REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR AN INTEGRATED ... - CCS · PDF filerequest for proposal for an integrated library system (ils) cooperative computer services (ccs) issued october 3, 2016 responses

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR AN

INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEM (ILS)

COOPERATIVE COMPUTER SERVICES

(CCS)

ISSUED OCTOBER 3, 2016

RESPONSES DUE NOVEMBER 4, 2016

Page 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS--

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3

2. General Information ........................................................................................................................ 4

3. RFP Contact information: ................................................................................................................ 6

4. Proposal Requirements ................................................................................................................... 6

4.1 Timeline .................................................................................................................................. 6

4.2 Question Regarding RFP.......................................................................................................... 7

4.3 Requirements for Submitting a Bid .......................................................................................... 7

4.4 Cost Proposal .......................................................................................................................... 8

4.5 RFP Not contractual .............................................................................................................. 12

4.6 Notice to Bidders ................................................................................................................... 12

4.7 Reservations .......................................................................................................................... 13

4.8 CCS Proposal and Selection Process ...................................................................................... 13

Proposal Evaluation....................................................................................................................... 13

Vendor Meetings & Demonstrations ............................................................................................. 13

Final Decision ................................................................................................................................ 14

5. Key ILS Functionality ..................................................................................................................... 14

6. General ILS Functionality ...............................................................................................................17

7. Acquisitions & Serials Requirements ............................................................................................. 18

8. Cataloging Requirements .............................................................................................................. 19

9. Authorities and Record Processing ................................................................................................ 21

10. Circulation Requirements .......................................................................................................... 22

11. Public Interface/Discovery Requirements .................................................................................. 25

12. Reporting Requirements ........................................................................................................... 26

13. Systems/IT Requirements .......................................................................................................... 28

14. Third-Party Integration Requirements ....................................................................................... 29

15. Implementation, Migration & Support....................................................................................... 29

16. Vendor Stability & Experience ................................................................................................... 31

CCS RFP Page 3 Responses Due: November 4, 2016

1. INTRODUCTION

Cooperative Computer Services (CCS) is a group of 24 public libraries in the north and northwest

suburbs of Chicago that share an integrated library system. CCS, headquartered in Arlington Heights

IL, has a reputation for excellence as a reliable ILS service provider (currently of SirsiDynix Symphony)

focusing on new opportunities presented by exciting emerging technologies. The CCS Executive

Director reports to the CCS Governing Board and its Executive Committee, recommending and

supporting best practices and trends in centralized library services related to technology and

innovation.

The CCS membership is made up of the following libraries:

Algonquin Area Public Library District

Cary Area Public Library District

Crystal Lake Public Library

Des Plaines Public Library

Ela Area Public Library District

Evanston Public Library

Fox River Valley Public Library District

Fremont Public Library District

Glencoe Public Library

Glenview Public Library

Highland Park Public Library

Huntley Area Public Library District

Lake Forest Library

Lake Villa District Library

Lincolnwood Public Library District

McHenry Public Library District

Niles Public Library District

Northbrook Public Library

Park Ridge Public Library

Prospect Heights Public Library District

Round Lake Area Public Library District

Wilmette Public Library

Winnetka -Northfield Public Library District

Zion-Benton Public Library District

CCS started Project Laulima in March 2016. Laulima is a core principle of cooperation in the Hawaiian

culture that literally means “many hands working together.” While as a cooperative we are always

working together, the process of deciding what our primary cooperative tool (ILS) should be is the

epitome of how we work together, hence Laulima. The goals of Project Laulima include: create needs

assessment of CCS Libraries, communicate these needs among member library leadership and staff,

engage directors in the process to help foster our collective vision, inform the RFP, evaluate the RFP


responses. Project Laulima consists of 48 people who serve a variety of different roles within the CCS

member libraries. These people worked together in project-specific teams, which looked at different

architectures, products, and processes in order to hone in on the true needs of the cooperative. This

RFP reflects the collective work of the Project Laulima Team Members. Based upon the findings of the

Team analysis, CCS is seeking a hosted/SaaS solution of a single, shared installation of proprietary ILS

software.

CCS is a member-driven organization which has built a strong and effective team to provide services to

our member libraries. We are looking for an ILS vendor that can support and enhance our efforts in

continuing to implement stable, innovative and comprehensive customer services.

2. GENERAL INFORMATION

This section includes some general information about the CCS collection, staff size and other details.

Please use this information when you determine hardware configuration and system pricing. The

figures below reflect the most recent statistics available.

CCS is interested in a vendor-hosted solution and this should be reflected in the responses to the

functional requirements as well as the Cost Proposal.

Number of distinct libraries 24

Number of locations (total number of branches) 30

Check-outs and renewals 14,497,452

Number of bibliographic records 1,169,175

Number of item records 5,623,610

Number of authority records 878,510

Number of patron records 599,226

Total number of staff users 720 total PCs

579 concurrent staff sessions used in last year

Acquisitions module usage 8 libraries use module

54,940 purchase orders

Serial module usage

18 libraries use module

5967 active serial control records


Number and type of self-check units

3M – 11 libraries, 42 units

Bibliotheca – 3 libraries, 12 units

Centec –4 libraries, 9 units

CheckEze & LAT – 1 library, 5 units

Note: 5 additional Centec units and one from yet-to-be-determined vendor in planning stages

Number and type of automated materials handling (AMH) units

3M – 6 units

Bibliotheca – 1 unit

Lyngsoe – 3 units

Number and types of telephone renewal/notification systems

14 libraries using SVA system

4 inbound lines and 4 outgoing lines now in use

Number and types of vending machines

1 library using Mediabank

Vendors for PC & Print Management

MyPC – 7 libraries

PC Res – 10 libraries

Comprise/SAM – 1 library

Papercut – 6 libraries

Pcounter – 8 libraries

LPTone – 3 libraries

Libraries and vendors for financial collection agencies

12 libraries using Unique Management

Credit card processing

Propay – 23 libraries

Heartland – 2 libraries

Comprise – 1 library

Global Payment Verifone – 1 library

Epay – 4 libraries

Payment Alliance – 1 library

TSYS – 2 libraries


RFID

3M – 7 libraries

3. RFP CONTACT INFORMATION:

Quipu Group has been contracted to provide consulting services for the ILS selection and migration

process and will be responsible for communicating with vendors during this RFP process.

