Chronology

January 1996

• State-Assisted Academic Library Council of Kentucky (SAALCK) directors, chaired by Marian Winner, Northern Kentucky University, initiates planning for the SAALCK Digital Library Project with the assistance of Ling-yuh W. (Miko) Pattie, assigned by Paul Willis, University of Kentucky.

May 1996

• Governor Paul Patton appoints the Commission on Higher Education Institutional Efficiency and Cooperation to " A. Improve efficiency of program delivery; Improve efficiency of institutional administration; C. Apply technology in accomplishing Goals A & B; D. Develop evaluation system and financial incentives to enhance accomplishments of Goals A, B, and C and evaluate progress."

June 1996

• Governor Paul Patton appoints the Task Force on Postsecondary Education "to assure that Kentucky's postsecondary education and technical education system is positioned to provide the human capital needed to allow the Commonwealth to be a leader in the global economy of the twenty-first century."

• SAALCK directors meet with Jim Ramsey, Budget Director, and Jody Richards, House Majority Speaker, in Bowling Green, on the need for a statewide digital library to leverage resources and expand access to information in the Commonwealth.

July 1996

• "A Vision of a Digital Library Network for the State-Assisted Academic Libraries of Kentucky" is developed by SAALCK directors during a retreat in Shakertown.

August 1996

• SAALCK directors meet with Dr. Kern Alexander, Chair, the Commission's Committee on New Technology, in Murray, on the need of a virtual library to support a virtual university.

October 1996

• The Commission submits the final report to the Task Force. The report contains a recommendation to establish the Commonwealth Virtual University. "Establish a Statewide Electronic Library" is included as one of the recommendations.

March 1997

• The Task Force on Postsecondary Education releases the report on a postsecondary blueprint for the 21st century and proposes legislation.

May 1997

• Kentucky General Assembly approves and Governor Paul Patton signs into legislation the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, which mandates the creation of the Commonwealth Virtual University (CVU) by the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE).

October 1997

• " A Conceptual Framework for the Commonwealth Virtual University " is proposed by the Kentucky institutions of higher education for the CPE. The SAALCK Digital Library Project is officially appended to the report as one of the key components of the CVU.

• CPE Chair Leonard Hardin names Distance Learning Advisory Committee (DLAC) to advise the CPE on CVU development. Jim Nelson, Commissioner and State Librarian, is appointed to the DLAC.

March 1998

• DLAC Chair Lee Todd appoints the CVU Work Group on CVL which serves as the CVL Steering Committee. Jim Nelson is appointed to be the Chair. The Steering Committee is composed of representatives from all types of libraries. 6 subcommittees are formed.

• Miko Pattie is appointed to be the CVL Coordinator.

April 1998

• William Gray Potter, Director of University of Georgia Libraries and a key person in the development of GALILEO, the Georgia statewide virtual library, is contracted to be the consultant to advise the Steering Committee on the CVL implementation.

June 1998

• Dr. Potter presents his final report and recommendations to the DLAC. The Committee approves the report and forwards it to the CVL Steering Committee for implementation of the 14-point work plan recommended by Dr. Potter.

July 1998

• Mission and goals for the CVL are established by the Steering Committee.

August 1998

• NCLIVE, the North Carolina virtual library, makes a presentation to the CVL Steering Committee and subcommittees.

September 1998

• 7 electronic database vendors are invited to make presentations to the CVL on how they can cost-effectively offer us databases we desire for statewide access.

October 1998

• DLAC Approves the 1998-99 CVU/CVL budget. The CVL budget includes one common library management system.

• The CVL Collections Subcommittee begins working on a Request for Proposal (RFP) upon the advice of the Purchasing Division.

• The CVL Steering Committee approves the draft RFP for the ground courier service submitted by the CVL Document Delivery Subcommittee.

November 1998

• The CPE approves the 1998-99 CVU/CVL budget.

• Gordon K. Davies, the CPE President, speaks to the Steering Committee on his commitment for CVL and pledges to take anecdotes and hard data to the legislators for increased funding.

