The Library of Congress, not to be left behind, is planning to switch to the same product in August. It was more cost-effective to purchase the software than to have the library's staff develop improved versions of its previous programs. Open to any Web user, the catalogue describes the library's 5.3 million books, journals, works of art, and other holdings.
Any Web user can consult the catalogue.
Moreover, the new catalogue can include links to Web sites, she says. Ill. Medical-library workers can use Voyager to order new books and journals, catalogue them when they arrive, and track their usage by library patrons, says Ms. McCutcheon. The system is also free of year-2000 problems, she says. She adds that it was more cost-effective to purchase the software than to have the library's staff develop improved versions of its previous programs. Operations will be converted in stages, starting with cataloguing and later incorporating circulation, reference, book acquisition, and finally checking in newly arrived periodicals, she says.