MLA News Selected Articles

May 2001

A Vendor Relations Task Force was appointed at MLA’s Chapter Council 2000 meeting in Vancouver. The charge of this group was to make recommendations for improving the partnership between chapters and vendors who sponsor or exhibit at chapter meetings. Task force members have spoken with vendors and chapter meeting planners to determine what has been working and what needs to be addressed to enhance vendor and chapter relations.

Vendors are vitally important partners and often a key source of support for chapter meetings. These meetings provide opportunities for vendor representatives to hear praise, comments, and suggestions, as well as become acquainted with many MLA members at one time.

A product of the Vendor Relations Task Force will be a “tip sheet” to be presented on MLANET later this year. The task force gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Molly Ann Youngkin, National Network of Libraries of Medicine Midcontinental Region (NN/LM MR), McGoogan Library of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center–Omaha, whose article on this topic appeared in the fall 2000 issue of NetLink. the NN/LM MR newsletter. To develop the points listed below, the task force borrowed heavily from Youngkin’s report, entitled “Conference Exhibits—Blessings or Nightmares?”

Starting Points for Conversation

These tips can serve as starting points for conversations at chapter planning meetings this fall. Watch for the complete task force report later this year.

• Invite Early, Invite Often
  Extend written invitations to vendors as soon as possible; a full year ahead is not too early.
• The Genius Is in the Details
  Include as much detail as possible with your invitation, such as the anticipated audience, the professions represented, and the who, where, when, and how of the meeting.
• Avoid Turf Wars
  Make sure there is sufficient room in the exhibit area for vendors, tables, and equipment.
• Power, More Power
  Communicate with vendors to ensure that their exhibiting needs (electricity, telephone, etc.) are understood.
• Who Gets Invited to the Ball?
  Clarify the extent of vendors’ participation at conference events, meals, and presentations.
• Gracious Hosts
  Provide all information to vendors about the venue, including details about hotel accommodations, blocked rooms, and transportation.
• Please and Thank You
  Encourage attendees to visit exhibits and express their appreciation to vendors for their time and support. Schedule breaks and snacks in exhibit areas, making sure that vendors know of your plans. Plan games and events that involve the exhibits. Use signs or other types of publicity to acknowledge the many ways that vendors offer support for chapter meetings.
• Ask and You Shall Receive
  Ask vendors for input at the conclusion of the meeting. Many of them exhibit frequently and may have great ideas for your group.

Vendor Relations Task Force Members
Susan Craft, AHIP, chair (Midcontinental Chapter); Karen M. Zundel, AHIP, (Pittsburgh Chapter); Irene M. Lovas (Medical Library Group of Southern California and Arizona); and Lynn M. Fortney, ex officio, (Southern Chapter).

While many electronic journals allow authentication via Internet protocol (IP) address, some do not, and many health sciences libraries cannot take advantage of this method because of local networking practices. Thus, the most common authentication solutions have been either to have patrons ask for the required username and password or list that information on an internal Website. A launch page on an internal Website, which is restricted to authorized patrons, can save library staff time distributing usernames and passwords [1].

Two Variations on a Theme

There are two variations for a basic launch page that list usernames and passwords. Both can save patrons some keystrokes. For those with access to a Web server capable of running Perl, a script can be written to send a “post” request, including the appropriate username and password, directly from the launch page to the remote server [2]. This elegant solution is recommended for those libraries with ready access to a server.

The second variation requires only a current Web browser, frames, and JavaScript. Because the JavaScript code is embedded in hypertext markup language (HTML), there are no special server requirements.

For this type of page, most electronic journals that authenticate by username and password do so through a Web form. The essential data elements of this form can be recreated on a library’s internal launch page. A few lines of JavaScript allow the form to be submitted automatically without user intervention.

This procedure suffices for some electronic journals, although it means a few seconds of a blank screen, while the server processes the form. Some publishers, however, only request a username and password when the full text of an article is selected. In this case, the submitted form would need to include a request for a particular article, but the form cannot compensate for any articles patrons may want.

The solution is to perform the log-in operation behind the scenes, using two frames: a visible frame, which has the journal home page, and an invisible frame, which does the work of logging in.

Examples for Common Journals

The launch pages currently in use at the Forsyth Institute employ some additional JavaScript, so that two pages facilitate access to all of their journals. The JavaScript and HTML source are available from my Web page [3]. I am unable to share pages from our intranet, but I include examples for common journals, so you can substitute your own username and password for testing. Feel free to contact me with any questions by email.

References

1. Grant S. The full-text electronic journal in perspective—end users, public services, technical services. [Web document]. ICML, 2000 [cited 3 Apr 2001]. <http://www.icml.org/monday/electronic/grant.htm>.

2. Thomas S. Access to electronic resources: scripted logins. [Web document]. [cited 3 Apr 2001]. <http://www.library.adelaide.edu.au/~sthomas/papers/access.html>.

3. Eberle M. JavaScript ejournal logins. [Web document]. [cited 3 Apr 2001]. <http://members.tripod.com/~mweberle/javascriptlogins.html>.