December 1998

• Gordon K. Davies invites William Hansen, President of the Kentucky Library Network (KLN) Board of Directors, to join the CVL Steering Committee. This is to plan to integrate KLN services into the CVL.

January 1999

• Ling-yuh W. (Miko) Pattie is selected to be the CVL Director.

• The CVL Information Literacy Subcommittee members begin the Collegis training, along with the 9 CVU pilot projects, to design the interactive Web-based tutorial to help CVU students on doing database search and research.

February 1999

• The UofL's Endeavor/Voyager contract is used by other 8 institutions to begin the implementation of a common library management system.

• The specifications and distribution for CVU/CVL workstations are approved by the CVL Steering Committee and the CVU Technology Work Group.

• The Request for Proposal for electronic databases and the Invitation to Bid for ground courier service are finalized by the Collections and Document Delivery subcommittees.

March 1999

• The position of KCVL Assistant Director is posted.

• The UK and UofL hub sites for the Endeavor/Voyager system start requisition of servers. The process to define the Service Level Agreement among the CPE, DIS, hub sites, and client libraries begins.

• UK is contracted to manage the Kentuckiana Digital Library Project.

• The KCVU Technology Work Group approves the specifications for library workstations that are to be used for KCVU/KCVL access and Ariel Internet faxing system.

April 1999

• The KCVL domain name is established as "kcvl.org".

• The KCVL logo is designed based on the recommendations from the KCVL Marketing Subcommittee.

• The KCTCS Office of Information Technology processes the Ariel systems purchase order on behalf of the CPE for all KCTCS libraries, LCC, KDLA, and 6 public libraries.

• The Finance Administration issues the Invitation to Bid for the ground courier service.

• The Finance Administration issues the Request for Proposal for the electronic databases.

• Endeavor/Voyager implementation/training begins for 8 public institutions.

• The Request for Proposal for consultants for the Kentuckiana Digital Library is issued.

May 1999

• Evaluation of vendor responses for the electronic databases begins by the Evaluation Team, KCVL Collections Subcommittee, working with the Division of Purchases.

• The bids for the ground courier service are rejected by the Finance Administration.

• The plan for the Kentuckiana Digital Library is drafted.

• The KCVU and KCVL Virtual Groundbreaking in Louisville shows the kcvl.org website. Five public, academic and school libraries participate all over the state.

• The OCLC WebZ software is configured to provide a "common look and feel" for trial databases and library catalogs.

June 1999

• The Executive Secretary for KCVL and one Virtual Reference Librarian join the staff.

• Evaluation of electronic databases continues.

• Enhancement for the online tutorial for information literacy program continues.

July 1999

• KCVL Orientation Sessions are conducted for 200 librarians all over the state to familiarize them with KCVL services.

• The Kentucky Dept. of Education (KDE) and the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU) join in the database evaluation process. Both groups of libraries decide to be full KCVL participants by contributing significant funds to databases.

• The evaluation of electronic databases is completed.

• The 2nd Virtual Reference Librarian joins the staff.

• The proposal for consultants for the Kentuckiana Digital Library is rejected by the CPE.

August 1999

• Negotiations for electronic databases begin.

• The Invitation to Bid for the ground courier service is reissued.

• The KCVL Assistant Director joins the staff.

• The kcvl.org website undergoes redesign. Staff begins weekly meetings to select and organize web resources for the website in preparation for the KCVL Rollout.

• Three Requests for Proposal for consultants for the Kentuckiana Digital Library are issued.

September 1999

• Five libraries become production sites for the Endeavor/Voyager system: EKU, KCTCS, KSU, Morehead, and WKU. Phases 1 and 2 of the Endeavor project are completed.

• A statewide database contract is signed with EBSCO for 15 databases: Academic Search Elite, Books in Print with Reviews, Business Source Premier, CINAHL, Health Source Plus, MAS FullTEXT Ultra, MasterFILE Premier, Medline with fullTEXT, Middle Search Plus Online, Newspaper Source, NoveList, Primary Search Online, PsycINFO, Professional Development Collection, and Vocational Search.

