Statewide Database Licensing Project - Fall 2000 Trials
Bell and Howell

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(Note from the Washington State Library:  In order to participate in the Fall 2000 Washington State Databases Trial, each vendor was asked to address questions the Statewide Database Licensing Committee felt were most critical in order for library staff to evaluate products and vendors.  Please contact the vendor's representative, listed below, for additional information on this product.)

1. Describe the database product(s). Include information on subject scope, percentage of full-text, dates of coverage, target audience (including age ranges), and how often the contents are updated. 

Genealogy and Local History Online

Genealogy and Local History Online (planned for release in November 2000) provides a unique, continuously expanding collection of research materials for tracing family lineage and American culture, beginning with the 13 original colonies. The collection makes it possible for the amateur interested in tracing family trees, the folklorist, and the professional genealogical researcher alike to find otherwise inaccessible documents. The collection assembles and preserves genealogies, local histories, primary source materials, and genealogical and local history serials originally microfilmed from libraries across the United States.

Now in digital form, Genealogy and Local History Online encompasses materials from all 50 states, making it an unprecedented resource and a major preservation project. Online users can directly search for ancestors or local history. Additionally, a "browse" function offers quick scan of the 20,000 included titles.

Include information on subject scope: Genealogy and Local History, of course, provides information on genealogy.

Percentage of full-text: Genealogy and Local History provides 100% full text.

Dates of coverage: Genealogy and Local History provides coverage from 1800 to the present.

Target audience (including age ranges): Intended for researchers of all skill levels and ages.

How often are the contents updated? Quarterly.

2. What are the hardware and software requirements for using all the features of the product?

Libraries already accessing ProQuest meet the necessary hardware/software requirements. These current ProQuest customers will receive new content and avoid many of the inconveniences associated with tailoring a new service (for example, filling out lengthy setup documents, establishing passwords, providing IP addresses).

Recommended Workstation Configurations The hardware and software requirements for displaying article text only and article graphics follow.

3. Is remote access included for the subscription price?  If there are additional charges or requirements in order to offer remote access, please describe.   What methods of remote access are supported?

Remote access to Genealogy and Local History is planned for a future release.

4. Please discuss any methods or assistance you offer regarding remote access patron verification and authentication.

Non-Applicable.

5. What end user delivery options, such as printing, emailing or faxing results, are available beyond just viewing results on the computer monitor?

The proposed database includes options for printing and e-mailing results. You print using the native print capabilities of the specific interface you use to search. For example, Web browser users print with browser print capabilities.

Genealogy and Local History will include the capability to e-mail citations and the user's notes about them.

6. What customer training is provided, and at what cost? 

Customer Training We have developed a successful "train-the-trainer" program. By working with library staff, we develop an introductory training program. The program is flexible, and can be customized to best serve the needs and expertise of each unique audience.

We provide training at a central location provided by the customer. We understand that different locations will have different equipment available; we will adapt training to the environment that you provide. 

• An ideal training environment includes individual, Internet-capable workstations for each participant (including the trainer), an LCD panel, and an overhead projection device. 
• An acceptable training environment includes a conference or meeting room with an overhead projection device and a connection for a computer provided by the customer. 
• A minimum training environment consists of an overhead projection device and an analog phone line capable of an off-site call.

We offer two types of training sessions. 

• Search Training provides complete, in-depth training for the current software version (including searching for, retrieving, and printing documents). 
• The Consultative Session includes account creation and setup, and setting options to optimize the database(s) for your library and user environment. This session is most often held informally (for example, by phone, or during Search Training breaks) with 1-3 library staff. 

We encourage our customers to train their users within ninety days of contract signing. Your training sessions are available during the length of time of your agreement; if you have a one-year agreement, you must schedule your training sessions within that year.

Every participant registered for a training session will receive a complete set of materials. The Quick Start Guide covers installation of software, search options, and basic troubleshooting. This handy reference also includes screen shots and tips on printing, searching, etc. Additionally, we provide search exercises for use in hands-on searching.

ProQuest Training Resource Center In response to customer requests, we have introduced the ProQuest Training Resource Center. The Training Resource Center, free to ProQuest subscribers, is a Web-based resource that provides online tutorials and materials to those who will administer ProQuest, use it, and teach others to use it.

The Training Resource Center makes searching easy, and provides instruction at the skill appropriate for the user. It allows new users to get up and running on ProQuest almost immediately.

