The TechSearcher
The Newsletter of Wisconsin TechSearch
January - June 2005
WTS Celebrates 40 Years
This year, Wisconsin TechSearch turns the big 4-0. WTS was established in 1965 under the State Technical Services Act (15 USC 37) in order to "promote economic growth by supporting state and regional centers to place the findings of science usefully in the hands of American enterprise."
WTS has come a long way since 1965. In the first year of operation, we received just 537 requests. We now receive a much larger annual volume from a national clientele.
Surprisingly, two fees haven't changed for about 25 years. In 1979, we charged $3 for U.S. patents, $5 for foreign patents, and $1-10 for citation verification/correction, depending on its complexity. Today, WTS still charges just $5 for patents and $5 for citation correction.What a deal!
We are pleased to have made it to 40 and hope that we can continue to provide excellent service for many years to come. Our clients deserve a big 'thank you' for making WTS a success!
Turnaround Times Plunge
Last summer, the WTS web site was totally redesigned to give our clients more flexibility, control, and efficiency when sending us requests. Last fall, WTS's home-grown request management software was completely revamped to give us greater flexibility and efficiency when managing those requests. Our turnaround time statistics are now proving that these changes were worthwhile.
In October, our average turnaround time was 1.68 days. By January, that figure had plummeted to 0.61 days. Not even WTS staff had expected an improvement this remarkable! (Turnaround times were calculated by subtracting the date and time a request was submitted by the client from the date and time WTS delivered the article to the client, including weekends and holidays. The numbers above only count requests that were filled from on-campus sources.)
We're proud that we've been able to dramatically improve our service to our clients and look forward to finding more ways to perfect it. As always, we invite clients to share comments, concerns, and suggestions with us.
WTS Loans Books
Ever need a book loan? WTS will loan books that are in circulating collections at any University of Wisconsin-Madison campus library. The loan period is 30 days and some books may be renewed for an additional 30 days. You can renew by sending us an email (wts@engr.wisc.edu) or calling us at (608) 262-5917. Please see our book loan policy for more information.
Staff Profile: Brett DeMars
The new voice answering our telephone is Brett DeMars, who came to WTS last August from Grand Forks, ND. Before coming to Madison, Brett worked in circulation at the Grand Forks Public Library for three years and the University of North Dakota's Chester Fritz Library for two years in reference and interlibrary loan. He is now in his first year of graduate library school here at UW-Madison. Brett's irreverent sense of humor and dedication to service make him a great colleague. Welcome, Brett!
New Director at Wendt Library
UW-Madison's Kurt F. Wendt Engineering Library, where WTS is housed, recently welcomed a new director. Deborah Helman, former Associate Head for Engineering at MIT's Barker Engineering Library, began her duties on January 18. Welcome, Deborah!
WTS at AALL
WTS will have a booth at the American Association of Law Librarians conference in San Antonio, TX on July 17-19. Stop by and say hello to Carolyn!
