For the past year six campuses of the California State University have been using Innovative Interfaces' INN-Reach to support unmediated interlibrary requesting and borrowing of materials by students and faculty in participating institutions. The software provides union catalog, interlibrary loan, and circulation capabilities among multiple libraries. With a query the patron is automatically given the item's circulation status and is able to place a request, monitor the status of the item, and pick it up when it arrives. All of the information is accessible not only from within the libraries, but from office and home computers. Online renewals are available. Given the experience of the initial group (Fullerton, Hayward, Pomona, San Diego, San Jose, and San Luis Obispo), the campuses at San Francisco and Long Beach have announced their intent to join the CSULink Consortium.
CSULink is an example of a growing trend toward linking other functions as well as catalogs.
[Contact: Innovative Interfaces, 5850 Shellmound Street, Emeryville, CA 94608; telephone 1-510-655-5200; FAX 1-510-450- 6350.]
