Working Together for Excellence

A Vision for NC LIVE: An Electronic Library Project

September 3, 1996 - Updated October 9, 1996

The Vision

North Carolina has a proud tradition of support for higher education and is recognized nationally for its network of libraries that use modern computer and telecommunications technology to deliver information to people throughout the state. Building on this tradition, the libraries of the State aspire to strengthen the delivery of information statewide to enhance education, economic development, and the overall quality of life. Working together, the libraries represented by the State Library of North Carolina, The University of North Carolina, The North Carolina Community College System, and the North Carolina Center for Independent Higher Education propose a North Carolina Electronic Library Project Library. These communities of interest will collaborate to give all North Carolinians--students, faculty, business people, and residents in all walks of life--equal access to a range of electronic information resources and to the resources housed in libraries statewide. The North Carolina Electronic Library is responsive to the legislatively mandated articulation agreements between The University of North Carolina and The North Carolina Community College System. The project also recognizes that equality of access to information is critical to people in all walks of life throughout the state. The libraries of North Carolina share a vision of each library in the state serving as a gateway to the total library and information resources in the state and to a rich array of electronic information. These resources will be available to all the people of the state regardless of location or time through tradition and non-traditional means. Representatives of participating agencies propose to call the project NC LIVE -- North Carolina Libraries and Virtual Education.

Goals & Outcomes

To achieve this vision, the leadership of North Carolina will work toward these goals using the strategies outlined below: Goal #1: Ensure ongoing universal access to core group of reference and research materials available in electronic format regardless of geographic location and time. The participating agencies will arrange for statewide licenses to a range of resources that will be available to users of all participating libraries on a continuing basis to provide access to:

Full-text of standard reference works and indexes made readily available using the Internet to users of libraries throughout the state, expanding access to smaller institutions and communities that have not been able to afford these resources in the past. Examples of resources in this category include encyclopedias, dictionaries, newspapers, and statistical information.
Electronic full-text of core academic journals essential to undergraduate programs at each campus using the Internet to make these resources available to students, faculty, staff, and public library users statewide regardless of location--supporting both traditional residential, off-campus, and distance learning as well as the needs of business people and others throughout the state.
Electronic full-text of research journals that are essential to university-level institutions and to faculty and students at all institutions who need resources to support advanced projects.

Goal #2: Improve access to the holdings housed at libraries and archives statewide through an expanded program of resource sharing and electronic delivery of information through a grant program administered by the State Library.

Convert the card catalogs of all participating libraries to computer format to make information on library holdings available online.
Create a digital library of valuable documents and records currently held at institutions.

Goal #3: Provide the technical infrastructure necessary to provide access to online resources.

Support two parallel electronic resource centers at two institutions of the University of North Carolina to provide the hardware, software, and network access to provide access to electronic information resources onsite or using remote access at vendor sites outside of North Carolina.
Each community of interest will be responsible for working to enhance the computer and telecommunications infrastructure at participating libraries to enable them to have access to the full range of resources.

Goal #4: Expand access to state government information.

Distribute state publications electronically as part of the State Library's State Documents Clearinghouse program.

Goal #5: Assure that library staff statewide have the knowledge and skills to help users access resources of the North Carolina Virtual Library.

Provide a comprehensive and systematic ongoing program of training for staff in all participating libraries.

Means

Funding

The University of North Carolina, State Library of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Community College System will request state funds to support the overall program in the 1997-99 Biennium. The budget request totaling $4,708,658 for 1997-98 and $4,350,000 for 1998-99 will include:

Each of the participating agencies will request funds to provide a pool to pay for the statewide licenses that will be available to users of all the participating libraries.
Funds requested by The University of North Carolina to support the two redundant sites for network access to resources available through the licensing.
The University of North Carolina and the State Library will request funds to be pooled to provide a comprehensive training program for library staff members in all participating libraries.
The State Library will request funds to be distributed through a competitive grant process to libraries and archives for conversion of card catalogs to computer format and to initiate the program of creating electronic versions of valuable historical records and document.
The State Library will request funding to purchase and maintain equipment needed to make current and retrospective state government publications available in electronic format.
A breakdown of the budget amounts by purpose and agency is attached.

Participation in NC LIVE

To achieve the vision of having academic journals and major research and reference materials available to libraries across the state, all regionally accredited institutions of higher education should participate. The libraries of the 16 public universities, the 36 independent colleges and universities, and the 58 community colleges as well as the State Library and public libraries will form a network with access to information currently unparalleled in North Carolina. Residents statewide will have each access to these resources from the coast to the mountains. Independent colleges and universities will be able to join the project by supporting the incremental cost of adding their libraries to the agreements reached with vendors (e.g., access costs, overhead for electronic resource centers, telecommunications costs, database licensing) by the publicly funded institutions. The Steering Committee will explore the feasibility of including school library media centers and students and teachers in North Carolina's public schools in the NC-ALIVE project. The goal will be to develop an inclusive program as soon as it is feasible. One potential model would be to negotiate a long-term pricing structure based on public school library participation and give local school systems the option of paying to join the program. A second option is to have a state-level appropriation available to support the participation of all schools in the state. Pricing issues and other factors need to be explored further, and full school participation may not be feasible in the first year to two years. The participating agencies are committed to bringing public school library media centers into the project as soon as is feasible.

Governance

The project will be guided by a Steering Committee comprised of 9 members. That membership will include 1 leadership position and 1 library director position from each of the participating communities of interest (University of North Carolina, North Carolina Community College System, Department of Cultural Resources/State Library, and Independent Colleges and Universities) as well as a representative appointed by the Governor. The State Library will serve as convener of the group. Advisory groups to the Steering Committee will be made up of representatives from the participating libraries to develop recommendations for implementation of the project as appropriate. The Steering Committee will coordinate and support the work of these Advisory Committees.