electronic data interchange: dartmouth + faxon + innopac + sisac + x12 = serials claims pilot...

ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE:

DARTMOUTH + FAXON + INNOPAC + SISAC + Xl2 =

SERIALS CLAIMS PILOT PROJECT

Joan Griffith

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the communica- tion of business information, such as an order, an invoice, or a claim, between computers without human intervention. This automated process has been utilized for nearly fifteen years in many of the world’s leading industries such as transportation, health care, and bank- ing. The library community has only recently begun to see the value of such efforts in our business relation- ships with serials or book agents and publishers.

Acquisitions and serials librarians often face difficulties in acquiring all issues of subscription materials. Librarians at Dartmouth College decided to investigate possible options for speeding up and simplifying procedures for acquiring overdue issues. The purpose of this paper is to describe the testing and production of one EDI transaction set, claims, between three players in the serials information chain.

Griff’th is director of Library Technology Development at the University of New Mexico, General Library, Albu- querque, NM 87131-1466.

There are actually four players involved in ED1 claims. These are the libary, the book or subscription agency, the publisher and the systems vendor who programs the link between the library and the book or subscription agent or the publisher into the integrated library system. Only when the library’s serials system can communicate directly with the computer of the agent or publisher can ED1 take place, and it is the integrated library system (ILS) vendor who permits such computer to computer transactions to occur. ILSs generally have modules for online public catalogs, serials, acquisitions, circulation, and other library functions.

-ELECTRONICDATAINTERCHANGE- F~~~1995 33

Innopac. VTLS, Data Trek, Geac and Ameritech are examples of ILS vendors. For the purpose of this project, publishers were not directly involved in testing, as the serial agent provided the link to them.

SISAC DEVELOPS ED1 ‘DUNSACTION SETS FOR SERIALS APPLICATIONS

The Serials Industry Systems Advisory Committee, SISAC, is a subcommittee of the Book Industry Study Group, BISAC, which falls under the umbrella of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). There are many generic standards available to map business communications but SISAC selected the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accred- ited Standards Committee (AK) Xl2 to develop EDI applications for the library community in the United States (see Appendix A).

SISAC is charged with developing standardized formats to allow for computer-to-computer transmission of business transactions for the serials industry. SISAC members include publishers, librarians, database pro- ducers, book manufacturers and retailers, subsc~ption agents, system vendors, and information specialists. The group works closely with two other organizations in the ED1 arena: Canadian SISAC (CSISAC) and the International Committee for the ED1 of Serials (ICE- DfS).Over the past four years, members of SISAC developed EDI tr~saction sets for serials invoice, claims, and claims response. Currently they are mapping purchase order and purchase order acknowledgement. Next they will map order status inquiry, order status response, and so on, until the complete business cycle has been automated.

Transaction sets are highly structured computer messages that correspond to specific workflows. Each transaction is assigned a functional identifier code which identifies the type of transaction. Examples that will be described in the project include invoice (810), claims (869), claims response (870), and functional acknowledgement (997). Each transaction set carries information about a particular business function in groups of data elements. Data elements include volume number, issue number, ISSN, unique library subscription identifier, invoice reference number and publisher reference numbers.

Benefits of ED1

EDI improves serials m~agement in many ways. For instance, ED1 can speed up the claiming process,

providing financial savings in labor and postage fees and by making the process more accurate with verifica-

tion of claim receipt.

ED1 can also substantially improve business work-

flow within the library and with its book and serial

agents if all functions are considered. To automate the

complete business cycle, ILS vendors would need to automate info~ation about such functions as title

quotes, orders, order response, order changes, invoices,

claims, claim responses, and dispatch data from publishers, until all the processes are automated and tran- spire without human intervention. This is a huge programing task for ILS vendors, but the serials claims project described here is one small step in that direction.

Most serials modules generate paper claims for

overdue or missing issues. The first goal of the ED1 project described here was to eliminate paper claims,

thus reducing the staff time it takes to sort and mail paper claims and eliminating the cost of postage. The

second goal was to determine that the agent actually

received the electronic claims since ED1 provides veri-

fication of claims receipt by functional acknowledgment transmission. The third goal was to relieve serials staff of the tedious function of claiming in order to uti-

lize their time more productively on other library services or programs.

At the ALA annual conference in San Francisco in June of 1992, Alan Nordman of the Dawson’s Sub-

scription Agency, spoke on behalf of SISAC. Using information that he had obtained from publishers, subscription agents and library clients, Nordman explained

that the Tut-hound cycle from the discovery by the

library of a missing issue to receipt of that issue averaged 68 days. Mr. Nordman also said that if ED1 claiming were used between the libraries and subscription agents, the cycle could be cut to eight days. Moreover,

if the subscription agent could get publisher dispatch data, the time could be cut to three days. Serials librarians who heard this found Nordman’s discussion of the

promise of ED1 exciting and hopeful.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DARTMOUTH LIBRARIES

The Dartmouth College Library is composed of nine libraries: Baker Library (Humanities and Social Sci- ences), Dana Bio-medical Library, Mathews-FuIler Health Science Library, the Business and Engineering Library, Kresege Physical Sciences and Math Library,

34 SERIALS REVIEW - JOAN GRIFFITH -

the Paddock Music Library, the Sherman Art Library,

Sanbom English Library and a storage facility.

