CORDIS Archive

Telematics for Libraries - Project

ION

Project description

ION aimed to build an international service providing interlending services for affiliated libraries and library organisations. It was the first network of its kind to implement the open system standards developed under the auspices of the International Standard Organisation for interlibrary lending and search and retrieve.

Technical approach

The pilot provided a link between the three national infrastructures and from the users’ viewpoint, the new international service was integrated with the present national services. The international service was based on the open systems standards for library applications, ISO 10160, 10161 for Interlibrary Loan and ISO 10162, 10163 for Search and Retrieve. The ION projects has developped products based on these standards and implemented at all three focal points by introducing front end processors. This approach minimised the changes required to the existing national computer systems and offered the possibility of transporting the solution to other similar, and established library networks in Europe.

As a basic principle, access to the international service for individual libraries within each country, was through connection to their respective national focal point. Focal points (or national nodes) were provided in the UK by LASER, in France by SUNIST and in The Netherlands by Pica.

Key issues

The major objectives of the project were :

• to achieve interconnection between three computerised library networks in the United Kingdom, in the Netherlands and France in order to support and develop international interlending and messaging services;
• to improve the efficiency of international interlending services;
• to demonstrate the capabilities of OSI communication protocols in a message-oriented environment for interlending services by the interconnection of computerised networks with different technical characteristics

Impact and results

The project has demonstrated its objectives. The pilot service took place between November 1993 and January 1995 involving some 45 libraries in the 3 countries and an evaluation of the service has been carried out.

Coordinator

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