What is being done to ease or eliminate the workload of Ohio library staff due to the interoperability issues with the current software?
The NCIP standard was created to address the growing need for interoperability among disparate circulation, interlibrary loan, and related applications. Successful implementation of this standard would eliminate the double entry and separate pick lists for staff. The standard was not written with strict requirements and was open to interpretation to allow the vendors to come up with solutions together; however, the flip side has happened. Vendors can be NCIP compliant even though their interpretation of NCIP does not work between different vendors. The State Library is currently working with OCLC, SirsiDynix, CLEVNET, and INFOhio testing NCIP interoperability between OCLC VDX and SirsiDynix integrated library systems Unicorn and Symphony. The development and testing has been going on for two years. The State Library is also testing NCIP between OCLC, SirsiDynix, and SEO between VDX and Horizon. Given the complexity of the issues around NCIP, the State Library is also working toward the