• KCVL staff initiates planning for KCVL training with representatives of K-12, KCTCS, KDLA, and the Information Literacy Subcommittee.

• David Seaman, Director, Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia, begins his consulting work with the KCVL on scanning and imaging standards, best practices, and outsourcing.

• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • Kentucky School Media Association, Covington, KY
  • Theological Education Association of Mid-America, Asbury, KY

October 1999

• A letter of intent is sent to OCLC for licensing 16 databases: WorldCat, ArticleFirst, ContentsFirst, Electronic Collections Online, NetFirst, Union List of Periodicals, PapersFirst, ProceedingsFirst, ERIC, GPO, MEDLINE, World Almanac, World Book, Applied Science and Technology Abstracts, Biological and Agricultural Index, and PAIS.

• Training for the Ariel system is conducted for KCTCS and public libraries. A total of 58 sites throughout the state are equipped and trained to share collections via the Internet and 53 people attended these trainings.

• CPE, KCVL, and Finance Administration invite 5 vendors for ground courier service for a meeting to discuss our requirements and their services in preparation for an Invitation to Bid.

• Stephen Miller, Duke University, consults with KCVL on the use of Encoded Archival Description for finding aids.

• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • Kentucky Library Association, Louisville, KY
  • Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities, Georgetown, KY
  • Health Occupations Students of America, Louisville, KY
  • Jefferson Community College, Louisville, KY

November 1999

• The KCVL is officially launched on November 1. A press conference is held at 9:00 at CPE with TV and newspaper media present along with public librarians. A launch party is held at the Kentucky History Center, presided by Lee Todd, Chair of the Governor-appointed Distance Learning Advisory Committee, and attended by more than 150 people. Take a look at pictures from the launch taken by Haiwang.

• Six 2-day KCVL training sessions are conducted by the staff: Prestonsburg, Bowling Green, Paducah, Somerset, and Lexington (2).

• Roy Tennant, Digital Library Project Manager, University of California, Berkeley, consults with KCVL on design principles for the Kentuckiana Digital Library database.

• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 201,369 for 29,277 web pages
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 401,058 for 13,325 pages
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 204

December 1999

• KCVL staff and Technology Subcommittee meet with Endeavor staff on improvements in communication and coordination for the hubs system in preparation for the phase 3 implementation. Plans to add private institutions into the system are being developed.

• KCVL staff, Document Delivery Subcommittee, and coordinators for K-12, KCTCS, KDLA, and private institutions meet with OCLC staff in exploring the KCVL vision for resource sharing among KCVL participants using SiteSearch.

• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • Kentucky SOLINET Users Group Meeting, Berea, KY
  • Kentucky Education Television Staff Meeting, Lexington, KY
  • Lexington Public Library Staff Meeting, Lexington, KY

• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 154,789 for 24,729 web pages
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 179,970 for 5,191 pages
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 124

January 2000

• The National Library of Australia staff came to visit KCVL. We share common goals and issues in delivering information to citizens using the OCLC SiteSearch platform.

• Training: Five 2-day KCVL basic training sessions are conducted by the SOLINET and KCVL staff: Owensboro, Columbia, Hazard, Louisville, and Highland Heights. A total of 69 librarians are trained.

• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • American Library Association Mid-Winter Conference, San Antonio, Texas
  • Elizabethtown Technical College Faculty Orientation, Elizabethtown, KY

• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 257,963
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 365,962
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 144

February 2000

• Susan Brown participates in the Southeastern Institute on Collaborative Library Leadership sponsored by SOLINET. 30 participants from 10 states in the Southeast are selected for the weeklong institute that aims "to develop and enhance leadership among staff of statewide and multi-type library consortia." Miko gives a table talk for the Institute.

• Miko and Mary Beth Susman appear in the Jack Pattie radio show at WVLK in Lexington to talk about KCVL and KCVU. This is one of the KCVU marketing efforts.

• The Steering Committee initiates committee restructuring in order to achieve more equitable representation of all KCVL user communities.