Melissa Stockton

Quipu Group, LLC

820 S Monaco Pkwy #453

Denver, CO 80224

Phone: (800) 764-8018, ext. 101

Fax: (877) 759-0845

Email: [email protected]

4. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

4.1 TIMELINE

Activity Date

RFP Released October 3, 2016

Questions Submitted October 13, 2016

Answers to All Questions Distributed to Vendors

October 20, 2016

Proposal Responses Due November 4, 2016

Meetings with Top Vendors

January 2017

Final Selection of Vendor February 2017

Contract Negotiations February 2017

Signed Contract March 2017

mailto:[email protected]


4.2 QUESTION REGARDING RFP

Please submit any questions regarding the content and response to this RFP to the address below by

October 13, 2016. Questions can be sent via email. By October 20, 2016, a list of all questions received

and responses to those questions will be sent to all vendors that submit a question and posted on the

CCS website at http://www.ccslib.org/ilsrfp.

Melissa Stockton

Phone: (800) 764-8018, ext. 101

Email: [email protected]

4.3 REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMITTING A BID

Respondents should include the following in their Proposal:

1. Cover Letter

The Cover Letter can provide an introduction to the Proposal and other executive summary

type of information. The Cover Letter must address the following question in detail.

CCS is focused on providing a quality patron experience. Many of our communities are

the first to adopt new technology and so they have very high expectations of the

technology in use at their libraries. How could CCS work with you as a preferred

partner to help influence the development and future of your products so that they are

in alignment with the needs of our patrons?

2. Responses to each question or information request in Sections 5 through 16.

Section 5 contains the “Key Requirements” for CCS and reflects the highest-priority areas for

the group. Section 6 includes general questions about your system and support services.

Sections 7 through 12 are related to specific modules within the ILS. Sections 13 and 14 are

related to a variety of more technical aspects of an ILS and how it interacts with other systems.

Sections 15 and 16 ask questions about your company, support provided and the migration

services available.

For each question, use the following guidelines to respond:

Focused, clear, concise answers

Describe how your system is unique

Clarify what exists now and what is in development

If in development, please provide estimated release date

Answers that show an understanding of CCS preferences


Each functional requirement has an indication of the priority of the capability requested. There

are High (H), Medium (M) and Low (L) priorities and the scores for each item will be weighted

appropriately.

3. A complete Cost Proposal, utilizing the table included in Section 4.4.

An electronic version of this RFP is available at: http://www.ccslib.org/ilsrfp

All submissions are due November 4, 2016 by 5:00 pm (Central).

Submission of Proposals should include 2 paper copies and one electronic copy.

The paper copies should be sent to:

Rebecca Malinowski

CCS

3355 N. Arlington Heights Road, Suite J

Arlington Heights, IL 60004-7706

The electronic copy may be submitted in MS Word or other common format, via email to:

Rebecca Malinowski -- [email protected]

4.4 COST PROPOSAL

Cost quotes and payment terms should be included for all software and recommended

equipment. Pricing should reflect a vendor-hosted solution for the system.

Please use the pricing sheet included in this section to indicate the costs for the various

components.

If your system does not have a specific line item, indicate that with an N/A in the appropriate

columns.

Please feel free to add items to the cost table if you have items which do not fit into the specific

categories.

Costs for all modules and add-on functionality must be included in the cost table.

Prices for the initial purchase, implementation and 5 years of maintenance should be included

for each item.

Quotes/Prices must be good for at least 180 days.

mailto:[email protected]


ILS COST PROPOSAL

Description Initial/

Implementation

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Required Modules

(including both desktop

and web-based)

Circulation

Acquisitions

Serials

OPAC/Discovery

Cataloging

Reports (including

Director/Statistics)

Multilingual OPAC -

Please list all languages

available and the price

for each choice

Discovery e-Content

Integration (e.g.,

Overdrive, 3M, Hoopla,

etc)

Inventory Module

Authority Control

Module

Authority Control

Processing (if available)

Integration with OCLC

Cataloging Services

(batch and individual

bibliographic records)

Integration of Bibframe

EDI for Acquisitions

(8 libraries, multiple

vendors)

Self-Checks

68 total, with 6 to be

added in next year


ILS COST PROPOSAL


Implementation


SIP2 – Total of 143 SIP2

Connections, including:

PC/Print

Management

DVD Vending

Machine

Evanced

3M Cloud Library

Boopsie

Freegal

Freading

Lynda.com

EZ Proxy

Axis 360/ eRead

Illinois

Overdrive

EventKeeper

My PC

Gale Courses

Zinio

Hoopla

Customer/Patron API

Catalog API

NCIP

Offline Circulation

Phone Notification

Service (4 phone lines)

Phone Renewal Service

(4 phone lines)


ILS COST PROPOSAL


Implementation


Enhanced Record

Content (Syndetics or

other service)

Book Jackets

Professional

Reviews

Patron

Reviews/Ratings

Integration with

NoveList Select

Z39.50 client/server

e-Commerce for Public

e-Commerce for Staff

Interface with Unique

Management Collection

Agency

Patron Notification via

Text

Outreach Module

Data Migration Services

Bibliographic

Item

Authority

Patron

Circulation

Transactions

Acquisitions

vendors and funds

Patrons’ saved lists

Profiles for

Outreach patrons

Training


ILS COST PROPOSAL


Implementation


Complete Test/Training

System

Optional

functionality/modules

Patron Images

Patron Digital

Signatures

Workflow Analysis

(see 5.7)

Report Migration

(see 5.8)

Interlibrary Loan

Module

Electronic Resource

Management Module

(ERM)

Premium Support

Services

Include any other

optional items described

in your Proposal

4.5 RFP NOT CONTRACTUAL

Nothing contained in this Request for Proposals or Proposals submitted shall create any contractual

relationship between the proposer and CCS. CCS accepts no financial responsibility for costs incurred

by any proposer regarding this RFP.