Two systems comprise the Dartmouth College

Libraries’ online environment. The Dartmouth Col-

lege Online Library System (DCOLS) is a custom-

ized online catalog running on BRS software, while

the Innopac System created by Innovative Interfaces,

Inc. (III) is used for technical processing activities.

Libary automation staff keep the online catalog

updated by batch loading new or updated Innopac

record information into separate files for serials

(monthly loading), and for books and orders (weekly

loading).

The Serials Department is housed in Baker Library’s

Technical Services. Thus Innopac serials module auto-

mates ordering, receiving, claiming, invoice payment,

fund control, routing, and binding for all nine Dart-

mouth Libraries.

A large serials collection generates a large number

of claims. The Dartmouth College Libraries have

approximately 23,000 active subscriptions. Of that

total about 9000 are placed with Faxon, with whom

the pilot project was run. There are two librarians, 12

staff members, and three work-study students in the

Serials Department. The duties of the department

include ordering, receiving, claiming, invoicing, and

binding for serials subscriptions, standing orders,

blanket orders, multipart items, and government docu-

ments. The department does cataloging for mono-

graphic series pieces and multi-part item pieces only;

other serials cataloging is done by the Cataloging

Department.

In 199 1, the year prior to implementation of the ED1

claiming project, Faxon handled approximately 10,000

paper claims from the Dartmouth College Library Seri-

als Department. Due to the large volume and burden of

the paperwork involved, and to the long and uncertain

process, we were interested in developing a way to

speed up the claiming and reduce the labor intensive

nature of the work.

Dartmouth has always been a leader in library auto-

mation, and the opportunity to participate in a process

that offered the potential for real savings in terms of

both time and labor was too good to pass up. Dart-

mouth wanted better service on claims, reduced labor

and mailing costs, and faster turnaround time to resolve

late or missing issues. We also wanted to assist the

library community at large by developing a nonpropri-

etary solution to the claims problem.

- ELE~TRONICDATAINTERCHANGE-

Dartmouth Pilot Project Proposal

At a SISAC meeting in the Fall of 199 1, representa- tives from Dartmouth and Faxon informally discussed

ideas for improved business relations. Dartmouth Library administration negotiated with the Faxon

Company on a couple of ED1 applications, one of which was claims. Together we submitted a joint proposal to III in December 199 1. The group began discus- sions at the Mid-Winter ALA conference in San Antonio in January 1992. As a result a proposal was submitted by the Faxon Company to Dartmouth Col- lege Library and Innovative Interfaces, Inc. It should be noted that although the proposal dealt with both claims and invoices, III was not prepared to invest resources on both. Therefore the invoice part of the proposal was not implemented. A copy of the actual proposal is found in Appendix B: Proposal Overview.

Beta Test Preparations

In June of 1992, Dartmouth and Faxon began the first of the three proposed phases of the ED1 project (see Figure 1 for the timeline). The first phase, also known as the Beta Test Preparation phase, began with Faxon hosting a two-day training session on EDI./ EDGE translation software for two Dartmouth Library staff who needed to learn this software in order to handle electronic claims.

During Beta Test Prepartation, Dartmouth prepared its home site with required equipment, telecommunications, and software configurations. We tested an IBM PC configuration, created a modem connec- tion to the value added network (VAN), received test claims data via the VAN from Faxon, tested claims flat file data from III, received test invoice data via

the VAN from Faxon, and sent test claims from III to the IBM PC to the VAN for Faxon to receive via the value added network. The campus network configuration made it necessary for the Libraries to use Pro- Comm Plus as the terminal emulation/file transfer software to move the flat file from Innopac to the PC. In most other III libraries Softerm is the emulation package of choice. (See Figure 2: Dataflow-- Dartmouth III system to VAN.) information for partner/company contacts and equipment are found in Appendix C: Directory and in Appendix D: Hard- ward/Software and Telecommications.

VANS are commerical facilities which act as clear- inghouses, offering centralized message storage and retrieval services. Each trading partner on a VAN is

FALLWJ~ 35

Figure 1: Timeline

Dartmouth Pilot Project Proposal

December 199 1 Joint Proposal from Dartmouth Col- lege and Faxon sent to Innovative Interfaces

January 1992 Joint Meeting with III at ALA Mid- Winter, San Antonio

March 1992 Fritz Schwartz does ED1 Presentation at Dartmouth for Library Officers

Beta Test Preparations

June 2-3, 1992

June 16, 1992

June 1992

Phase l-Test

October 1992

January 1993

February 22, 1993

April 1, 1993

April 17. 1993

June 2-8, 1993

June 9, 1993

EDVEDGE training at Faxon for Joan Griffith and Jim Shain

Dartmouth successfully receives test claims from Faxon via VAN

Joint Meeting at ALA, San Francisco to review project plan

III sends 1 st test claims diskette

Joint Meeting at ALA Mid-Winter, Denver on Project status and testing

III sends revised test claims specifica- tions and prepares for testing

Dartmouth successfully sends Output file from Innopac to PC

IUG Users’ Group Presentation ED1 Claims Project progress report

Dartmouth and Faxon working to build IPL conversion table in EDVEDGE

Dartmouth sends Faxon first III ED1 test claim: Innopac to PC to VAN

Phase I-Production

July 6, 1993 III Electronic Claims Production phase begins...

assigned a unique mailbox/network address identifer.

