School Library Handbook

With WYLDCat, libraries in Wyoming can find and borrow materials from other Wyoming libraries at low/no cost.

https://wyld.wyldcatalog.org

The acronym WYLD originally stood for the Wyoming Libraries Database. For more than two decades WYLD represented the bibliographic database that public and college libraries jointly created, but WYLD now represents a much larger concept.

Today WYLD reflects the whole of all the networked library projects: statewide licensed databases, the public access catalog, staff subsystems used for circulation, cataloging and other automated library functions, and the cooperative sharing among public, academic, school and special libraries. Because of the Public Access Catalog (PAC) and statewide databases on the web, schools, museums, businesses and individuals have access to the wide array of resources selected for consumer use.

The terms "WYLD member" or "WYLD library" are often used in meetings, planning and automation discussions. This term refers only to the libraries that pay a fee to use the integrated library system. Those libraries are listed at library.wyo.gov/wyld/network/members.

The WYLD Network describes the organizational structure of this cooperative venture. Within this structure, the governing board works with the Wyoming State Library to set policies and establish the cost sharing formula necessary to run the system. The regional council is composed of representatives from the six regions to deal with procedural issues in using network resources. Standing committees include fees/budget, governance/bylaws, nominating, online quality and training. Additional committees look at the public WYLDCat interface and assess the selection of shared databases.

At the state library the WYLD office manages the integrated library system (ILS) and provides technical assistance to libraries and plans new developments for WYLD. The state library and WYLD member libraries share the cost of the system. A formula exists through which the local library and state library share the projected annual cost for WYLD services and operations, including vendor hardware and software maintenance fees, and some organizational costs. This cost and formula are reviewed annually by the WYLD Governing Board with the Wyoming State Librarian.

The WYLD Annual Meeting, generally held in the spring of each year, serves as the time for organizational business and training.

Complete information on WYLD, its governing structure, regional representation, meetings, email discussion lists and projects may be found at library.wyo.gov/wyld. 

WYLDCat (using Aspen Discovery) is the public side of the shared catalog, while WorkFlows is the staff side.  The ILS runs on SirsiDynix Symphony with circulation, acquisitions, serials control, academic reserves,  and more. OCLC VDX (Virtual document exchange) is the interlibrary loan (ILL) middleware that enables patron-initiated ILL.

Through SirsiDynix, member libraries have access to a reporting tool called Analytics that allows member libraries to pull detailed statistics to inform service and collection decisions. Training and assistance on Analytics is available from the WYLD Office.

Technical support for WYLDCat is provided by the Wyoming State Library. Contact information for the help desk, database standards and more may be found online at library.wyo.gov/wyld/support. 

WYLD resources are administered and managed by the Wyoming State Library. The WYLD consortium is governed by member libraries – those that participate in WYLDCat. All 23 county library systems are WYLD members, and the 7 community colleges, as well as some school and special libraries are also WYLD members, although the University of Wyoming is not. A list of members may be found at library.wyo.gov/wyld/network/members.

Loan periods are set by the local library system. The WYLD network sets database standards and the WYLD card policy, which allows a cardholder from any WYLD library to check out from any other WYLD library. WYLD bylaws, strategic plan, organizational chart and more on governance can be found at library.wyo.gov/wyld/network.

The cost of the ILS is split between the Wyoming State Library and WYLD members. A past breakdown of fees may be found at library.wyo.gov/downloads/WYLD/WYLD_Fees.pdf. The WYLD Network pages at library.wyo.gov/wyld/network are a good resource as changes occur.