4.6 NOTICE TO BIDDERS

No proposal will be considered unless the proposer shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the CCS

Governing Board that the bidder has the necessary facilities, abilities, experience, equipment and

financial and physical resources available to fulfill the conditions of the Contract and execute the work,

should the Contract be awarded to the proposer.


Proposers will examine the project specifications and also the location in which said work is to be done

and judge for themselves all the circumstances and surrounding conditions affecting the cost and

nature of the work, and all proposals will be presumed to be based on such examination, familiarity and

judgment.

The successful proposer will be required to comply with the provisions of all State of Illinois and federal

laws concerning public contract projects as well as the State of Illinois Human Rights Act and the

regulations of the Illinois Human Rights Commission.

Every proposal shall contain a certification by the proposer that the proposer is not barred from

contracting with any unit of State or local government as a result of a violation of either Section 33 E-3

or 33 E-4 of Article 33 of the Illinois Criminal Code.

4.7 RESERVATIONS

The CCS Governing Board reserves the right to make clarifications, corrections or changes in the

project scope and specifications at any time prior to the time Proposals are opened. All Proposers or

prospective Proposers will be informed of said clarifications, corrections or changes. Proposals

submitted are offers only and the decision to accept or reject is a function of quality, reliability,

capability, reputation and expertise of the Proposers. The CCS Governing Board reserves the right to

accept the Proposal that is, in its judgment, the best and most favorable to the interests of CCS and the

public; to reject the lowest price proposed; to accept any item of any Proposal; to reject any and all

Proposals; and to waive irregularities and informalities in any Proposal submitted or in the Request For

Proposals process; provided, however, the waiver of any prior defect or informality shall not be

considered a waiver of any future or similar defect or informality. Proposers should not rely upon, or

anticipate, such waivers in submitting their Proposals.

4.8 CCS PROPOSAL AND SELECTION PROCESS

PROPOSAL EVALUATION

Teams, consisting of representatives from the CCS libraries, will score the appropriate functional areas

of the Proposals. Scores and comments will be gathered and the Teams will send their

recommendations for the top two vendors to the Committee of ILS Project Directors for approval.

VENDOR MEETINGS & DEMONSTRATIONS

The top two vendor candidates will be asked to take part in a variety of meetings for specific functional

areas to discuss questions from the Teams tasked with reviewing the Proposals. One or more short

demonstrations may be requested, targeting specific, high-priority functionality such as the public

interface.


FINAL DECISION

Following the vendor meetings and demonstrations, the functional Teams will develop their final

recommendation and present this to the ILS Project Director Task Force for approval. Following the

approval by the Committee of ILS Project Directors, the recommendation will be sent to the Governing

Board for final approval.

5. KEY ILS FUNCTIONALITY

Please review the information in this section, answering all specific questions and also providing the

Libraries with a general overview of the capabilities and functionality within your system which relate to

each area. The items listed in the Key Functionality area are things which differentiate CCS from other

large public library systems and also provide a clue to the areas which are the most important as each

system is evaluated.

5.1 (H) CCS libraries share an ILS yet require a great deal of local autonomy in the use of the

system. Describe the ways your system provides local control while still maintaining a simple

and intuitive way for patrons to discover and request items from all of the CCS libraries. Show

your understanding of the unique needs of CCS and how your system provides autonomy in the

following areas:

5.1.1 Circulation rules

5.1.2 Acquisitions practices

5.1.3 Public interface (look-and-feel and display of local holdings)

5.2 (H) The aggregate circulation transactions performed by the CCS libraries each year nears 15

million. CCS uses a non-centralized, distributed cataloging model. The CCS libraries have equal

representation within the group (as opposed to one or a few dominant players). Each CCS

library requires an ILS which provides efficiencies in processing materials and tools for effective

circulation of those materials. Describe 3-5 features in your system which would help the CCS

libraries maintain a high level of customer service.

5.3 (H) There is a large, ever-increasing number of third-party products utilized by the CCS libraries

which require integration or connectivity with the ILS. These products affect both the public

and staff users of the ILS and include wide-ranging services such as eBooks, online database

resources, RFID, discovery layers, self-check machines, and check-in sorters. The CCS libraries

purchase these products independently and the ILS needs to provide simple and stable

integrations which do not require a high level of maintenance. We understand tools like APIs,

NCIP, and SIP are typically used to provide connections between systems. With this in mind,

please answer the following:


5.3.1 It seems that each ILS company markets its APIs as the best and most comprehensive.

What specifically distinguishes your APIs from the competition?

5.3.2 What are notable and distinguishing factors about your implementation of NCIP?

5.3.3 What are notable and distinguishing factors about your implementation of SIP2? Is

there an option to get an unlimited SIP2 license?

5.3.4 Please describe existing integration technology that your company provides in addition

to the three options (APIs, NCIP, and SIP2) mentioned here?

5.3.5 What services and/or out-of-the-box setups does your company offer to streamline the

setup of connecting to third-party products?

5.3.6 What is your 5-year roadmap for developing integration with 3rd party technologies?

5.4 (H) System administration is an area which can greatly affect the success of an ILS

implementation as well as ongoing upgrades. Libraries are now expected to be available to

provide services 24 hours a day. Only short, pre-scheduled downtime is acceptable.

5.4.1 Describe the methodologies and tools utilized by your system for PC client upgrades.

5.4.2 How does your system ensure that performance is not affected during regular system

maintenance and when reports are run on a high-transaction system?

5.4.3 How does your system ensure that performance is not affected during the updating and

indexing process when large numbers of records are added to the system?

5.5 (H) CCS is interested in an interface presented to the public which has the ability to integrate all

of the library resources, while providing a simple and intuitive search portal for library patrons.

