These transitional problems have largely been overcome. Another significant factor in down time has been disk storage violations, reflecting pressures on available disk space for running ABN jobs. A less significant factor has been air conditioning problems. The life of the current leased line SNA network will come to a close in August 1997, and no new leased lines are being installed. The product is currently being documented, and will be released in the next few weeks.
Pricing has yet to be determined.
ABN response times have usually been most satisfactory during the period, but the ABN and Systems Help Desks have often been the first port of call for users experiencing problems. Systems staff have received additional training in locating communications bottlenecks for users. Although over 100 libraries have requested RLIN passwords, use of the RLIN gateway service by ABN customers was initially disappointing, with almost half of the prepaid account remaining unspent at the end of June. Following a purchase of 20,000 RLIN searches last year, a further 10,000 searches were purchased this year. The service is being well used, and it seems that additional searches will be need to be purchased.