branch of the Providence Public
Library. (Brian McDonald)
Membership in the Ocean State Higher Education, Economic Development & Administrative Network (OSHEAN) and a faster Internet connection will mean better service to library patrons statewide.
“Because Rhode Island is so small, it has worked to advantage because we’ve been able to keep everyone on par in terms of public services,” said Virginia Moses, executive director of CLAN (Cooperating Libraries Automated Network).
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The larger bandwidth will mean that library patrons will be able to retrieve information faster and that member libraries can add more computer stations for public Internet access, should they choose to do so. The expanded bandwidth will also allow for broader and more elaborate library databases, connection to Internet 1 and Internet 2 and video teleconferencing.
In May, CLAN joined OSHEAN (a nonprofit consortium working to expand access to the Internet in Rhode Island whose members include the state’s major colleges and universities, Rhode Island Network for Educational Technology (RInet), and the Rhode Island state government) and replaced 56K lines with high speed T-1 lines teleconnecting all its public libraries and their statewide patrons.
Moses said this upgrade is in line with CLAN’s goals to provide patrons access to the latest service offerings.
In 1982, CLAN started a mission to simplify the circulation of library materials (including books, patrons, CDs, DVDs and audio materials) by sharing a single library automation system among member libraries with a common patron database, Dynix. Over the last 19 years, CLAN has grown considerably, and today offers many more technology driven services. CLAN provides the systems, equipment, tools, network backbone, training and support necessary to allow all member libraries to focus on direct services to patrons.
Moses said there are 77 library sites and 48 library systems that are members of CLAN. Moses could only think of one Rhode Island library that is not in the system (Cumberland) and said that only one Ocean State municipality is not served by a library (Exeter).
Peter Bennett, technology director at the Providence Public Library, said the state’s largest libraries will be connected first, but that over the next 12 to 18 months all CLAN member libraries should be connected.
“There’s an educational tariff agreement between Verizon and the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission,” he said. “Because of that, we can buy a lot more Internet bandwidth than libraries can normally afford.”
And with larger, broadband capabilities, there is really no limit to the number of systems that a library system could install.
“We could have 50 or 100 – it’s as high as we want to go,” said Bennett.
The Providence Public Library’s central branch in downtown Providence will be among the first to be connected, Bennett said.
Atrion Networking Corporation, based in Warwick, will provide support for CLAN’s internetworking connections, including network monitoring, diagnostic assistance and equipment maintenance. Additional extended support strategies include telephone line testing, software upgrades and budgeted coverage for specified new equipment.
Charles L. Nault, chief executive officer of Atrion, said the project will begin in August and will last a full year.
“During that time we will upgrade the host site at Providence Public Library to a T-3 connection and then replace the current routers in 20 libraries around the state,” he said. “It is unlikely that it will take more than a few months to do the actual initial roll out, but we are also providing the full year of full service management of the entire network solution.”
Once the installation is complete, Atrion will provide 24-hour monitoring of the network.
“Atrion will be able to work out problems before the library even knows about them,” Bennett said. “That’s going to be an immense benefit to us.”
“This means we will monitor the equipment and circuits from our network operations center, we will immediately detect any faults, isolate the problem to either the equipment or circuit,” Nault said. We then either work with the carrier until the circuit is repaired or we dispatch a technician on site to repair or replace the equipment. In addition, Atrion manages all adds, moves, and changes on the network throughout the life of the contract.”
Nault said that CLAN is the first library system that Atrion has worked on.
The library’s three top computer technicians will also be trained in installation and maintenance of the new network.