5.5.1 Describe the functionality available in your system which assists the user and does not

leave the searcher at a dead end. Describe what your system offers as far as stemming,

search suggestions, help in failed searches, fuzzy matching, type-ahead capabilities,

automatic synonyms, etc.

5.5.2 Describe how your system determines relevancy in search results. Does the algorithm

include circulation or other usage? How do you ensure that popular titles such as “The

Help” come to top of the results list? How does your system determine the display

order for electronic versus paper copies of the same title?

5.5.3 Describe the capabilities in your system for making the print version of classics such as

“Pride and Prejudice” and “Fahrenheit 451” display before other formats of the title in a

result set sorted by relevance.


5.5.4 Describe the capabilities for displaying the holdings/location information for a single

CCS library first in the display and how users discover holdings for the other CCS

libraries.

5.5.5 CCS libraries purchase some electronic resources as a group and others on an individual

library basis. The individual purchases are only available for cardholders from the

purchasing library. How does your system maintain and display the links appropriately

for these items, displaying only the titles available to an identified, logged-in user?

5.5.6 Describe the options available for integrating online article databases and other

electronic resources into the public interface.

5.5.7 List the eBook and eAudio vendors which can be integrated into your public interface

and provide the step-by-step methods used by the user to access this content.

5.5.8 Describe the level of integration your system has with resources from Hoopla, Zinio,

and Lynda.com. Please detail how your system would maintain ownership and access

information for these resources at the library level.

5.5.9 Describe the steps required for a user to place holds on a group of items of which the

user only needs the first available copy of any of the titles.

5.5.10 How are volume-level holds placed by a patron? Please include screen shots of the

process.

5.5.11 Describe the Advanced and/or Boolean searching capabilities available in your public

interface.

5.5.12 Describe the capabilities provided to the user in creating and maintaining personal lists

of items in the catalog. What options are available to the patron within the saved lists

function? If a bibliographic record is deleted from the catalog, is the title/author also

deleted from any saved lists maintained by patrons?

5.6 (H) For each of the interfaces below, please describe what is currently available or provide a

timeframe for the development of these capabilities.

5.6.1 Mobile Public Interface. Include information about the type of mobile interface

available (i.e. Android app, web interface, etc.)

5.6.2 Mobile and web-based Circulation

5.6.3 Web-based Cataloging

5.6.4 Web-based Acquisitions

5.6.5 Web-based Inventory Management


5.6.6 Web-based System Administration

5.7 (H) CCS has been operating with the Symphony system for 15 years. When we originally

migrated to Symphony in 2001, there were many codes and procedures from the former GEAC

system that were shoehorned into Symphony. Since then, additional libraries have joined CCS

with their own rule sets, and we have started to use more elements of the Symphony system

without revisiting the older codes and procedures. Describe how your team can assist us in

organizing our data, policies, and system-related procedures in a way that makes the best use

of the standard functionality of your ILS, as designed. Include a description of the optimal

method for data evaluation, preparation, migration and loading when the source data does not

conform closely with integral design and features of the new system.

5.8 (H) CCS has its own separate report MySQL server that was initially used to recreate GEAC

reports and also take report generation load off of the production server. Since then it has

evolved to include a large number of custom reports needed by each library. What services

could you offer to help us migrate these reports into your standard reporting mechanisms?

5.9 (H) Please describe the work that you are doing with Bibframe and what specific work is being

done to help make consortial data more easily discoverable and better exposed in search

engines such as Google, Bing, etc. (Please note that we are asking about steps that help

consortia specifically, we are not asking about how Bibframe works in general). If you are not

the incumbent vendor, please describe how our current setup for Bibframe with BlueCloud

Visibility can be migrated to your Bibframe process.

6. GENERAL ILS FUNCTIONALITY

This section includes questions regarding functionality which covers all of the modules within the ILS.

Please indicate if these functions vary by module or if they are consistent system-wide.

6.1 (L) Does the system indicate what codes within patron and item records mean when you mouse

over them in the staff modules?

6.2 (H) While many of the CCS libraries are single-site institutions, several of them have two or

three physical branches. Describe how your system accommodates the multi-site libraries with

shared policies and holds request needs and then treats those groups at the same level as the

single-site institutions?

6.3 (L) What mechanisms and functionality are built into your system for handling ADA

requirements for both staff and customers?

6.4 (M) We have a number of staff users who prefer key commands over a mouse. Are key

command hints given without needing to mouse over? For example, pressing ALT (or some

other key) reveals underlined letters in a button or menu (the hint). Pressing ALT + underlined

letter sends the command through. As a result, there is no need to use the mouse.


6.5 (L) What ergonomic design has been built into your system for staff users to help prevent

repetitive stress injuries?

6.6 (L) Does your system require a double mouse click for completing any tasks in the staff

interfaces?

6.7 (M) Are workstation-specific or user-specific behaviors/properties in the client easily accessible

by the operator for customization by the user? Are these properties retained by login or by

workstation, or both? How is that distinction made?

6.8 (M) RDA has an increased focus on record-to-record relationships based on FRBR and adopted

the Work-Expression-Manifestation-Item structure. Does your system currently take advantage

of this new data and structure to improve the user experience in any way? Are any future user

experience improvements based on this data planned? If so, can you share a timeline?

6.9 (L) Does your system support CODABAR barcodes with check digits and can any barcodes

which do not fit the standard format be flagged?

7. ACQUISITIONS & SERIALS REQUIREMENTS

Eight of the CCS Libraries utilize the acquisitions module. CCS is interested in finding an ILS that helps

library staff to create, maintain and utilize as many automated features as possible to handle each

library’s purchasing needs.

Below is a list of specific elements of interest to CCS Libraries. Please respond to each item below and

feel free to include any general information about this module in your response.

7.1 (M) Describe the process for setting up EDI for one CCS library and one vendor.

7.2 (H) List all of the vendors with which your system can communicate via EDI and include the

type of actions available (i.e. order, order confirmation, claiming, cancellation and invoicing).