Dartmouth and Faxon used their Dun and Bradstreet

(DUNS) numbers as the identification number. VANS allow the sender/receiver to send/receive data when ready, with no need to coordinate sending and

receiving of the data. Thus, the VAN acts as a buffer between trading partners allowing them to communicate at whatever time and by whatever method and protocol is most convenient. AT&T Easylink ser-

vices was selected as the VAN provider for this project.

The IBM PC was set up with EDI/EDGE Xl2 translation software which included forms, templates,

Xl2 addresses, etc. (See Figure 3: EDI/EDGE

Menus.) Set-up procedures are done initially with any new trading partner and generally do not change. However, if an Xl2 standard changes or new versions

of the EDWEDGE software are released, trading partners have to make appropriate changes in their Trad- ing Partner Network Setup menu within EDI/EDGE. Information for establishing trading partner agree-

ments can be found in Appendix E: Trading Partner Agreements.

Since III was not ready to program for X 12 invoices we also built a conversion table for Faxon Invoice Page

& Line numbers (IPL). The IPLBUILD table holds Innopac order record numbers and the corresponding Faxon IPL numbers that become the unique subscription identifiers. For the complete business transaction to occur in an ED1 environment, the Innopac system needs to hold the information in another field of the Innopac order record.

Building the IPL conversion table required receipt of Dartmouth’s renewal invoice from Faxon via the VAN and loading a file conversion program on the IBM

__-* ELI/EDGE (X12 tnndkon)

Figure 2: Dataflow-Dartmouth’s Innopac System to VAN

36 SERIALSREVIEW - JOAN GRIFFITH -

Communications Functions Fl Return to Main Menu F2 Communicate with Network F3 Communicate with Addressee F4 Inbound Document Status FS Outbound Document Status F6 Summary Document Status F7 Interpret Pending Inbound Documenn

MAIN MENU : Fl Return to DOS ,’ F2 Document Functions f’ F3 Communications Functions ’ F4 Inbound Document Printing F5 Document Archiving F6 Trading Partner/Network Setup -, F7 system Setup F8 FornWfemplates Setup _

Trading Partner/Network Setup Fl Return to Main Menu F2 Xl2 Addresses F3 EDIFACT Addresses F4 Inbound Envelopes F5 Outbound Envelopes F6 List Addresses and Envelopes I7 Communications Scripts Maintenance

,’ ,’

#’

Forms/Templates Menu ,”

Forms Fl Return LD Forms/Templates Setup F2 Create New Form F3 Create New Form from Existing Foxm F4 Edit Existing Form

4 FS Delete Form from System ’ F6 Dictionary Listing

: F7 Basket Mainenance ’ :

F8 UseDefined Sum Maintenance

‘4 Fl Return to Main Menu F2 Forms _____________ / //’ PrInt/lmport/Export Template Menu F3 Xl2 EDI Templates __________,’ Fl Return to Forms/Templates Setup F4 EDIFACT Templates F2 Create new Template F5 Print/Import&port Templates - - - -) F3 Edit Existing Template

F4 Delete Template F5 Create Printout of Templates F6 List Template Names

Figure 3: EDI/EDGE Xl2 Translation Software Menus

Dartmouth’s

: : ED1 Templates

: Fl Return to Forms/Templates Setup

: F2 Create New Template

; F3 Create a Template from an Existing one

,’ F4 Edit Existing Completed Template F5 Edit Existing Incomplete Template

4 F6 Delete Completed Template

,’ F7 Delete Incomplete Template I’ F8 Create Printout of Template

Figure 4: Dataflow-Dartmouth to VAN to Faxon

PC. This allowed the old number stored in Innopac to be converted to the IPL number required by Faxon to do ED1 claims for those titles.

Once the necessary equipment, the software and the data were installed and tested, we were ready to begin sending test claims from Dartmouth’s Innopac system to the VAN via the IBM PC using EDI/EDGE to send the Xl2 transmissions. (See Figure 4: Dataflow-Dart- mouth to VAN to Faxon.)

PHASE l-lk~~

New INNOPAC Menu Option for ED1 claims

III redesigned claiming programs so that in addition to producing paper claims, Dartmouth could generate an electronic claim datastream suitable for transfer to the PC for translation to X12. Although not all agents or publishers can currently accomodate electronic receipt or responses to claims, Dartmouth in effect asked III to create a new program that could eventually be utilized by a variety of agents and publishers. This meant that III had to create a generic flat file that contains all required data elements used in Xl2 claims transmissions. They identified 59 significant data elements stored in various segments or fields of the Inno- pat bibliographic record, order record, and check-in record related to each claim. (See Figure 5: Example of ED1 Xl2 format output.)

Three key strokes (0, A, E) are used to access the program that sends electronic claims. At INNOPAC’s MAIN MENU staff select “O> ORDERING and receiving subsystem,” then they select “A> ADDITIONAL ordering and receiving functions” and finally select “E> Send ELECTRONIC Serial claims.” The following series of screens put these commands into context.

FALLWS 37

claim transaction set subscription reference number

.- number and date I ,

/’ 00’

faxon /’ / _--- C-e

ST*869*dartm234 BSI*l234567*930209*PP ____.--------------

_----

HL*l **I _----

PRF*1049876 +------- ---

_--- _.--

--- _---

REF*VP*8765432*title information ~____.-----

REF*CR*l2345678*2 *---_ Nl*DA*Dartmouth College*l5*1698765‘-‘--------______

N2*“author’s name” --__ --____

N3*Serials Section*Baker Library N4*Hanover, NH*03755

PID*S**ZZ*OSIO 1 LIN**ZZ*O255-9870(19921O31)37:48;1-3*****ZZ*3*ZZ*1

I I c-,,,,--,,--,,,---,,--,,,_-,,_--,,,.

L J

- purchase order number

c agents title number

- senders claim number

L - -. serial item contribution identifier (SICI)

239.56 (1991)

Figure 5: Example of ED1 Xl2 Format Output with Selected Fields Identified

Table 1 Table 2

* ** INNOPAC-Copyright 1990, Innovative Interfaces Inc ***

*** MAIN MENU ***

*** INNOPAC-Copyright 1990, Innovative Interfaces Inc ***

*** ORDERING AND RECEIVING SUBSYSTEM ***

S > SEARCH the catalog D > Catalog DATABASE maintenance C > CIRCULATION subsystem 0 > ORDERING and receiving subsystem M > MANAGEMENT information A > ADDITIONAL system functions

Q>QUM-

Choose one (S,D,C,O,M,A,Q)

Once staff access the electronic claims program, the

K > KEY new orders C > CLAIM/CANCEL orders P > PRINT purchase orders R > RAPID updating (Receive ordered items) S > SERIALS processing I > Process INVOICES L > CANCEL orders upon vendor notification U > UPDATE records W > Print WORKSHEETS A > ADDITIONAL ordering and receiving functions Q > QUIT

pilot project offered six options for testing the flat file extract, although in production mode the selection options would normally be narrowed to whatever a library chooses for normal ED1 output. During the project we selected “O> Send non-tagged data to OUT- PUT file.”

INNOPAC provides the option of sending electronic claims to a single vendor or to all vendors coded to receive electronic claims. During the test phase we used “V> Use a single VENDOR.”

Innopac allows for a seven character code to distin- guish different vendor records. If ALL vendors were

Choose one (K,C,P,R,S,I.L,U,W,A,Q)

1

used, then any vendor record coded to send electronic claims would be sent in the file. For the test phase how-

ever, only one vendor at a time was deemed to be desir-

able. Since the Dartmouth College Library has nine

separate bill-to accounts with Faxon, nine vendor

records had to be identified as EDI claims vendors. The III electronic claims program separates ED1 claims

from paper claims. Within the EDI/EDGE program we

also created nine different export templates for each

38 SERIALSREVIEW -JOANGRIFFITH-

i

Table 3


* * * ADDITIONAL ORDERING AND RECEIVING FUNCTIONS ***

F > FINANCIAL functions V > VENDOR file maintenance T > TRANSFER attached records P > PROCESS data from. book/serial vendors E > Send ELECTRONIC Serial claims Q > QUIT

Choose one (F,V,T,P,E,Q)

Table 4

*** INNOPAC--Copyright 1990, Innovative Interfaces Inc ***

***Program to create electronic claims * * *

S > SEND data to screen for capture D > DOWNLOAD to PC using Softerm F > Send data to output FILE C > Send non-tagged data to screen for CAPT’URE P > Download non-tagged data to PC using Softerm 0 > Send non-tagged data to OUTPUT file Q > Quit program

Choose one (S,D,F,C,P,O,Q)

Table 5


V > Use a single VENDOR A > Use ALL vendors Q > QUIT

Choose one (V,A,Q)

corresponding Faxon bill-to account. Later, during the production phase, we selected “A> Use ALL vendors.”

Before sending electronic claims to a particular agent or publisher, the vendor record in Innopac must contain information that pulls associated claims out of the paper claim program. We marked each vendor record as EDI- capable through the menu options provided in the VENDOR FILE MAINTENANCE program. III structured a note field for ED1 claims which, when envoked, sends electronic claims to a single vendor or to all vendors. The NOTE2 field contains specific information: subfield a: EDI; subfield b: contact person; and subfield e: ED1 identification number.

The following key strokes (V, M, A) were used to access the program that stores vendor record information. At INNOPAC’s ADDITIONAL ORDERING AND RECEIVING FUNCTIONS menu staff selected “V > VENDOR file maintenance”, then “M > MAIN- TAIN vendor records,” and finally “A > Display vendor ADDRESS records.” Copies of those menu screens and the Faxon vendor record are shown below.

Table 6

**** INNOPAC-Copyright 1990, Innovative Interfaces Inc ***

*** ADDITIONAL ORDERING AND RECEIVING FUNCTIONS ** *

F > FINANCIAL functions V > VENDOR file maintenance T > TRANSFER attached records P > PROCESS data from hook/serial vendors E > Send ELECTRONIC Serial claims Q>Qm

Choose one (F,V,T,P,E,Q)**

Table 7

*** INNOPAC-Copyright 1990, Innovative Interfaces Inc * **

*** VENDOR FILE MAINTENANCE ***

D > DISPLAY vendor records M > MAINTAIN vendor records R > REMOVE invoices linked to a vendor S > Recalculate vendor STATISTICS C > CLAIM cycle codes Q>QUm

Choose one (D,M,R,S,C,Q)

Table 8

*** INNOPAC--Copyright 1990, Innovative Interfaces Inc ***

*** VENDOR LIST MODE ***

There are 745 vendors in the vendor file

B > Display BRIEF vendor records A > Display vendor ADDRESS records S > Display vendor STATISTIC records F > Display FULL vendor records C > CREATE a list of vendors according to some criteria Q>QUm

1 Choose one (B,A,S,F,C,Q)*

F~~~1995 39

Table 9


1 Vendors are displayed alphabetically by the vendor code. 1

i

Table 10


*** Vendor : faxo *** *** ADDRESS ***

Address 1 1: Faxon Co., Inc. Acct. 07401 2: Attn: Joanna Mayers 3: 15 Southwest Park 4: Westwood, MA 02090

Address2 1: 2: 3: 4:

Claim Cycle :f Alternative Code : Code 1 - Code2 . - Code3 :- Note1 Note2 : EDIlcJoan Griffithle3041027822% Note3

PHASE ~-PRODUCTION

Electronic Claiming: Dartmouth to Faxon

Phase one testing was successfully completed dur-

ing June 1993 and production claims for Faxon titles began on July 9, 1993. Currently Dartmouth sends X 12 ED1 claims for serials to Faxon daily with greatly improving response time. The author develped an EDI/ Innopac instruction sheet for the Serials Department staff. Initially, only one staff member was trained in the

new procedure. Typically. at the end of each day the claims program is run at which time the staff member sends the electronic claims via the VAN and then prints off remaining non-Faxon claims that are in the print queue. Management of the translation software is not part of the staff member’s duties, rather EDUEDGE management is handled by a systems administrator.

There have been technical difficulties at each stage of EDI claims development. As each new stage began

40 SERIALSREVIEW

we prepared for and got the unexpected! For instance, even after the Beta test phase ended we found minor

changes were necessary in the EDI/EDGE set up. Other

minor adjustments to the claims program of Innopac, EDI/EDGE software on Dartmouth’s PC, and EDI/

EDGE software on Faxon’s PC were required to get the data to go where it needed to go. An understanding of

how INNOPAC outputs the flat file, how EDUEDGE translates the flat file into X12, and how EDI/EDGE

untranslates Xl2 into Faxon’s system are essential.

The project was obviously labor-intensive and had a

number of costs that were shared by the three partici- pants. The two-day EDI/EDGE software training pro-

vided by the Faxon Company at no charge cost $500.

The EDUEDGE software was $1260, but was paid for with Dartmouth College service credits with Faxon.

Dartmouth owned the IBM PC we used for the project and purchased a modem for $100. Labor costs were

borne by the employers: Sandy Westall and Chick Mar- klee of III; Fritz Schwartz, Joe Santosuosso, and Bob

Boissy of the Faxon Company; the author, Jim Shain,

and John R. James of Dartmouth College.

To date, Phases II and III have not begun. Each party

is assessing the success of Phase I and the viability of further implementation for respective customers. We

are all pleased with the outcome of the project to this point. The impetus for completing the project remains with those who have the most to gain from it, Dart-

mouth College and the Faxon Company. The difficulty with continuing the project through the next two phases will be in providing sufficient incentive to the library

system vendor to continue. Pressure from other exist-

ing and prospective library customers and competition from other library system vendors who implement EDI

would also help.

CONCLUSION

As stated earlier, the goals of the project were: (1) to eliminate paper claims, thus reducing the staff time it takes to sort and mail paper claims and eliminating the

cost of postage on paper claims; (2) to determine that the agent actually received the electronic claims since EDI provides verification of claims receipt by functional acknowledgment transmission; and (3) to relieve serials staff of the tedious function of claiming in order to utilize their time more productively on other library services or programs.

Carol Magenau, Assistant Acquisitions Services Librarian, comments on the success of the project as of

- JOAN GRIFFITH -

March 15, 1995 with further info~ation available via the URL:

chttp://m~m.d~mouth.~du/pages/org/ tecor/CMsEDIarticle.htrnl>.

‘WAS the project developed, its focus narrowed to the transmission of claims. Dartmouth has been submitting claims electronically from INNOPAC to Faxon over a VAN since July 1993, using EDI/EDGE software. Dur- ing the first year, claims averaged about 1,000 transactions per month, with transmissions taking place almost daily. While there have been areas of concern, our feel- ings about the use of ED1 are extremely positive. Faster transmission of claims has improved our rate of success in getting issues, and improved productivity has enabled us to be ‘on top’ of this activity in a way we had never managed to be in a paper environment.

Some of the areas of concern that have been encountered have been specific to our particular situation, but others are likely to be encountered by other libraries doing ED1 claiming. A major source of problems has been titles that am received on a membership or other collective plans. Since ED1 is designed to take place without human inte~enti~n, the title being claimed needs to be identified unambiguously. In cases where the agent’s subscription info~ation does not apply to a single title, further information is needed, such as an ISSN (international standard serial number). Another area of concern is the need at times to add commentary and thereby trigger human intervention. For example, this is helpful in the case of multiple-copy subscriptions which usually require special handling to achieve a successful result. While the standards provide for the transmission of a comment specific to an individual claim, our agent has not chosen to receive this data. We are negotiating changes to the data profile that would allow transmission of this note for exceptional cases.

In March of 1994, Dartmouth and Faxon initiated the transmission of claim responses. These have been received weekly, averaging several hundred per month. Since Innovative Interfaces has not been involved with claim responses, the Dartmouth staff member in charge of Faxon claims (Lisa MacRae) is posting information manually to INNOPAC serial checkin records. How- ever, we feel it is still advantageous to get claim responses via ED1 because it is so much faster.

The Acquisitions Services Department at Dartmouth is planning to develop ED1 connections with other serial agents, both in the United States and Europe. In addition, with assistance from the Library’s Systems Office, we are working with Dartmouth’s Controller

and with Administrative Computing to develop an EDI-like interface for the transmission of invoice information from the Library to the Controller. This is an area in which standards have not yet been developed, but is worth the effort to implement locally in terms of benefits in staff productivity and speed of processing. We look forward to the further implementation of ED1 in many areas of our work in years ahead. Its ability to take the drudgery out of routine business transactions has exciting implications for the deployment of staff and improvements in efficiency for virtually every- thing we do.”

In answer to the goals of the project: (1) paper claims were eliminated for the Faxon Company, but

.other agents continue to receive paper; (2) the facility for functional acknowledgements within ED1 does ver- ify that the agent received the claim; and (3) ED1 claiming does relieve the serials staff of “some of” the tedious.work in claiming. More relief would be found if claims response and other transactions were also ED1 within Innopac.

In the long run, librarians, serials and book agents, publishers, and system vendors all have much to gain by implementing EDI. Once an EDI facility is developed, the systems vendor who creates it first could take over the marketplace as libraries and library adminis- trators are seeking ways to cut time and costs. At this point other system vendors will also have to provide ED1 features for their customers. For ILS vendors this may mean total rewrites of existing software or development of a new generation of integrated library systems. Unfo~unately, gradual piece by piece implementation of ED1 features could take decades. Thus, integrated library systems that accomodate all required reference numbers for Xl2 transaction standards need to be designed and implemented.

Libraries are entering a critical stage in our electronic evolution. Interest in ED1 features is growing but no system vendor in the United States has implemented ED1 completely. Librarians are including requests for ED1 in RFPs without fully comprehending all that this entails. ED1 X 12 ordering, claiming, invoicing, and various other messaging transactions in integrated library systmes depend on pressure from library admin- istrators, acquisitions and serials librarians, subscription and book agents, and publishers.

SISAC continues to develop Xl 2 standards and will soon publish its Xl2 Serials Manual. It is working closely with Canadian, United Kingdom, and European standards groups to evolve a unified non-prophets global solution. SISAC will also continue its eductional

-ELE~RONICDATAI~~RC~N~E- FALLW!BS 41

and publicity efforts in support of ED1 within the

library community.

Santossuosso, J. “Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for Libraries and Publishers,” Bulletin of the American Society

for Information Science (October 1992): 15 17.

EPILOGUE

Nearly two years after ED1 claims testing was com-

pleted at Dartmouth College Libraries, Innovative

Interfaces, Inc. introduced with INNOPAC software

Release 9 a modified version of X12-869 ED1 Claim-

ing over the Internet.

Schwartz, Fritz E. “The ED1 Horizon: Implementing an ANSI X12 Pilot Project at the Faxon Company,” Serials

Librarian 19, no. 314 (1991): 39-57.

Schwartz, F. and J. Santosuosso. The Evaluation of the

Faxon Pilot Project to Exchange Standard XI2 Data. West- wood, MA: Faxon ED1 Department, 1991.

Schwartz, Fritz E. “Selected Bibliography of Publications on EDI.” Westwood, MA: Faxon ED1 Group, 1991.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ED1 (Selected Background Readings):

SISAC News: The Report of the Serials Industry Systems

Advisory Committee. New York: Book Industry Study

Group, Inc. 1985-.

American Bar Association, Electronic Messaging Services

Task Force. “The Commercial Use of Electronic Data Inter-

change: A report,” Business Lawyer 45 (June 1990): 1645

1719.

Data Interchange Standards Association, Inc. (DISA). X12/

DISA Information Manual. Alexandria, VA: DISA, 1990.

(3m). An Introduction to Electronic Data Interchange.

Alexandria, VA: DISA, 1990.

ED1 Forum: The Journal of Electronic Data Interchange.

Oak Park, IL: ED1 Publications, Inc., 1990-.

EDI World: The Source for Electronic Data Interchange

Management. Hollywood, FL: ED1 World, Inc., October

1990-.

Skupsky, Donald S. “Legal Requirements for Electronic Data Interchange Records,” Records Management Quarterly

(October 1990): 42-55.

Woods, Elaine W. Electronic Data Interchange: Purchase

Orders An Analysis and comparison of ASC XI2 standards with NISO standards and other purchase order standards

and conventions used in the Libra? Community. Washing-

ton, DC: Network Development and MARC Standards Office, Library of Congress, 1989. (Distruibuted June 22, 1990 at the NISO-BISG Preconference on Standards for the Acquisition of Library Materials.)

APPENDIX A

SISAC

Emmelhainz, Margaret A. Electronic Data Interchange: A

Total Management Guide. New York: Van Nostrand Rein- hold, 1990.

Faxon. An Introduction to EDI and ANSI ASC XI2 Standards

1990. Westwook, MA: Faxon ED1 Group, 1990.

Hill, Ned C. and Daniel M. Ferguson. “Electronic Data Inter- change: A Definition and Perspective,” EDI Forum 4

(1991): 12-18.

The Serials Industry Systems Advisory Committee (SISAC) was founded in 1982 to provide a forum to establish standards for the electronic transmittal of serials information. The committee first developed the Serials Item and Contribution Identifier (SICI) and since then has concentrated heavily on the development of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transactions for the serials industry.

Members of SISAC include publishers, database pro- Hinge, Kathleen C. Electronic Data Interchange: From

Understanding to Implementation. New York: American

Management Association, 1988.

Kimberly, Paul. Electronic Data Interchange. New York:

McGraw-Hill, 199 1.

Paul, Sandra. “BISAC and SISAC: Another Year Later,”

LITA Newsletter 5 1 (1993): 17- 18.

Richter, Linda and Joan Rota. “An Xl2 Implementation in

Serials: MSUSIPALS and Faxon,” Serials Review (Spring

1994): 13-24.

ducers, librarians, subscription agents, document deliv- ery vendors, vendors of integrated library systems and other information specialists. Membership in SISAC offers individuals and organizations an excellent opportunity to influence the future development of serials standards so that the needs and requirements of all segments of the information industry are represented.

For additional information about SISAC or to inquire about membership options, please contact SISAC at 160 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 or call 212-929- 1393. E-mail: <[email protected].>

42 SERIALS REVIEW - JOAN GRIFFITH -

APPENDIX B

Dartmouth Pilot Project Proposal Overview

This is a project plan for a phased implementation of the interchange of data in Xl2 formats between the Faxon Company, Innovative Interfaces, Inc., and the Dartmouth College Library. This project is intended to achieve the following:

A. Develop a facility for standard ED1 between Faxon and III, available to all joint Faxon/III clients, to facilitate the following primary desired outcomes:

1. Posting of Faxon invoices into III systems. 2. Loading of claims from III systems into Faxon’s

system. 3. Loading of claims responses from Faxon’s system

into III systems.

B. It is also the intent of the project to achieve the following secondary desired outcomes:

1.

2.

3.

4.

C.

Provide an opportunity for III to become involved with and experienced in the concepts of ED1 as tools for meeting client needs. Provide an opportunity for Faxon and III to extend the benefits of standard ED1 to mutual clients. Provide an opportunity for Dartmouth College Library to become involved with and experienced in ED1 as a step towards ED1 implementation on the Dartmouth campus. Eliminate the need for both Faxon and III to support multiple electronic formats and magnetic media.

Loading claims from III systems into Faxon’s system and posting of Faxon X 12 invoices into III systems make up the first phase of this project. The invoice portion of the first phase is dependent upon the suitability of the existing III invoice loading formats to accommo- date invoice data exchanged using the Xl2 format. If III invoice loading formats cannot handle invoice data exchanged in Xl2 format, the invoice loading portion of the project may move to a later phase. In that case, Faxon and Dartmouth will still exchange invoices in Xl2 format during the first phase of the project even though the Xl2 invoices cannot be loaded by the III system. The exchange of invoices in Xl2 format will be necessary in order to extract from them Faxon invoice-page-line numbers (IPLs). IPLs will then be returned to Faxon with claims. IPLs are necessary for

Faxon to process claims efficiently. The exchange of claim responses is targeted at the outset for a later phase of the project. Commitment and timeframes for later phases of the project are dependent upon evaluation and review of the first phase by all parties.

The following components make up the project:

1.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

2.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

PHASE 1

Transmission of Faxon invoices in Xl2 format to Dartmouth College Library via a value added network (VAN).

Receipt of Faxon invoices in Xl2 format by Dart- mouth College Library from a VAN.

Posting of Faxon invoices to Dartmouth College Library III system.

Transmission of claims from III in X 12 format to Faxon via a VAN.

Receipt of claims from III in Xl2 format by Faxon from a VAN.

Loading of claims from III at Faxon.

Transmission of claims from Dartmouth College Library III system in Xl2 format to Faxon via a VAN.

Receipt of claims from Dartmouth College Library III system in Xl2 format by Faxon from a VAN.

Loading of claims from Dartmouth College Library III system at Faxon.

PHASE II

Transmission of Faxon claim responses in Xl2 format to III system via a VAN.

Receipt of Faxon claim responses in Xl2 format by III system from a VAN.

Loading of Faxon claim responses in III system.

Transmission of Faxon claim responses in Xl2 format to Dartmouth College Library via a VAN.

Receipt of Faxon claim responses in Xl 2 format by Dartmouth College Library from a VAN.

Loading of Faxon claim responses in Dartmouth College Library III system.

VAN communications and functional acknowledgements are to be used-for all test and production interchanges.

-ELECTRONICDATAINTERCHANGE- FALLWH 43

l Service Introduction.

. As appropriate, Faxon and III offer the exchange of relevant data in Xl2 format to mutual clients, utilizing VAN communications.

itself. Responsibility for the information contained in Dartmouth’s invoices and claims response data will reside primarily with Faxon’s Academic Information Service Center (AISC).

3. Messages.

This project shall be limited to invoice, claim, claim response, and functional acknowledgement messages. Those will respectively use the X 12 8 10,869,870, and 997 transaction sets. Mapping for the 8 10 will be according to SISAC mapping conventions. Mapping for the 869 and 870 will be done initially according to Faxon’s mapping conventions. When SISAC mapping conventions for claims and claims responses are stable, all parties will migrate to SISAC mapping conventions. 997 transaction sets will use standard data as generated by EDI translation software.

Support for the content of the claims datastream will be from III during initial testing. During later testing and during production responsibility for the information contained in claims will reside with clients. Faxon’s ED1 Group will ensure adherence to ED1 standard formats for those clients that purchase support for EDI/EDGE through Faxon.

7. Support for EDVEDGE.

Support for EDVEDGE for III, if III chooses to purchase that package, will be directly from DNS Associ- ates.

4. Telecommunications.

The telecommunications link between Faxon and III and Faxon and Dartmouth will be via the AT&T EasyLink Value Added Network (VAN) service previ- ously owned and supported by Western Union. III and Dartmouth will need to subscribe to AT&T or any VAN service that interconnects with AT&T, supported directly within the EDI/EDGE software. If III and Dartmouth are interested in AT&T, they should be clear that AT&T offers two services under the trade name EasyLink, but that the service required for this project is the service that supports the xpc protocol required for a menu-driven operation of EDI/EDGE. Telecommunications charges for all transmissions required by this project will be paid according to each party’s arrangement with its selected VAN.

Support for EDI/EDGE for Dartmouth will be primarily from the Faxon Client Technical Support (CTS) Dept. and secondarily from DNS.

Please note that software support for EDI/EDGE covers four aspects:

1. 3 _.

3. 4.

Access to a “Help Desk” for procedural problems. All changes to EDEDGE code due to corrections of problems and to enhancements. All changes and enhancements to documentation. All changes and additions to tables for X12, EDI- FACT, TDCC, or any other standards supported by EDIYEDGE.

8.

.

.

Support for Telecommunications.

Support at III will be designated by III.

Support at Dartmouth will be from AT&T, as with Faxon.

The following items were part of the original proposal, but were not agreed to by III:

5. ED1 Translator.

EDI/EDGE is the translator chosen for this project by Dartmouth. III’s commitment to an ED1 translator at this time is an open issue.

Phase I testing between Faxon and III. III choice of VAN.

6. Support for Data.

Support for the content of the invoice and claims response datastreams will be from those divisions and departments other than Faxon’s ED1 Group that support invoice and claims response data in a non-X 12 environment. Faxon’s ED1 Group will be responsible for error-free and timely transmissions and for adherence to EDI standard formats, not for the information

.

1. 3 L. 3. 4.

5.

III use of a translator.

Xl2 invoice portion of the project. It is extremely important for all parties involved in this project to understand that while the exchange of IPLs in an initial phase may be the responsibility of Faxon and Dartmouth, in order to facilitate implementation of the claims portion of the project, any further implementation of this facility requires direct involvement of III in order to provide subscription identifiers. (IPLS).

44 SERIALS REVIEW -JOANGRIFFITH-

6.

7.

1.

3 _.

3.

4.

5.

1.

.

l

.

l

3 &.

*

l

Final timeframes for project. Trading partner agreement with Dartmouth.

APPENDIX C

Directory

Supplier of EDI/EDGE software: DNS Associates, Inc., Six New England Executive Park, Burling- ton, MA 08103-5080, Phone: l-800-624-3343. Supplier of Value Added Network: AT&T Easylink Services, Regional office: 55 Williams Street Wellesley, MA 02181. Phone: (607) 43 l- 6850. Serials Agent: Faxon Company, 15 Southwest Park, Westwook, MA 02090 Phone: 1-800-283- 2946 Integrated Library System Vendor: Innovative Interfaces, Inc., 2344 Sixth Street, Berkeley, CA 947 10 Phone: (5 10)644-3600. SISAC Membership Information: Serials Industry Systems Advisor Committee, 160 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212)929-1393, Fax: (212) 989-7542.

APPENDIX D

Hardware/Software and Telecommunication

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE:

Innopac con~guration, DECSystem 5~/2~

Software on Innopac, Release 8 system software

PC configuration: IBM PC 4864, IBM Pro- printer X24E

Software on PC: DOS version 3.3, ED~DGE version 5.1.2, ProComm Plus version 2.01

TELECOMMUNICATIONS:

AT&T Easylink ED1 Services

EMAC 2400 baud modem attached to IBM-PC

APPENDIX E

‘Ikading Partner Ag~men~

Libraries and their trading partners (book/serial agents and publishers) have to agree on the specifica- tions for ED1 translation software. These include set- ting up PC software with info~ation for the contact person, the version of the software to be used, the schedule for the test and the production modes, and security issues.

In the past, many libraries had no formalized con- tractual agreements with their susc~ption agents: others may not be aware of long standing agreements. Xl2 transaction set number 838, Trading Partner Profile, can be used for formalized agreements thereby replac- ing written conditions or terms which often appear on the back of invoices, claims, and order forms. Libraries and their trading partners need to further investigate the usefulness and legal requirements of such documents for our industry.

Generally, other ED1 industries use a two page document that states agreement on the following items:

.

.

l

.

.

l

l

.

.

.

.

l

.

Recitals clause,

Identify specific standards, transactions sets, version of ED1 software,

Mention industry guidelines,

Identify VAN,

Sender of transaction is liable (testing),

Security procedures,

Functional ac~owledgments,

Notify sender of garbled transmission,

Trading partner agreements free standing agreement or appendix to pre-existing set of terms and conditions,

Statue of frauds clause,

Appendix clause,

Arbitration clause.

Escape clause

electronic data interchange: dartmouth + faxon + innopac + sisac + x12 = serials claims pilot...

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