By the 2002-2003 academic year, the Harvard Online Library Information System (HOLLIS) will be replaced with a state-of-the-art, web-based catalog system called ALEPH 500. At least that's the plan, according to library administrators.

But if something goes wrong, it will not be the first time that plans for a HOLLIS replacement have fallen through.

A HOLLIS replacement has been in the works since 1994, when a library report called for an update to a system which was described as "a cumbersome tool in a networked world." The report recommended that a new system be put in place by early 1997. Since that report, the project has been repeatedly postponed.

Failure to complete the 1994 project was followed by plans for a HOLLIS replacement on track to be released in July of 1999. However, flaws in a version of the program tested at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) caused Harvard to pull out of the deal. The new system has been in the works ever since.

In the interim, students, faculty and staff have been stuck with a system that library representatives agree is antiquated and difficult to learn. The HOLLIS version was designed only for telnet, and although it was made web-accessible in 2000, the web-based version of the catalog added little to the original design.

What's New With HOLLIS II

The HOLLIS II program, ALEPH 500, will be a completely web-based system--a shift that promises to make it a more user-friendly application, according to Susan Lee, chair of the HOLLIS Steering Committee. She said searches will become much more straightforward on the new system.

The largest change will be to make much more information easily accessible to HOLLIS users.

Students and faculty on HOLLIS II will be able to track and renew checked-out items online as well as enter holding requests over the web. They will also be permitted to view their own account information, seeing which books they have checked out and if they owe any fines.

Furthermore, users will be able to request items online and will be given the option of being notified when such items become available.

The downside is that such conveniences will also require greater security measures for the library system.

Currently, students and faculty use the HOLLIS catalog anonymously, but in order to take advantage of the new options, users will most likely be required to enter a password or pin-number, according to Tracy Robinson, head of the Office of Information Services.

The Long and Winding Road

In 1998, Harvard launched its Library Digital Initiative--a five-year plan to develop the University's capacity to manage digital information.

At this point, a long evaluation process was initiated to redevelop HOLLIS. The Steering Committee and University Library Council looked at a number of vendors and ultimately narrowed down the list to two: Data Research Associates (DRA) and Ex Libris.

But Ex Libris was rejected because administrators feared the European-based company would not be familiar enough with the slightly-different U.S. library system. DRA was chosen and, in 1999, Harvard signed a letter of intent to pass the HOLLIS contract over.

The letter contained the requirement that the contract would only be signed if the system DRA had just installed at UCLA proved effective.

According to Lee, DRA's attempts at UCLA were "less than successful."

And during the winter of 1999-2000, the Steering Committee and the Library Council went back to the drawing board.

They turned back to Ex Libris, which by that time had begun expansion into the U.S. Finally, in November of 2000, a contract was signed with Ex Libris. The release date would be 2002.

The Last Stage

The most daunting task that must be faced before the release of HOLLIS II is the training of Harvard's approximately 1,200 library employees.

Just planning the training will take about a year. The committee in charge of staff training is slated to begin the process this summer.

"We will sit through a training program provided by the vendor and then decide how to shape that program and apply it to our unique situation," said Julie Wetherill, the head of the training committee.

The training itself will then begin sometime between March and June of 2002.

Despite the fact that ALEPH promises to be relatively user-friendly, Robinson said that a public service group will also probably be put together at some date close to the implementation of ALEPH for the purpose of training of students and faculty on the new system.

If all goes according to plan, the new catalog system will be up and running in time for the start of the 2002-2003 school year.

And with a little luck, it will be smooth sailing from there.

"We'll pull the plug on one system and turn on the other," Lee said.

--Staff Writer Kate L. Rakoczy can be reached at rakoczy@fas.harvard.edu