• The staff conduct 2 brown-bag KCVL orientation sessions for the CPE staff members.

• Training:
  • One 2-day basic training session is conducted by the KCVL staff in Lexington. A total of 22 librarians are trained.
  • Five 1-day advanced training sessions are conducted by the SOLINET staff: Highland Heights, Paducah, Louisville, Hazard, and Lexington. A total of 69 librarians are trained.

• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 386,193
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 487,888
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 138

March 2000

• The KCVL Office distributes 2,350 copies of the monograph titled "Gateway: Dr. Thomas Walker and the Opening of Kentucky" to KCVL participants, including all public libraries and branches, school libraries, university and college libraries, and special libraries. This book is authored by David Burns and published by the Bell County Historical Society in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the opening of Kentucky by Dr. Thomas Walker.

• Miko is invited by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education to be a member of the Visiting Team to review the Harcourt Higher Education's petition to offer 5 web-based degree programs in Massachusetts.
• KCVU, KCVL, and KVHS share a booth at the Kentucky Teaching & Learning Conference in Louisville. This is part of the marketing plan to present these 3 entities for a seamless virtual education in Kentucky.
• The KCVL staff visit the Anchorage Independent School and the Elkhorn Middle School to see how they use KCVL services and what the staff can do to enhance them.
• Training:
  • A one-day session on OCLC SiteSearch software is held to help KCVL participants understand what the capabilities and limitations of the platform we use for the "Catalogs and Databases" service.
  • A half-day session on EBSCO administrative module is held to help KCVL participants customize their native interfaces for accessing EBSCO databases.
  • The KCVL staff conducts a one-day training session for 9 library staff members from Rowan, Bath, Robertson, and Menifee county public libraries in Morehead.
• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 458,396
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 422,505
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 111

April 2000

• KCVU organize a two-day summit where leaders of virtual education systems from across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico assemble for the first time. The group signs a Memorandum of Agreement to form a strategic alliance for collaboration in e-learning.
• KCVL conducts a focus group with Creative Alliance, a marketing firm under contract with KCVU for a proposal on names and logos for KCVU and KCVL. All types of libraries are represented. They offer the firm their vision for KCVL. Their perspectives will be integrated into this process.
• KCVL meets with KDE and school districts on how best to enhance the delivery of information resources to K-12 community. As KCVL is currently being used as the major gateway by teachers and students, we decide to collaborate in building a portal for teachers and a portal for kids (K-5). Two work groups are being established to implement these 2 projects.
• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • Kentucky Library Association Public Library Section's Spring Meeting, Lexington, KY

• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 400,901
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 344,944
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 116

May 2000

• Mary Beth and Miko went to Bradfordsville to meet with the town council on setting up a community center site for virtual learning.

• Susan and Jackie attend the week-long OCLC SiteSearch training sessions in Dublin, Ohio. They will help with the Gateway interface redesign and the phase 2 ILL project.

• CPE sponsors the Kentucky Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for faculty and administrators in postsecondary institutions. Hannelore Rader and Haiwang Yuan have presentations. Miko moderates sessions on intellectual properties.

• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • Kentucky Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Lexington Public Library Board of Directors, Lexington, KY
  • OCLC SiteSearch Users Group Meeting, Dublin, OH
  • Kentucky Health Science Librarians Consortium, Midway, KY

• After 4 bidding processes, we finally select Lanter Delivery Systems for our ground courier service. We plan to start the service among 186 libraries in July.

• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 338,794
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 218,955
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 116

June 2000

• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • Kentucky SOLINET Users Group Meeting, Frankfort, KY
• In partnership with KDE, KCVL staff starts planning for the portals for teachers and for kids.
• The Information Literacy Subcommittee selects Paula Doherty, Vice-President of Instructional Resources & Telelearning, Peninsula College, WA., as a consultant to evaluate and make recommendations to enhance our tutorial.

• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 293,996
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 228,902
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 74

July 2000

• The Information Literacy Work Group meets with the consultant, Paula Doherty, to initiate the tutorial evaluation process.
• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • OCLC SiteSearch Session, American Library Association Annual Conference, Chicago
  • Kentucky Library Trustees Association Meeting, Nicholasville
  • Instructional Technology Leadership University, KDE, Louisville
• Training:
  • 2 sessions for Library Media Specialists Refresher, Louisville -- 110 in total
  • Rowan Technical College, Morehead -- 3 in total

• Usage Statistics:
  • Gateway Server hits: 304,280
  • SiteSearch/WebZ Server hits: 161,009
  • Help Desk (including phone/email references and referrals): 64

August 2000

• New names, logos, and URLs for Kentucky Virtual University (KYVU) and Kentucky Virtual Library (KYVL) are officially announced on Monday, August 14.

• Along with the new URL (www.kyvl.org), a new top page and a new page for "Catalogs and Databases" using the WebZ interface are also released. The WebZ Work Group designs a more user-friendly subject-grouping interface for databases.

• KYVL's office moves to Suite 210 of the same building to make room for the expansion of KYVU staff.

• The statewide ground courier service is finally inaugurated on Thursday, August 3 after 4 bid processes and months of planning by the Resource Sharing Work Group. There are 183 libraries participating, including all the public institutions, public libraries, and 15 private institutions.

• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • KCTCS Faculty Training, Elizabethtown
  • Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities Meeting, Frankfort
  • Jefferson County Library Media Specialists Meeting, Louisville

September 2000

• OCLC visits the KYVL office and 3 KYVL libraries for a feature in their annual report. These 3 libraries are: Jefferson Community College, Paul Dunbar High School, and Mercer County Public Library.

• Presentations on KCVL services are given to:
  • KCTCS library directors meeting, Lexington
  • Center for Rural Development ITV conference, Frankfort
  • Kentucky Geological Survey, Lexington
  • Rowan County Genealogical Society
  • Lexington Ideafest, Lexington

October 2000

• KYVL has an early 1st birthday celebration October 2 at the Virtual Library Advisory Committee meeting. Gordon, Mary Beth, VLAC members, and CPE staff help us mark this occasion.

• KYVL's staff, along with our new neighbor, the Governor's Scholars Program, have an open house for the CPE staff to mark our official move to the new office.

• The Kentucky Voyager Users Group (KVUG) is officially established for all Voyager users in the state. The group meets in UofL to elect officers. Endeavor's Jane Burke and Linda Voyles join us for the inaugural meeting.

• Presentations on KYVL services are given to:
  • Texas Library Association's Conference (TCSUL, TICUL, TCCJCL), Austin, TX
  • EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, Nashville, TN
  • Kentucky Library Association Annual Conference, Louisville, KY (3 sessions)
  • Department for Adult Education and Literacy Staff Meeting, Frankfort, KY

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November 2000

• A new section on "Public Relations" is released on the KYVL Web site. This is to collaborate with libraries on marketing KYVL services.

• Presentations on KYVL services are given to:
  • Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications 12th Annual Conference, Albuquerque, NM
  • English as a Second Language Conference, Lexington, KY
  • Eastern Kentucky Media Specialists District Meeting, Pikeville, KY
  • Daviess County High School, Owensboro, KY

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December 2000

• KYVL initiates the work on building a resource database for adult education instructors and students with the Department of Adult Education and Literacy.

• CPE and KYVL sponsor the teleconference on the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) to be delivered to Kentucky State University. It has to be cancelled due to weather. We intend to continue with the effort to better inform libraries and postsecondary institutions about this critical issue.

• KYVL meets with the representatives from private K-12 community in Jefferson and Fayette counties on their participation in KYVL.

• A new section on "Facts and Stats" is released on the KYVL Web site. This is to inform libraries and others about KYVL and its usage.

• KYVL meets with the Governor's Scholars Program on providing KYVL training for their teachers and students.

• Presentations on KYVL services are given to:
  • KYVU Coordinators Meeting, Frankfort, KY
  • Kentucky SOLINET Users Group Fall Meeting, Elizathtown, KY
  • Laurel Tech College, London, KY

Last Updated: 2/12/01