May 19, 1999
KEYSTONE LIBRARY NETWORK TO LINK WITH STATE LIBRARY, EXPANDING RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO ALL PENNSYLVANIANS
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Students at the 14 state-owned universities soon will have electronic access to the approximately 2 million holdings of the State Library of Pennsylvania. At the same time, patrons of the State Library will have an electronic link to the more than 6 million volumes housed in the 14 State System university libraries.
To take it a step further, Pennsylvanians everywhere will have the same easy access to both sets of resources, from virtually any computer connected to the Internet, even the ones in their homes.
All will come about as the result of a new agreement between the State System of Higher Education and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education, which runs the State Library.
The agreement, which was announced today by Chancellor James H. McCormick and Secretary of Education Eugene W. Hickok Jr., will allow the State Library’s computer database to be linked to the State System’s Keystone Library Network (KLN).
The KLN, which has been up and running for nearly a year, electronically connects the resources of the state-owned university libraries. The “virtual library” network will assume responsibility for operating and maintaining the State Library’s computerized database beginning July 1.
“This will make the holdings of the State Library dramatically more accessible,” said David J. Gray, the State System’s vice chancellor for information technology. “Its holdings will be searchable statewide – even worldwide.”
The Keystone Library Network has significantly expanded the resources available to students and faculty at the State System universities. In essence, it has put at a student’s fingertips the vast holdings of all of the universities’ libraries.
Students on any of the campuses can search the electronic card catalogues not only of their own campus libraries, but of those at the other 13 universities as well. Once they find the book they want – even if it is in the library of a university on the other side of the state – they can request it through inter-library loan and have it in their hands in a matter of one or two days.
They can conduct the initial search by visiting their campus library or while sitting at a personal computer in their dormitory room, or even while spending a weekend back home.
Soon, they will be able to search the holdings maintained by the State Library in the same manner. State Library patrons, meanwhile, will be able to use the KLN to search for materials they may need, but can’t find at the State Library based in downtown Harrisburg.
“This agreement underscores Gov. Ridge’s commitment to further strengthening the library services available to Pennsylvanians,” said Hickok, who also serves as a member of the State System’s Board of Governors.
“We are building on the already strong statewide databases of academic and research-oriented collections at both the State System and the State Library. The result: more information available to State Library patrons and State System students, and dramatic savings for taxpayers.”
Hickok also noted that this partnership was funded, in part, by state Link-to-Learn funds.
“This new agreement is another example of how our 14 state-owned universities serve Pennsylvania’s citizens,” McCormick said. “We are pleased to be able to provide this extraordinary service not only to our students, but to everyone in the Commonwealth.”
The new arrangement not only will create a much larger resource base for library users, it actually will save money for both the State System and the State Library.
The State Library will save on computer hardware, software and operating costs by allowing the State System to take over management of its automated systems. The initial savings will exceed $150,000.
The State Library will pay the State System an annual fee for its services, which will be less than what it would have to spend to run its automated systems itself. That additional revenue stream will reduce the amount the 14 universities will have to pay to keep the KLN going.
“This really is a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone involved,” Gray said. “We are pleased to be able to bring the leading-edge technology of the Keystone Library Network to library users throughout Pennsylvania.”
The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, offering more than 215 undergraduate and more than 100 graduate degree programs. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.