7.3 (M) Describe how call numbers are handled during EDI processing. Include a screen shot of a

record that is on-order, with the call number field visible.

7.4 (H) Describe how your system provides separate acquisitions functionality for each CCS library

and if there are any aspects of the acquisitions module that must be shared or can be viewed by

all libraries using this module. Does your system have the ability to retain separate vendor

records and separate fund records for each CCS library?

7.5 (L) Does your system offer staff-created selection lists that can be utilized in the acquisitions

process? If so, please describe how the lists are created and how they are accessed by

acquisitions staff.


7.6 (L) Does your system have a report that can be scheduled to send a report via email of items

ordered but not received within a time period specified by the library (i.e. 7 months from date of

order)?

7.7 (M) What functionality is available in your system for supporting patron-driven acquisitions of

electronic and print or physical materials?

7.8 (L) How can you create a report of how much is spent by item type (or your system's equivalent

for designating the circulating collection rule), e.g. monies spent on hot items?

7.9 (M) What processes come out-of-the-box to assist with automatic batch processing of items

upon receipt? For example, when receiving materials, can you automatically have the items

change from “on-order” to “in processing.”

7.10 (L) How would your acquisitions module avoid creating duplicate on order records of hand-

keyed on order records and fully cataloged bibliographic records already in the catalog?

8. CATALOGING REQUIREMENTS



8.1 (H) Is there a limit to the instances of the staff cataloging interface that can be open at once?

8.2 (H) Are updates and additions made in the cataloging module immediately available in the

public interface(s)?

8.3 (L) How many records can be viewed simultaneously in the cataloging module? Will this

change with a move to a web version of your staff interface?

8.4 (M) Does your system provide a labeled display for fixed field editing? Please include a screen

shot of the screen when editing the 008, 007 and 006 tags.

8.5 (H) What matching criteria can be used when using Z39.50 to import records?

8.6 (M) Does your system provide the capability to load a single bibliographic record? Describe the

options available.

8.7 (H) When loading bibliographic records into the database, can fields be added, deleted, and

edited during record load? Please describe the process.

8.8 (H) Does your system provide reports for:

8.8.1 Identifying items that are received or in process with holds

8.8.2 Identifying items with typos in the Call Number


8.8.3 Identifying items that are received and sort by received date

8.9 (H) Does your system support the ability to move an item record from one bibliographic record

to another? If so, please describe the process.

8.10 (H) Does your system support the ability to merge two bibliographic records? If so, please

describe the process and how the item records and existing holds are handled.

8.11 (H) Are there item templates for efficient item creation in your system? Describe how to create

multiple item/copy records for the same title at once.

8.12 (H) Does your system support the ability to cut and paste blocks of text, including MARC tags,

subfields, etc.?

8.13 (L) Please provide the step-by-step process for printing spine labels. How are these customized

per library?

8.14 (L) Describe the discard process (to delete/purge records in batch). What are stopping

conditions? What deletion dependencies are there?

8.15 (L) Does your system provide one-click access to the RDA toolkit when viewing/editing a

specific field?

8.16 (M) Does your staff cataloging module include a call number browse feature? If so, indicate

how this browse would be accessed during the cataloging process.

8.17 (L) Does your system support macros or text strings for cataloging purposes? Please provide

some examples of macros or text strings that have been set up in your system.

8.18 (M) Describe how cataloging with diacritics is performed in your system. How do you catalog

foreign languages on a regular basis, e.g. with alternative keyboards or other means?

8.19 (H) Does your system support the ability to toggle to and from the public catalog while editing a

record in staff mode (i.e. a preview of the OPAC display)?

8.20 (L) Does your system provide pure spell-checking in the traditional sense; and a kind of

validation utility that spots things like extra spaces in call number fields or fields that start with

an erroneous space?

8.21 (M) Does your system allow library staff to edit the bibliographic records for e-resource

materials, like eBooks? One example of how this would be used is to designate special things

like Illinois Children’s Book Award in an eBook record.


9. AUTHORITIES AND RECORD PROCESSING

CCS is interested in learning what your company offers in the area of authority and bibliographic record

processing. CCS has been using Marcive for authority control but would like to find a more efficient

process which does not require as much staff intervention. Also, CCS would like to continue to improve

its bibliographic records to allow them to take advantage of new features as they are made available.

9.1 (H) Outline the services that your company can provide for authorities processing.

9.1.1 Can ongoing authorities processing be done or is this only available on a one-time

basis? If ongoing, can it be done on a schedule determined by CCS (monthly or

quarterly)?

9.1.2 Do your authority services utilize records from the Library of Congress?

9.1.3 Can the updated authority records be loaded into our system by your staff or does staff

at CCS have to do that step?

9.1.4 How does your system identify bibliographic records that need authority records on an

on-going basis? Is a back file of which bibliographic and authority records are in the

system established or is there another process done that shows which bibliographic

records in the system have headings that still need authority records?

9.1.5 When authority records are changed or new authority records are added to the system,

how are affected headings updated? Are they changed overnight? Does it take a

number of days for the updating and indexing to be completed?

9.1.6 Is there any cataloging downtime (or moratorium) while headings in bibliographic

records are being checked and updated?

9.1.7 How long is the typical turnaround time for this type of authorities update service?

9.2 (M) How does your system handle orphan authority records?

9.3 (M) Can Lexile and Accelerated Reader data be added to bibliographic records on an ongoing

schedule?

9.4 (L) For 6xx data, can fields be stripped during record load or authorized by thesauri and

indicator?

9.5 (M) Do you provide other options to update or clean up the MARC data in bibliographic records,

besides updated headings? For example: Can new RDA 33X fields be added? Can new RDA 34X

fields be added? Can filing indicators, GMD brackets; ISBN’s; LCCN’s and other data be

corrected or normalized? Can other problems encountered in the bibliographic records be

corrected? Please describe the options available.

