Regional Online Union Catalog of the Greater Midwest Regional Medical Library Network: development and operation.

The GMRMLN Online Catalog was developed as an easily accessible locator tool for monographs and audiovisuals held within the Greater Midwest Regional Medical Library Network. The catalog was generated from machine-readable records in MARC formats contributed by regional libraries. It was mounted by BRS as a private database and is fully free text searchable using BRS search. Each institutional file was merged and purged of duplicates to create a single entry for each title. The catalog features an online interlibrary loan system that automatically routes a request to the two nearest, smallest libraries that own the title. If the request is not filled within the region, the system automatically routes it to the National Library of Medicine without the need to rekeyboard data. The system collects management data on interlibrary loan processing. Funding for the catalog permitted a trial period of use with cost support. Data on system operation were gathered during this demonstration.