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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">This is a correspondance from our
state library about participating in EZProxy with the Montana
Libraries.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Do we need to conform to their
barcode requirements?</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Lee in Butte</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><FONT color=#008080>Good
morning,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT color=#008080 size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><FONT color=#008080>A primary reason
to move to standardized patron and item barcodes is the possibility that the
library will become a member of a shared system, of whatever kind, in
time. Once in a shared system, where the patron database in that system is
not “segmented”, non-standard IDs, particularly those built incrementally (1000,
1001, etc.), run the risk of coming up against an identical ID. This is the case
for either patron or item IDs and it stops the transaction in the
system.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT color=#008080><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT><FONT
size=2 face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">A segmented
patron database in a shared ILS, while it could protect against this, doesn’t
lend itself easily to opening up user walls when the libraries are ready to
share user privileges (placing holds, checkout, checkin) between multiple
libraries within the same system.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT color=#008080><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT><FONT
size=2 face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Barcodes
standardization is, I believe, another area we get mired in, during statewide
discussions. This detail, while essential to the larger picture, seems to
often detract us from that larger picture.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>