9.5.1 If so, is this service done on an ongoing basis or is this done on a one-time basis?


9.5.2 Does such a bibliographic record update service include the entire database? Can

smaller groups of newly added bibliographic records be sent later to receive the same

type of services?

9.5.3 Is there any cataloging downtime (or moratorium) while the work is being done?

9.5.4 How long is the typical turnaround time for this type of bibliographic update service? In

hours or days?

9.5.5 If there must be some cataloging downtime, can this type of service be done over the

weekend or overnight so it reduces cataloging downtime?

9.5.6 Do you charge a price per record sent or do you have another pricing structure? Please

include pricing information in the Optional section of the Cost Proposal in Section 4.4.

10. CIRCULATION REQUIREMENTS



10.1 (L) How are pop-up windows controlled during the circulation process? What options are

available per library or per workstation around pop-up messages? Does the barcode scanner

“return” affect the dialog box?

10.2 (L) Can your system cap overdue fees at the cost of the item? Can this functionality be set at

the library level?

10.3 (H) We have several, not all, libraries using RFID with different vendors.

10.3.1 When working with RFID, can items be batch scanned when interfacing with your

system or do they need to be scanned one at a time for various functions?

10.3.2 Can RFID systems be set up with your ILS to handle global item editing with your

system?

10.3.3 Is it possible for your mobile circulation system to desensitize an RFID tag upon

checkout?

10.4 (H) When checking in items, how can your system check an item in with today’s date yet clear

the fine, if any, that is due? For example, we want to show that an item was checked in on a

particular day, but may want to waive the fines because we were unexpectedly closed

yesterday.

10.5 (H) When an Item is presented at checkout and the item had not been checked in, what are the

behavior options? Is it possible to check the item in, clear any fine from previous patron, and


check the item out to current patron, all in one step? Can the behavior be set at the library-

level?

10.6 (H) What parameters or settings are available in your system to allow one library to charge fines

and another library to not charge fines?

10.7 (M) How are automatic renewals set up in your system? Can one library allow automatic

renewals while another does not? Can this be segregated to certain groups of patrons at a

specific library? Can individuals opt in/opt out?

10.8 (H) Is it possible to limit the number of items checked out by a patron by "item type"? Please

describe what your "item type" field equivalent is. Example: only one hot pick or 15 DVDs can be

checked out on a patron card. Is it possible to set up different limits per library?

10.9 (H) Describe how your system prioritizes holds for home library items for home library patrons?

10.10 (M) Is it possible to place copy holds on multiple copies of a title simultaneously, or for all of the

copies at a specific library? If so, is this only available to staff or also to patrons? This is

particular of need with book clubs and with grade-level book lists, which have a high turnover

rate.

10.11 (M) Does your system support the ability to move title level holds from one bibliographic record

to another and the ability to move item level holds from one item to another?

10.12 (H) Describe the holds picklist process in a consortium. Please note any differences between

the functionality when using a mobile or web-based version of the system.

10.12.1 Does it involve the need for a batch process to run?

10.12.2 How does the holds picklist process work when there are multiple copies available on

the shelf at multiple libraries? If it only selects one of the copies at one of the libraries

for the picklist, what options are available for routing the requests among the potential

supplying libraries?

10.12.3 What options are available for sorting the picklist?

10.12.4 How are picklists updated to reflect new incoming requests and requests that are

already filled by checkins?

10.13 (M) Describe your Offline Circulation process. Is it possible for the CCS central staff to grab

offline files, even when the central staff are unaware that a library went into offline mode? Can

the system process the offline files simultaneously? Are there any safeguards to prevent offline

circulation processing from superseding any transactions that occurred after going online?

How are circulation delinquencies handled in offline mode? What due date transaction table is

used in offline mode?


10.14 (H) What notice options does your system provide for patrons, e.g., text, email, telephone,

other? Can these methods be options per library? Can each library create its own

messages/text?

10.15 (L) Which patron notices can be sent via text? Would each library be able to customize the text

messages for their patrons? Do text notifications offer the ability to renew via a reply text?

10.16 (M) Does your system allow individual libraries to set up multiple patron record templates?

How are these displayed and utilized in the circulation module?

10.17 (M) Describe how a staff member would create a new patron record in your mobile and/or web-

based circulation interface. Include screenshots.

10.18 (L) When patrons pay fines online, how does your system record the transaction so that staff

can easily identify the patron and payment transaction if there is a dispute?

10.19 (M) When deleting a library item that is missing but has fines attached, is the fine information

automatically retained on the patron card? If so, what type of item information (title, call

number, etc.) is retained with the fine? For example, if an item is missing and the library wants

to get it out of the system but there are fines attached that prevent its removal, can the fines be

automatically kept on the patron’s record?

10.20 (M) Outreach Services

10.20.1 Describe how your system supports functionality specific to home bound patron

services, including bookmobile services.

10.20.2 Describe how your system supports a “Books by Mail” program. Can individual CCS

libraries optionally utilize this feature?

10.20.3 What features in your system facilitate the management of deliveries for certain groups

such as senior centers, senior residential facilities, etc.

10.20.4 Does your system provide a detailed history of the checkouts for each homebound

patron, including periodical titles with specific issue information?

10.20.5 Does your system support the creation of profiles for patrons using home delivery

services?


11. PUBLIC INTERFACE/DISCOVERY REQUIREMENTS

Below is a list of specific elements of interest to CCS Libraries. CCS is interested in the public interface

and/or discovery options available with your system, however, once a final vendor is selected, each

library will make their own decision regarding public access. Please respond to each item below and feel

free to include any general information about this module in your response.

11.1 (H) Describe the capabilities within your system for searching and/or limiting searches by

reading level. Include information about what is required in the bibliographic or item records to

allow this type of searching.

11.2 (H) Is it possible for patrons to self-register for an online only card that is specific to a particular

library? Is there a means for the system to only permit certain libraries to accept self-

registrations by zip code? Can each library have its own self-registration form?