Together, the complete training program provides the equivalent of a three-hour on-site training visit. The Center directs administrators to system controls and technical resources, provides librarians the means to teach ProQuest to end users, and allows end users to answer most questions on their own.

Training programs include: 

• An overview of ProQuest and what it can do for you 
• An overview of administrative features and tools 
• Step-by-step lessons for searchers at all levels, with demonstrations, practice questions and sample searches � In-depth explanations of the most popular ProQuest features 
• Downloadable class materials, documentation, exercises, and other teaching aids to help you teach others what you've learned 
• A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section

You can sequence ProQuest lessons to suit your needs, and revisit them as often as you like. There's even a module that allows you to record your reactions and make suggestions for improvement.

Some segments of the Training Resource Center are secure. (For example, the segments you use to customize ProQuest locally are available only to authorized users with a password.) Other segments are accessible to end users. Some sections even include Spanish and French language translations for non-English speakers.

7. What customer and technical support is provided, including hours of operation.

We maintain a 21-member Electronic Technical Support Department to provide support services. 

• Fourteen of these staff provide primary support for electronic products (such as ProQuest). 
• Five of these staff provide high-level assistance to the primary support staff as needed. 
• Our Database Librarian provides search assistance with all of our databases (available through ProQuest online and CD-ROM, database licensing, etc.) through all interfaces. This librarian has an MLS, seven years' experience searching databases, and experience training librarians and professional staff on ProQuest. 
• Our technicians have, on average, over eight years of technical/customer support experience. We have technicians trained in UNIX, TCP/IP, Windows NT, and advanced browser support. Some are certified Novell Network Administrators and Engineers.

The goal of the Technical Support team is to resolve customer issues immediately during the call. This reduces the downtime resulting from multiple transfers to other departments or callbacks.

We make team members available for ProQuest support with a toll-free phone number from 5:00 a.m. to midnight EST Monday through Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to midnight EST Saturday and Sunday. Technical support is available 24 hours a day via fax, e-mail, and technical help on our Web page.

We also employ a master customer tracking database. While assisting customers, the Technical Support representative retrieves the appropriate database record, and enters the issues presented by the customer. Our support staff use this information to keep accurate call histories that can be accessed during a future call to help resolve an issue quickly, track trends, and log and submit to management customer enhancement requests.

8. Describe the statistics you provide, and discuss whether your statistical reporting complies with guidelines developed by the International Coalition of Library Consortia which may be found at www.library.yale.edu/consortia/webstats.html .

As previously noted, Genealogy and Local History is planned for a November 2000 release.

We plan to implement Web-based, ICOLC-compliant statistics into the Genealogy and Local History in 2001. These statistics will be divided into Current, which will record the daily statistics over the present month, and Archived, which will record the statistics on a monthly basis over the last year of your subscription period. For each institution, the Current Statistics categories recorded will be date, time of day, sessions, searches, hits, searches returning no hits, full texts accessed, records accessed, and users denied access. Archived Statistics will be recorded in exactly the same way, except that they will display as a monthly, rather than a daily, total.

Access to the Web statistics will be controlled by password so that only those individuals responsible for administration can view them. Each statistics page will have its own context-sensitive help file to answer any questions or queries, although for security reasons details of the access information (username and password) will not be available from within these help pages.

9. Describe your pricing structure or formula for the product. If there are additional costs for retrieving full text, describe the pricing for this service. 

As previously noted, Genealogy and Local History will be released in November 2000. We plan for pricing to be available November 1.

Rebecca Mangani, Carla Lennox, and Anne Harris will be providing pricing at that time to all interested customers. We will also make pricing available to the Washington State Library.  Contact Karen Forsyth; 360-570-5587; [email protected] for more information.

10.  If a library subscribes to any of your products as a result of this trial, will their future subscription rates continue to reflect any savings or discount they may receive today?

Discounts on the annual subscription price are for the first year only. In subsequent years, the subscription price will be the list price (price for 1-9 participating libraries).

11. What is the minimum participation level (however you care to define it) that would be needed to allow participating libraries to receive a discount? What is the minimum discount for a group buy? Please clarify how you would treat existing library customers with regard to a group buy.

Please see our response to question 9 above.  There are currently no existing library customers for the Genealogy and Local History database, as it is planned for release in November 2000.

12.  Please indicate whether libraries from Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and/or Hawaii would be eligible to participate in the group buying process.

We would be pleased to have libraries from Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and/or Hawaii participate in the group buying process.

13.  Please provide name and contact information should libraries wish to make further inquires.