PALNI Shared Systems
The PALNI shared system uses the Aleph
integrated library automation software from Ex Libris to
implement an online public-access catalog, local cataloging,
authority control, circulation control, acquisitions, and serials control
for participating libraries. By sharing a central system and
union catalog, PALNI libraries are able to
reduce overall system administration and maintenance costs.
At the same time, Systems Librarians in each library have the
flexibility to configure and customize the shared Aleph
system to meet unique local library requirements.
The Aleph software runs on a Sun MicroSystems SunFire
6800 server with 10 processors, 24 GigaBytes of Main Memory, and 1.5
Terrabytes of online RAID disk storage. The shared server has been
configured into two independent "domains", one functioning as the
PALNI shared production sytem, and the second acting
as a smaller test server. The production system is licensed to support
up to 500 concurrent online users.
During the Summer, 2005, PALNI upgraded its Aleph
implementation to the latest Version 17-2 release of the software.
Each library is able to customize and maintain the shared system and
Online Public Access Catalog to meet its own local campus needs.
New Aleph software releases and system enhancements are
installed as they become available from Ex Libris.
The PALNI online union catalog now includes 1.9 million
unique bibligraphic records and 3.4 million item records representing the
combined collections of twenty-two of the twenty-four PALNI
libraries. The remaining two PALNI libraries maintain
their own, independent stand-alone library automation systems, but
participate in reciprocal borrowing and other resource-sharing arrangements
with all PALNI libraries.
In addition to Aleph, the PALNI system offers
students, faculty, and staff at PALNI institutions access
to online reference services and databases through the MetaLib/SFX
web-based library "portal". MetaLib includes standard
OpenURL resolver capabilities, and can be customized by each
PALNI library to provide access to its own local
collection of electronic databases.
PALNI libraries also share a ContentDM
digital library server to digitize, catalog, and provide web access
to unique collections of images and other digitized content held by
each library. PALNI's combined digital library
collections include more than 30,000 digitized objects, are projected
to grow to more than 100,000 objects over the next 12 months.
PALNI is listed as an official "data provider" with the
Open Archives Initiative.
The PALNI shared systems and project offices are
located at the Indiana Cooperative Library Services Authority (INCOLSA)
in Indianapolis, Indiana. The computer room at INCOLSA is fully secured
and climate controlled, and supports reliable, round-the-clock, system
operation. PALNI libraries are connected to the central
system using the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunications System (IHETS)
state-wide TCP/IP network and the Internet.