11.3 (M) Do patrons have the ability to indicate preferences for how they wish to receive

notifications (text, phone, email, print)?

11.4 (M) When result sets are displayed and sorted by title, does your system have the ability to

ignore initial articles in English and other languages?

11.5 (M) Does your system utilize a “stop word” list during the searching process? How is this list

accessed and maintained?

11.6 (L) What options does your system support for highlighting titles which are new (i.e. facets,

dynamic lists, etc.)?

11.7 (M) Does your system support the ability for library staff to create lists of titles that can be

displayed as a set through the public interface?

11.8 (H) Can CCS control which MARC fields/subfields are indexed?

11.9 (M) How does the public interface utilize the data in fields, such as 336-338, 340-347, and 380-

386?

11.10 (H) Please describe your indexing capabilities. What indexes are out of the box? How can

existing indexes be edited? How can new indexes be created? Are there limits to the number of

indexes? Please list your top three customers with the most indexes on their systems and how

many indexes each has created in their system.

11.11 (L) Does your system offer an option to sort results by popularity? If so, how do you define

popularity?

11.12 (H) Does your system support the ability for patrons to create multiple lists of titles through the

public interface?

11.12.1 What printing, sharing and saving capabilities are available for these lists?


11.12.2 Can patrons add specific item information to their lists for location and call number

information?

11.12.3 Are patrons able to export their saved lists for use outside of the ILS?

11.12.4 Please provide a sample print out of the list. (not a screenshot)

11.13 (H) For consortia, does your system provide each library with a unique, locally-branded public

interface? Can searches be limited to titles available in the local library and then expanded to

search the titles available in the entire consortium? Please describe and include screen shots to

demonstrate this capability.

11.14 (M) Does your system support the ability to include canned searches on web pages outside of

the public interface?

11.15 (M) Does your system support the ability to place a search box with pre-defined limits (for

example, by library) on other web pages, so that you can launch library-specific searches from

other sites?

11.16 (L) What options are available in the public interface to display electronic resources without

overwhelming the search results with these items?

11.17 (H) Does your system provide a mobile version of the public interface which offers full searching

and patron self-service options?

11.18 (M) Is your public interface “device aware,” reacting to the device used for access? For

example, if a patron is accessing the library through a smartphone, is the mobile version of the

public interface automatically displayed?

11.19 (M) Describe how facets are implemented in your system. Can CCS create facets on-demand?

Can different CCS libraries utilize different facets within the public interface?

11.20 (L) How does your public interface leverage authority records?

11.21 (M) What types of innovative features are you currently developing for patrons, i.e. voice

navigation, digital library cards, etc.?

12. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS


feel free to include any general information about the reporting capabilities of your system in your

response.

12.1 (H) Does your system contain a number of canned or immediate reports which are available

from within each module of the system?


Describe the types of canned reports you make available, how/where they are available

(module or separate report function) and provide a list of these reports.

12.2 (H) Does your system provide a flexible report generator which allows staff to easily query the

database with combinations of user-selected fields and criteria but does not require any

specialized SQL or other type of reporting programming experience?

Describe the report generator available in your system, including screen shots, where

applicable.

12.3 (H) Does your system offer complex Reports - SQL (or equivalent) access into the data set via

Crystal Reports (or equivalent) to produce more complicated reports?

Describe the high-level reporting capabilities available in your system.

12.4 (M) Does your system provide a Manager’s or Director’s report module which can provide

standard and customized statistics for high-level information regarding Library collections and

usage?

Please describe the reporting mechanisms available for this information and include pricing

information, if applicable, in the Cost Proposal.

12.5 (M) Does your system offer multiple methods for exporting and/or downloading reports making

the data universally accessible (such as csv, XLS and PDF files) to facilitate data manipulation,

transfer and sharing?

Please describe the output capabilities for the different types of reports available in your

system.

12.6 (M) What mechanisms are available to schedule reports to be emailed to staff on a one-time or

regular basis? What levels of system access are required to edit the list of recipients?

12.7 (M) Does your system offer the ability to utilize data from the MARC record in reports, including

data from specific MARC tags and sub-fields? Please describe how your system facilitates this

type of reporting capabilities.

12.8 (H) Describe and provide examples of how your system can provide us with data related to

patron searches, e.g., search strategies used, facets clicked on, and other related data that

might be of interest to us.


12.9 (H) How can your system provide reporting based upon Dewey Call Number Century and

Dewey Call Number Decade from the call number field itself? Can it ignore prefixes (like J or

LP) as part of the reporting?

13. SYSTEMS/IT REQUIREMENTS



13.1 (H) Please describe the processes for global editing bibliographic, item, patron, and any other

records (if relevant) in your system? Which of these processes can be delegated to each

member library? Are there protections in place so that a library can only edit its own records?

After the changes are made, what process is there to reindex; does it go one by one or does it

provide more robust and efficient reindexing?

13.2 (H) Describe the process that your system uses to index and re-index records as they are added

or changed. Does the indexing process cause any issues with ongoing work in the system?

13.3 (M) What processes typically need to run overnight/after hours? Please provide examples of

three large consortial customers with whom to discuss overnight processes.

13.4 (H) Does the system have to be taken down to perform a complete backup? How long would a

backup take, given the statistics for CCS listed in Section 2 – General Information.

13.5 (L) Do you have a service to keep a test system in sync with the production system? If so, how is

this accomplished?

13.6 (H) Does your system provide API access to the following? Please indicate if the APIs allow

read-only or read-write functionality and how the APIs available distinguish your system from

others.

13.6.1 Bibliographic and Item Records

13.6.2 Patron Information (including all “My Account” features)

13.6.3 Circulation Transactions

13.6.4 Acquisitions Transactions

13.7 (M) Does your system provide other methods for accessing data within the application, other

than via API?

13.8 (H) Provide at least 2 example projects by your customers that have made use of your API(s),

which would be of interest to the CCS libraries. Include contact information for each project.

13.9 (M) What obstacles have you faced in the past when migrating large consortia to your system?


