Research Libraries Group
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1200 Villa Street Mountain View, CA 94041-1100 Telephone: 800-537-7546 Fax: 650-964-0943 E-mail: bl.ric@rlg.org URL: www.rlg.org BACKGROUND The Research Libraries Group (RLG) operates the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN), a bibliographic utility and online information retrieval system that supports cataloging and other library operations. RLIN was established in 1978 as an outgrowth of BALLOTS, a library automation program developed by Stanford University. BALLOTS--an acronym for Bibliographic Automation of Large Library Operations using a Timesharing System--was ambitiously conceived as an integrated information processing system in which shared bibliographic and other data files would support both technical processing operations and information retrieval activities. The latter component of the BALLOTS program was an outgrowth of the Stanford Physics Information Retrieval System (SPIRES), an interactive online retrieval system developed in 1967. A prototype BALLOTS implementation, introduced in 1969, was followed by a production system for the Stanford University libraries in 1972. In 1976, BALLOTS became available as a shared cataloging service to other California libraries. At that time, it was widely regarded as a potential West Coast alternative to OCLC. BALLOTS' development and operating characteristics are documented in many publications, including Cady et al. (1970), Davison (1973), Epstein (1973), Epstein and Veaner (1972), Epstein et al. (1971, 1972), Ferguson (1970), Hartzell (1973), Kazlauskas (1976), Kershner (1979), Lo (1978), Logan (1973), Mayhew (1976), Montague (1973), Ojala (1978), Bierce and Taylor (1978), Roth (1973), Schriefer and Christiani (1979), Stovel (1973), and Veaner (1969, 1977, 1977a). BALLOTS' destiny was significantly altered in 1978 when it was selected by the Research Libraries Group as the system with the greatest potential for meeting its requirements for automated bibliographic control. RLG was founded in 1974 by Harvard University, Columbia University, Yale University, and the New York Public Library as a resource-sharing consortium. One of the group's original goals was the establishment of a computer-based bibliographic processing system. It initially experimented with an online link to the Library of Congress but ultimately adopted BALLOTS as its bibliographic utility. When that decision was made, Harvard withdrew from RLG. It was replaced by Stanford, which became the utility's host institution. BALLOTS provided the technical base for the RLIN system. Its hours of service were extended, and its governance structure was modified in a manner described below. The RLIN system is described, in varying levels of detail, by Bales and Tucker (1988), Clever (1983), Kershner (1979a), Lerman and Aliprand (1995), McCoy and Davison (1985), Richards and Lerche (1989), Thomson and Hartzell (1979), and Tonne-Schaefer (1986). Lazinger (1991) compares RLIN to ALEPH, Israel's research library network. Michalko and Haeger (1994) discuss RLG's history and mission. Although they were developed for--and are specifically designed to serve--large or specialized research libraries, RLIN's services are comparable to those offered by the other general-purpose bibliographic utilities discussed in this issue. Available to libraries of all types and sizes, RLIN has two broad categories of participants: RLG members and others. As might be expected, RLG members are the most visible and important group of RLIN users. As noted above, RLG was founded in 1974 and had four members through 1978. Its scope expanded dramatically between 1979 and mid-1980s, when membership exceeded 35 institutions. Through the 1980s, RLG differentiated among several categories of members, including owner-members, associate members, and special members. To qualify for owner-membership or associate membership, an institution had to belong to either the International Research Libraries Association (IRLA) or to both the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). …