BLCMP and EDI why EDI?. EDI at the University of Birmingham: a case study
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb040521 |
| Published date | 01 January 1994 |
| Pages | 15-18 |
| Date | 01 January 1994 |
| Author | Ian Hendry |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
BLCMP and EDI
why EDI?
Amongst the library systems
suppliers,
BLCMP have been
at
the forefront
of
EDI
developments:
some
of
the
first
UK libraries
to
install
EDI software were their BLS system
users.
Two
of
the early
users,
the libraries
of
Birmingham University
and
West London
Institute here present accounts
of
their
experiences
so
far.
Implementation
of
EDI
ordering
via
BLS
is
described,
together with
its performance and effects
on the
acquisitions
process.
At
the time
of
writing,
there
are now 21
libraries
and
16 suppliers
using BLCMP's EDI
facilities.
EDI at the University of
Birmingham: a case study
by Ian Hendry, Assistant Librarian
(Systems) and Roger Johnson, Head of
Acquisitions
Background
The University of Birmingham Library is a large
academic library which contains more than two
million items and has about 30,000 registered
users.
The Library acquired 21,892 monographs
during the academic year 1992-1993. The Library
currently uses BLCMP's BLS library management
system.
In the summer of 1993 BLCMP released an
enhancement to its existing Acquisitions module
which permitted libraries to send monograph
orders to specified suppliers by Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI). The University of Birmingham
was involved in the beta test of this software, and
has been using it ever since. Initially we only sent
orders by EDI to one of our suppliers; as more
suppliers have signed up with First Edition (a
network services supplier), and have agreed to deal
with BLCMP, we have increased this number. At
the time of writing two-thirds of our UK mono-
graph orders are being sent by EDI. We hope to
increase this figure, but appreciate that many of
our more specialist suppliers are unlikely to move
in this direction in the near future.
The University of Birmingham Library has an on-
going commitment to the use of automation to
improve the efficiency of library operations, and to
use staff resources wisely. This means that where
feasible, we get the computers do to as much of
the work as possible. Prior to our use of EDI,
acquisitions staff had to physically divide our
printed orders, put them in envelopes and then post
them. This still happens for those suppliers who do
not yet have an EDI agreement with BLCMP, but
the overall amount of staff time required for
processing newly created orders has been reduced.
We are looking forward to the next release of the
BLCMP EDI software which should allow us to
receive suppliers' reports electronically, thus
saving us yet more time.
As well as saving time, and relieving the staff of a
fairly monotonous job, it was thought that EDI
would reduce costs, particularly postage and
stationery costs.
Implementing EDI
The BLCMP EDI system relies on the fact that
every member of the BLCMP co-operative has a
dedicated telecommunications line that connects it
to BLCMP; this line is normally used to search
and update the BLCMP database, as well as
allowing us to download records into our local
database. EDI uses the quiet time on this line to
send partially formatted order records back to
BLCMP. At the end of each day BLCMP takes all
of the received records, from all of the co-opera-
tive members using EDI, processes them into the
full BEDIS format and then sends them on to First
Edition. This company acts as a central clearing
house for electronic communications and distrib-
utes the orders to the various book suppliers (see
Figure 1).
Setting up the library end of the process has been
comparatively simple. BLCMP supplied us with a
new program which runs throughout the day; this
process checks for new EDI orders, and, when
appropriate, transmits them on to BLCMP. We
had to tailor a file of record extraction parameters
to specify which fields from the author/title record
we wished to include in the transmission. This file
has to mimic a number of our normal system
parameters; if we ever change the way in which we
use the main BLS Acquisitions module the
VINE94(March 1994)—15
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