13.10 (L) Are there any special security concerns related to consortia accessing a system hosted by

you from multiple library locations, with different networks?

13.11 (L) How does the level of system access differ for customers utilizing your hosting/SaaS

environment versus customers housing the server locally?

13.12 (H) How does your company keep your system current with PCI compliance and other rapidly

changing security issues related to financial transactions?

14. THIRD-PARTY INTEGRATION REQUIREMENTS



14.1 (H) Does your system provide integrations with collection agency services from Unique

Management? Can this integration be set up for some CCS libraries and not others?

14.2 (H) Individual CCS libraries may choose to implement different third-party discovery layers and

search interfaces. Does your system integrate with discovery layers and search interfaces such

as BiblioCommons, VUFind, and Boopsie? How do these interfaces connect to your system (i.e.

APIs, web services, etc.)?

14.3 (M) Does your system support the use of Google Analytics for website usage reports? Do you

offer services to set this up?

14.4 (H) Each CCS library selects its own PC and Print Management system. Does your system

integrate with all of the systems listed in the chart in Section 2? If so, indicate if the integration

is accomplished through SIP2, an API or other methods. Please include any costs associated

with integrating the PC and Print Management systems currently in place in your Cost

Proposal.

14.5 (H) Which telephone renewal/notification system(s) can be integrated with your system?

Please include pricing for this functionality in your Cost Proposal, using the information in the

chart in Section 4.4.

14.6 (H) List which vendors can be used with your system for fine payment and processing. Do you

work with Square for point of sale payment?

15. IMPLEMENTATION, MIGRATION & SUPPORT

15.1 Please provide a detailed implementation and training schedule, assuming 9-12 months for the

timeline. CCS would prefer a 9-12 month timeframe with time allocated for serious discussion


around code consolidation and workflow analysis. The incumbent vendor should provide a

proposal for a reimplementation of the system and a migration to their SaaS environment.

15.2 Does your company provide on-site training for the system? Do you offer off-site or web-based

training? Please describe what options are available here and then make sure related costs are

included in the separate costs section.

15.3 Does your company provide any assistance with OPAC/Discovery design and implementation?

Please describe what options are available and the costs involved with each option.

15.4 CCS is interested in contracting for additional resources during the migration. Does your

company either provide additional implementation services options or recommend any partner

organizations or consultants for the implantation project? If so, please describe. Some

possibilities may include additional coordination and oversight for the member libraries, EDI

setup or setup of third party interfaces via SIP or API.

15.5 CCS would like to migrate several different types of data to the new system. Please summarize

the steps that would need to be taken, both by the Consortium and your company, to migrate

the following data. Also, summarize what information cannot be migrated.

Patron information, including creation date, expiration date, last activity, profile,

demographics (jurisdiction, gender, birthdate), notes, current checkouts, holds, unpaid

bills and collection agency information.

Patrons’ saved lists.

Profile information for Outreach patrons.

Bibliographic information, including date the bibliographic record was added.

Serial volume records and/or data.

Item information, including date added, historical circulation counts, fields giving copy-

specific information (owning library, shelving location, current location or status,

primary and secondary location), holds, and last activity.

Holds information, including current status of items on hold, complete waiting list in

order by date placed, and whether hold is for a title or a specific item or volume.

Transaction information, including all open financial transactions associated with

existing item and patron barcodes/IDs.

Summary holdings and check in history information for serial records.

Acquisitions fund and vendor records.

15.6 Describe your customer support structure, hours and resources for hardware support, operating

system support and application/data support.

15.7 What are the hours and days of your live telephone support?

15.8 Is complete documentation and/or a complete user manual for your system available online?


15.9 Do you provide a customer portal for accessing documentation as well as interacting with your

help desk and trouble ticket system? How many options/methods are available for reporting

problems? Can the portal have different levels of access for CCS staff versus member library

staff in order to separate the ticket access from documentation and training?

15.10 Please describe the make-up and governance of the ILS user group, including any email lists,

online resources and/or meetings provided through this group. Include contact information for

the group(s) available.

15.11 What are the company holidays [no support] or limited support days each year?

15.12 Describe what structure is in place for gathering, evaluating, developing, prioritizing and

implementing software improvement requests from the ILS user group.

16. VENDOR STABILITY & EXPERIENCE

16.1 Please provide the following information for your company:

Name

Home office address and telephone

Sales/customer service office serving the Chicago, Illinois area

Name, title, telephone and email address for primary contact for proposal

Name, title, telephone and email address for manager of implementation services

Total earnings for the last 3 years

Audited financial statements for the previous two fiscal years. If publicly traded companies,

provide a link to the latest annual report, 10-k and 10-Q reports. Also, SSAE 16 reporting on

controls as a service organization

Amount budgeted annually for Research and Development

Dun & Bradstreet Number

16.2 Size and Allocation of Staff (for Library System only)

Please indicate the size of your staff (in FTE).

Please use these categories as guidelines and represent your company’s staffing in the most

appropriate ways.

Research and Development

Customer Service/Support

Sales

Administration

Implementation


Training

16.3 References

Please provide 3-5 references that accurately reflect the system performance and company

support. References should include similar installations in the areas of number of libraries,

population size, collection size, and transaction levels.

16.4 How many public Library customers are currently running production versions of your ILS?

How many are vendor hosted? Of those hosted, please provide the top two with the highest

number of annual circulation transitions.

16.5 How many years has your company worked in the ILS marketplace?

16.6 Is your company currently for sale or involved in any negotiations to expand or to be acquired

by another organization? If so, please explain.

16.7 Has your company been involved in a merger, acquisition, or reorganization in the last five

years? If so, please describe.

16.8 Please list any pending litigation in which your company may be involved. Has your company

ever defaulted on a contract or been involved in litigation for failure to comply with contract

terms? If yes, explain.

Documents

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR AN INTEGRATED ... - CCS · PDF filerequest for proposal for an integrated library system (ils) cooperative computer services (ccs) issued october 3, 2016 responses