display Asian-language materials in Asian characters, which is really exciting to us," Light said. "The biggest problem hasn't been the Spanish; it's been when you have a character that's not an English-language character. That was one of the things that we looked for in a new system."

In preparation for the new system, the San Jose Public Library has been preparing all 18 buildings for rewiring. By June 1, 1998, high-speed telecommunication lines will connect each of the 17 branch libraries to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Main Library. The entire system should be up and running by late fall or early winter, Light said.

The new system could make library searches easier for Willow Glen branch users, who won't have to go to the main library as often because more information will be accessible on the computer.

"There still may be some materials that can only be accessed at the main library--for example, local history in the California room," said Willow Glen's senior librarian, Maurice Stevenson. "But I think there will be some instances where the main system will help people to not have to go down to the main library."

If the City Council gives its approval, the San Jose Public Library will begin negotiations with Ameritech Library Services to purchase hardware, software, installation, data conversion and user training.

"It offers significant advantages over the current system, which is becoming increasingly old and unreliable," Stevenson said. "And the capabilities at Willow Glen should be identical to those you would find down at the main library."

[ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ]