Librarians' roles continue to expand beyond the scope of traditional library services.  At Sequent Computer Systems, this manifests itself in the role of intranet librarian.  For the past 5 years, this role has significantly contributed to one of our most valuable corporate assets, the intranet. Known as SCEL, Sequent Corporate Electronic Library, the intranet is the central place for all employees to find information designed specifically to be shared company-wide.
 

History and Background
A brief background of our company, Sequent Computer Systems, helps to provide a framework for understanding how our intranet operates. A group of former Intel employees founded Sequent Computer Systems in 1983. In the past 16 years, the number of employees has grown to approximately 2,700 worldwide, half of whom work at the company's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. We develop and sell server solutions for the data center powered by Intel processors and running either the UNIX or NT operating system. In 1998 our net revenue was approximately $784 million.
 

SCEL Design Team
A cross-functional team directs the operation of SCEL. This team, known as the SCEL Design Team, has a mission to develop SCEL into "The one place to go to find anything you need to help you do your job more effectively." 

Team members include:

• our evangelist, a senior manager charged with soliciting executive-level support for our encompassing mission
• an architect who oversees the integration of all the various technologies involved with running an intranet
• librarians who serve as advocates for both the users and the publishers of information stored on the intranet
• and IS, or Information Services, the support staff who provide an important link into the company's overall computing resources. 

SCEL Timeline
SCEL was first released company-wide in 1995 as a replacement for a message-based system designed to deliver sales and marketing materials to our field employees. After the first year we were already redesigning the home page. We created a navigational structure that emphasized the browsing approach to finding documents. We also implemented a standard toolbar to be included on all pages, and we began developing SCEL into a gateway for searching other company databases, such as our employee database. In the spring of 1996 we added the Verity search engine, and a year later we had a new cataloging tool in place that required publishers placing material on our intranet to assign basic metadata elements to those documents. In March of 1998 we implemented our current intranet design known as MySCEL. Our navigational structure now emphasizes searching: Employees can customize their home page, and we've greatly expanded the amount of links from SCEL into other company databases. Last December we expanded our capability to secure data on the intranet so that it can only be viewed by a predefined group of people.
 

Document Publishing
Our publishing model is a distributed one, with more than 300 publishers worldwide. In reality, the SCEL Design Team generates a minimal level of content for the intranet; our focus is providing an environment in which any group or individual can share information across the company. We do have a set of requirements that applies to all publishing efforts. The standard toolbar must appear on every page, and file size should be kept to a minimum, given our large field audience. Frames are not encouraged due to complications with our toolbar. We are standardized on HTML 3.2. Most recently, publishers are being asked to designate whether or not their materials can be viewed by Sequent's external business partners. Publisher training consists of a need to know basic HTML. Our in-house supported editors are HoTMetaL PRO and Homesite . We also offer a self-paced cataloger tutorial. All publishers need to get their manager's support before beginning their publishing efforts, and they are directed to closely observe the standard publishing guidelines.
 

Metadata
Metadata is an integral part of our publishing process. All documents are tagged with metadata when they are transferred to the intranet via the Cataloger. The required fields include contact, author, content owner, title, subject, document type, expiration, distribution, security level, searchable, and language. The metadata fields are a combination of controlled vocabulary and free-text fields. The subject metadata is developed and maintained by librarians. Technically, all of the metadata is stored in an Oracle database and mirrored in the Verity search engine. All searches check both the full-text of the document and the attached metadata.
 

Search Engine
The search engine is currently powered by Verity's indexing/searching application (http://www.verity.com/). The SCEL Design Team selected the application in 1996 for its configurability and compatibility with Sequent's unique flavor of Unix. Before selecting Verity, WAIS was the software application used for full-text searching. 

SCEL initially used Verity for full-text searching only; metadata searching was integrated in 1996. In 15-minute intervals, Verity sweeps through recently published documents and indexes them. 
 

Relevancy Rankings
To improve searching accuracy, various metadata fields were ranked according to relevancy. The SCEL librarians in conjunction with the in-house programmer developed a new ranking system; the title field (a free-text field) now ranks highest, followed by these equally ranked fields:

• Subject
• Additional Subjects
• Document Type
• Description 
• File Type

Searching Parameters
SCEL currently supports keyword searching of the document body and the following metadata fields:

• Title
• Subject
• Additional Subjects
• Description
• Author

SCEL Search Forms

Home Page Form 
The MySCEL home page search form is probably the most frequently used search form in SCEL. The form is a single field in which users may enter as many or as few keywords as they like. Users may search either SCEL and Sequent Online (Sequent's public Web site), or employee information by selecting the appropriate radio button. 

Basic Search Form
The basic search form is virtually identical to the MySCEL home page form. However, users are not able to search for employee information using this form. However, users may search predefined collections by selecting check boxes underneath the search field. Besides documents published within SCEL, users may search collections such as self-published employee info, FirstCall Financial News, graphics, and archived mail messages. The collections searched by default are the core SCEL documents and Sequent Online.

Advanced Search Form
Like the basic search form, the advanced form supports keyword searching of the document body and various metadata fields, but also offers ways for users to limit their searches according to a variety of parameters. Users may specify where the keyword search is to be performed (i.e., within the document body or in specific metadata fields selected by the user). Users may also limit their search according to a series of options, such as publishing date, document type, language, subject heading, file format, or collection. Users select their limit options via a drop-down menu or enter the information within the appropriate field. 

Targeted Search Form
In terms of appearance, the targeted form is very similar to the advanced form; however, the purpose is different. Users who want to refine their keyword searches are encouraged to use the advanced form. However, users who know a specific bit of information about what they are looking for should use the targeted form. For instance, if a user knows the file name or exact title, the targeted form is a more accurate and efficient way to search. Instead of a single keyword search field in which selected metadata fields are searched simultaneously, the targeted form contains separate fields for searching the document body as well as the free-text metadata fields. In addition, the form allows the user to search for the file name itself. There is also a separate section for searching the individual people metadata fields (i.e., author, content owner, etc.). The largest audience for this form is the in-house publishers, who use it to locate files or perform housekeeping duties, such as locating expired pages.
 

SCEL User Support
SCEL provides both static and interactive searching support. In addition to a myriad of help pages, the SCEL team also provides users with the ability to pose questions to the SCEL librarians.  We provide a query form called FIDO Can't Find It! at the bottom of every search retrieval set. Users may send a message to the SCEL librarian explaining what it is they are looking for. A librarian responds to the user within 24 hours; because the emphasis is on teaching the users how to search SCEL, step-by-step instructions on how the answer was found, as well as the answer, are provided. 

However, due to the fact that users were mistaking the form as a chance to launch another search, we recently developed a new form for searching support. This form is longer, asking questions that emulate the reference interview process. The form also makes it clear that a librarian will be performing additional searches to find pertinent documents. 

Users may also send e-mail to a help alias regarding a variety of SCEL issues, such as the FIDO form. Users receive a reply within 24 hours after receipt.
 

Other Types of Support
The SCEL team provides an array of services for publishers. Besides routine administrative duties (creating directories, granting publishing permissions, etc.), the team provides consultation and limited troubleshooting to make the Web publishing process flow as smoothly as possible.
Our biggest emphasis is on content and metadata support. We hold quarterly workshops on SCEL and HTML-specific topics, as well as user-group meetings to update publishers on SCEL news. We also provide design/metadata support when a group decides to create a Web site. If publishers are experiencing problems with assigning metadata or do not understand the concept of metadata, we provide one-on-one consultation. 

The SCEL team periodically evaluates and recommends HTML editors and other associated Web publishing tools. We also provide HTML support in conjunction with the recommended editors. However, due to limited resources, we do not provide HTML/troubleshooting support for non-recommended editors. 

Because Sequent has several global offices, we also provide support for our international publishers, primarily via e-mail and telephone. We also intercede on on behalf of publishers if they encounter problems with technical support. In addition, the team makes periodic visits to our European headquarters since we have several publishers located there. We are also planning visits to our domestic field offices this year.
 

Moderated E-Mail Aliases
We moderate a variety of e-mail forums for publishers to help them perform Web publishing tasks smoothly. The forums range from HTML support to SCEL announcements to tips on improving publishing skills. 
 

The Future
The SCEL team has several items planned for the upcoming year to improve SCEL performance and usability:

• Rethinking our navigational approach.
• Redesigning for partner access. We want to prevent partners from encountering dead links due to security restrictions.
• Virtual weeding: Removal of older documents that are no longer viable.
• User statistics: Providing statistical tools for the SCEL team and publishers.
• Establishing a SCEL representative in our European headquarters.
• Improving search engine functionality and speed
• Introducing a new version of the cataloging tool;  redesign the tool to work faster and have batch publishing capability.
• Hiring a new programmer in July, 1999.