Forget card catalogs and paper forms. Students who want to check out one of more than 10,000 volumes in Starkville High School's library now are using a computer to make the transaction.
It's possible because the school has become part of an area library consortium anchored by Mississippi State University and Mississippi University for Women. The two universities in 1993 formed the Golden Triangle Regional Library Consortium to share library databases and technical expertise.
All of Starkville High School's library holdings now are in the consortium's electronic database. As students check out their first books, the staff creates patron records in the database, said school library media specialist Florence Box.
"Most of our freshmen now are in the database and we continue to add others," she said. More than 1,200 students attend the school.
To check out a book, the staff retrieves the patron record from the database and scans the book's bar code to link the book to the patron record in the Data Research Associations Library Automation System, which is shared by Mississippi State and MUW. The transaction requires no paper and takes only seconds.
Students also have access from their high school library to library holdings at both universities. That gives them access to more than 850,000 volumes.
"It offers one-stop shopping," Box said. "A student can sit in our library and can tell if a particular book is available at the other libraries."
SHS used the system to check out its first book only weeks ago, but the preparation has taken several years, said Stephen Cunetto, coordinator of computer systems for Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State.
"We approached the school about becoming a part of the consortium and they researched costs, ease of use and other issues," Cunetto explained.
One of the issues was converting the school from the Dewey Decimal classification system to the Library of Congress system. That process was begun in 1995 with assistance from Mississippi State.
"We felt using the Library of Congress system would benefit students who will encounter the system at universities," Box said. Once the transition was complete, Mississippi State and MUW provided staff training for circulation and cataloguing.
Cunetto said the electronic linkage builds on established cooperative agreements. "In particular, [interim dean of Mississippi State libraries] Frances Coleman was instrumental in launching the consortium," he said. "The university's computing center and Starkville's Northland Cable developed the network infrastructure the library could use."
Starkville High has had an Internet connection through Mississippi State for two years.
Another new consortium member is the Demonstration School, an elementary school located on MUW's campus. Since Feb. 4, more than 140 students and 14 teachers have had access to resources the consortium offers.
"Students benefit by expanding their ability to gather information," said Pat Matthes of MUW's Fant Library. "They increase opportunities to locate materials that can help them learn."
The participating institutions benefit by sharing technical resources, expertise and costs. "This arrangement also expands the opportunities to apply for grants available to library consortia," Cunetto said.
And, while Starkville High library users may have entered a new era, the old-fashioned library catalog cards they once depended upon haven't gone to waste.
"We donated them to the school's art department," Florence Box said.