C-LION

“Lack of funds didn’t keep Pat from the daunting task of automating Muncie Public Library systems, many of which had been in place since the library’s beginnings. By seeking and obtaining private funding for computers and other equipment, she began the automation of library systems (1988) with speed and sensitivity to the adjustment that staff and customers would have to make” (MPL Archives, 1995).

Beginnings

Marie Ann Coil sits and types at a computer on the second floor of Carnegie Library.

MPL Catalog Office, as it was referred to in 1979, joined a computerized cataloging system called OCLC to help streamline procedures. The new service allowed the cataloger to call up the record on a monitor described as a “TV-like cathode ray tube screen,” make changes, and send an order for cards for the card catalog. OCLC also helped MPL provide a more efficient interlibrary loan service by keeping a record of every title catalogued in member libraries, which could be found in seconds using the system. Since then, the OCLC system has continued to expand its technology services in order to help libraries effectively manage their information services. MPL is still a member library that uses this service today.

Marie Ann Coil, who was a reference librarian at Carnegie Library, uses the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) to look up materials owned by Muncie Public Library and other libraries in the system. OCLC, a precursor to automating the catalog, was only available to librarians. (MPL Archives, 1989).

Preparing for Automation

As always, MPL continued to look to the future, the move to OCLC spurred a conversion project in 1984 to clean up and update records in the catalog as preparation for the eventual move to an online catalog. In October 1987, MPL adopted a five-year plan called “A Step Beyond.” One of the goals for this plan was “to order, organize, and circulate library materials in the most efficient and effective manner” (Grieswell, p. 2). In other words, Muncie Public Library wanted to automate some of its circulation and acquisition functions in order to develop an online public access catalog. A committee was formed in October 1988 to study and research possible ways MPL could fulfill this goal, which would be implemented in stages.

Donna Catron, Kennedy Library Branch Manager, discusses how librarians found library materials at other MPL branches before the automation of the catalog in 1992.

C-LION

The navy blue canvas has a yellow illustration of a sea lion typing on a computer. The bag reads, "Muncie Public Library."

When Muncie Public Library started looking into automating, only a handful of libraries had updated their systems. MPL consulted with libraries in both Indiana and Ohio and attended workshops and demonstrations about the process. In 1990, Dynix was chosen as the vendor for the turn-key integrated automation systems, and a computer room was built in the Main Library for it. In 1991, staff spent the summer barcoding library materials in preparation for the new online public access catalog, which would become known as C-LION (Community Library Information Online Network). The system, paid in part thanks to a grant, cost about $450,000.

C-LION graphic on a Muncie Public Library bag (MPL Archives, ca. 1992)

Open House

MPL introduced C-LION officially to the community in an open house at Kennedy Library on February 2, 1992. The library had a total of twenty-four public terminals spread throughout the six branches. The new system allowed patrons to search for a particular item at any of the library locations and see if it was checked out or not, all in a matter of seconds. At the time, it was not fully complete but would become so by the end of the year. Once it became active, the old card catalog was phased out.

C-LION terminal at Kennedy Library ready and waiting for someone to search the catalog (MPL Archives, 02-02-1992).

A computer monitor sits on a wooden table. On the screen is the title page for the library's first catalog C-LION. An information card for C-LION is to the left of the monitor.

Barb Baker talks to a group of five people huddled around a computer monitor. More computers are on the other side of the table, and book shelves line the back wall.

Barb Baker talks about C-LION to open house attendees at Kennedy Library (MPL Archives, 02-02-1992).

Valerie Thompson sits with a child at a computer talking to her about how to use C-LION. Another child uses the computer behind them.

Supervisor Valerie Thompson shows Alicia Hendricks of Longfellow School how to use C-LION (Muncie Star, 01-26-1992).

Change in LIbraries

Although Muncie Public Library’s online public access catalog is no longer known as C-LION, it is still an integral part in how MPL serves the Muncie-Center Township community. As technology has grown, it has revolutionized many aspects of society, including libraries. Thanks to technology, information is much easier to access now than it was before, and automating the catalog was one of the first steps towards that momentous change.

Sources

"C-Lion Open House." (Jan. 1992). MPLNow, vol. XXIII, no. 1. MPL Archives. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

Davies, Tom. "Taking Pride in C-Lion." (01-26-1992). Muncie Star. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

Grieswell, Iris. “Library Automation.” (May 1990). MPLNow, vol. XXI, no. 5. MPL Archives. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

Mills, Pat. "Muncie Public Library Adds 'Mind-Boggling' Computers." (07-22-1989). Muncie Evening Press. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

MPL Archives. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

“Muncie Public Library Enters the Computer Age.” (Oct. 1979). MPLNow. MPL Archives. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

“Pat Schaefer: Muncie Public Library, 1959-1995.” (1995). MPL Archives. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

"Retrospective Conversion." (April 1984). MPLNow, vol. XV, no. 4. MPL Archives. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

Scrapbook. (1989). MPL Archives. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

Scrapbook. (1992). MPL Archives. Carnegie Library. Muncie Public Library.

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