Alleycat is the virtual catalog and interlibrary loan portion of the Anywhere-Anytime Library. During the course of this grant year we have seen a marked increase in Alleycat requests over the previous year. This is due to the addition of three library systems-two at the end of the previous grant cycle, and one early in this year. The following timeline illustrates growth in the use of Alleycat so far this grant year.

The total number of requests and loans has increased exponentially over last year. Requests increased more than 4.7 times and loans increased more than 2.5 times.

The Anywhere-Anytime Library Expansion Project for 2001-2002 is progressing nicely toward meeting its objectives for the year. Challenges are being met and resolved. The public is being served. Public expectations of resource availability have increased. This was brought home when a Pinellas County resident recently moved to eastern Polk County and discovered that unmediated interlibrary loan was not yet available to her. It was a tremendous effort to explain to her that rather than self initiated interlibrary loan being the standard all over the country, it is an innovation that is gradually being implemented in west central Florida as a pilot project. We are delighted that Remote Patron Authentication will soon make the technology transparent to those residents of the region who would otherwise believe that their local library is still in the dark ages. We look forward to many years of extended cooperation.

The Anywhere-Anytime Virtual Library pilot project demonstrates that cost-effective, easy to use, patron empowered, regional resource sharing is possible now. By providing bibliographic access, holdings status, unmediated interlibrary loan and patron authentication for access to library resources, this project forges new ground in linking libraries via technology based upon inter-institutional cooperation. The project is well on the way to fully meeting its primary objectives.

We have found that once a library is setup and running on the URSA software, there is very little maintenance, retraining or assistance required. The work involved is in the setup and initial training of library staff.

Overall the efforts pay off when users begin to see the results. It is particularly gratifying when comments are returned such as:

• Thank you for Alleycat. I love having easy access to materials my local library doesn't own.
• Great Stuff. Keep up the good work. Add more LIBRARIES!!!!
• Overall I'm very satisfied and find this to be one of the better services offered through any public facility.

Significant accomplishments have been:

1. Signing an Amendment to the contract between TBLC and epixtech for the URSA product as the gateway software.

2. Agreement to participate in the project by 35 libraries, which use 10 separate library automation systems.

3. Facilitating purchases of commercial databases and additional e-books from NetLibrary.

4. Meeting with new Alleycat participants to work on completing profile forms

5. Hosting an Alleycat “Decision Makers” meeting in January.

6. Upgrading the URSA software to Version 2.6 in February.

7. Facilitating communication between epixtech and Gaylord to work on a solution to connect libraries using Polaris to Alleycat.

8. Presentation of a program session about Alleycat at the Computers in Libraries Conference in March.

9. Writing of an article about Alleycat to be published in Computer In Libraries magazine in April.

10. Publication of an article about the e-books aspect of the project in Computer In Libraries magazine in March.

11. Implementing Alleycat for the St. Petersburg Public Library automation system (SPIN). This included training for staff of the St. Petersburg, Gulfport, Gulf Beaches and St. Pete Beach public libraries.

12. Planning for year three of the project, including discussions with two other MLCs about joining Alleycat.

13. Updating the Alleycat web site with FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

14. Preparing to survey patrons and staff.

The Anywhere-Anytime Virtual Library pilot project demonstrates that cost-effective, easy to use, patron empowered, regional resource sharing is possible now. By providing bibliographic access, holdings status, unmediated interlibrary loan and patron authentication for access to library resources, this project forges new ground in linking libraries via technology based upon inter-institutional cooperation. The project is well on the way to fully meeting its primary objectives.

In the body of this report, several project corrections have been noted. The most significant are:

More libraries will be participating in AAL E-CAT than originally expected. Up to 15 had originally been anticipated. The additional libraries are served by the automation systems of libraries on the original list but were not counted in the initial count

Patron Authentication for interlibrary loan will be activated in 1999-2000; but remote patron authentication (RPA) for use of external databases will wait until 2000-2001.

Software for OCLC as Library of Last Resort will be ready after October 1, 2000. Implementation will be postponed until 2000-2001.

The DRA libraries are behind schedule because of the length of time it has taken to obtain a DRA utility from that vendor. This was an unanticipated problem.

Clearwater has been delayed due to a Gaylord delay in upgrading the software for Clearwater's automation system.

Palm Harbor Library's delay has been due to the scheduling of their upgrade to Horizon version 6.

Fortunately, TBLC had allocated plenty of staff time to work on this project. However, the project has required considerably more staff time than originally anticipated. The amount of time spent by staff of member libraries also adds up faster than could have been anticipated. Lauren Stokes has spent numerous hours on the phone with epixtech correcting maps in the software, communicating with library staff and developing the CBT training program. Training and familiarization in general have required extensive amounts of time.

Overall the efforts pay off when users begin to see the results. It is particularly gratifying when comments are returned such as:

• I LOVE AAL E-CAT!
• This was fun + great " I really love this program " fast + efficient
• Excellent Service!