The Memex Research Institute (MemRI), an independent non‐profit research and development organization, has created an Electronic Library Program of shared research and development…
Abstract
The Memex Research Institute (MemRI), an independent non‐profit research and development organization, has created an Electronic Library Program of shared research and development in order to make the vision of Vannevar Bush's “memex” more concrete. The program is working toward the creation of large, publicly available indexed electronic image collections of published documents in academic, special and public libraries. The initial objective of the Memex Research Institute has been the development of a strategic plan that defines a combination of publicly searchable access databases, image (and text) document collections stored on network “file servers,” local and remote network access, and an intellectual property management control system. This combination of technology and information content is defined in this plan as an E‐Library or E‐Library Collection.
Questions how widespread remote access will impact on the libraryas an organization, and also on libraries′ parent organizations. Looksat the implementation of OPAC systems within…
Abstract
Questions how widespread remote access will impact on the library as an organization, and also on libraries′ parent organizations. Looks at the implementation of OPAC systems within libraries and considers that remote access is more than just an enhancement to the OPAC. Considers that services such as FirstSearch could make libraries themselves redundant, as users could search for information and have articles faxed or mailed directly to them – in the light of this, libraries may have to re‐evaluate the services they offer. Makes the observation that librarians will have to become increasingly more skilled at the technical aspects of the job.
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Edwin Brownrigg and Brett Butler
The Memex Research Institute has proposed a research project to describe in machine‐readable form all the information needed to create electronic “books” in a standard…
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The Memex Research Institute has proposed a research project to describe in machine‐readable form all the information needed to create electronic “books” in a standard communications format. Two kinds of extended computer file formats employing the MARC structure will be defined: Access Formats that take into consideration the many existing index and abstract system formats and their associated databases; and Document Formats that provide for storage, representation, transmission, and display of machine‐readable works in text or image form. The formats that emerge can be employed by libraries, publishers, information utilities, and computer users worldwide to convert printed works to electronic forms or to create original works in electric format, and thus foment the creation of networked electronic library collections.
Over the past eight years, the MELVYL catalog has become one of the largest public access catalogs in the world, and now plays a central role in providing access to the library…
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Over the past eight years, the MELVYL catalog has become one of the largest public access catalogs in the world, and now plays a central role in providing access to the library resources of the University of California. Currently, under heavy load, the MELVYL catalog supports many hundreds of simultaneous terminal connections, servicing over a quarter of a million queries a week and displaying more than two million records a week to its user community. This article discusses the history of the network that has supported the MELVYL catalog from the early days of its prototype to the present. It also describes both the current technical and policy issues that must be addressed as the network moves into the 1990s, and the roles that the network is coming to play in integrating local automation, the union catalog, access to resource databases, and other initiatives. Sidebars discuss the TCP/IP protocol suite, internet protocol gateways, and Telenet and related inter‐operability problems.
This paper describes an ethnographic study of the electronic communityformed during an intensive summer school seminar on networking. Theseminar, conducted in a mostly electronic…
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This paper describes an ethnographic study of the electronic community formed during an intensive summer school seminar on networking. The seminar, conducted in a mostly electronic environment, was comprised of master′s and doctoral students involved in various fields of study. Ethnographic research techniques facilitated the observation and description of the actions and events of this networked learning community, where events reflect both individual personalities and shared knowledge. This exploration of the cultural meanings of class pedagogical events led to an enhanced understanding of both the nature of the online educational environment and the applicability of ethnographic research techniques to networked communities.
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Jeris F. Cassel and Sherry K. Little
A national multi‐gigabit‐per‐second research and education network known as the National Research and Education Network is to be established by 1996, according to the…
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A national multi‐gigabit‐per‐second research and education network known as the National Research and Education Network is to be established by 1996, according to the High‐Performance Computing Act of 1991 (P.L. 102–194) passed in December 1991. Commonly known as the NREN and referred to as the “information highway,” this electronic network is expected to provide scientific, educational, and economic benefits for the United States and to serve as the basis for an all‐encompassing National Information Infrastructure available to all citizens. The idea of the NREN began in the late 1960s in the Department of Defense and its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with the development of ARPANet, the first packet‐switching network. This evolved into the Internet, or Interim NREN, after the National Science Foundation (NSF) linked its national supercomputing centers with the NSFNet. The NSFNet is to be the technological backbone for the NREN, which will continue the networking begun by the Internet. Initially, the NREN is intended to interconnect researchers and resources of research institutions, educational institutions, industry, and government in every state.
The research, analysis, and documentation processes requisite to the design of an inhouse acquisitions system are reviewed. The initial concept document detailed system goals…
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The research, analysis, and documentation processes requisite to the design of an inhouse acquisitions system are reviewed. The initial concept document detailed system goals, institutional objectives and environment, acquisitions functions and system requirements. A subsequent specifications document detailed work flow, data elements, and related requirements. Documentation for the system was prepared, based on the concept and specifications documents. Figures detail the characteristics of acquisitions data elements and the logic path of an automatic vendor selection routine.
Pamela Q.J. Andre and Nancy L. Eaton
The National Agricultural Library and forty‐two land grant libraries have entered into a cooperative project to test a new method of capturing full‐text and images in digital…
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The National Agricultural Library and forty‐two land grant libraries have entered into a cooperative project to test a new method of capturing full‐text and images in digital format for publication on CD‐ROM disks. The digital information management equipment will be installed at the National Agricultural Library, where scanning of selected agricultural collections will take place. The microcomputer/CD‐ROM workstations, search software, and collections on CD‐ROM disks of the selected agricultural information will be field tested by actual faculty and researchers at NAL and the forty‐two participating land grant libraries. During the first phase of the project, four CD‐ROMs containing four different sets of material and using four different retrieval packages will be tested.
Conservation is of no benefit unless the items conserved are used in the future, but it should not prevent use. Local library use, whether consultation, lending or photocopying…
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Conservation is of no benefit unless the items conserved are used in the future, but it should not prevent use. Local library use, whether consultation, lending or photocopying, can damage books as much as if not more than interlibrary use; and some types of material are rarely or never wanted on interlibrary loan. A conservation programme should include the retention of items for future availability, which is desirable for adequate interlibrary availability. The preservation of the contents of books by microfilming or digitization aids both conservation and interlending. The selection of items for conservation of the original or the making of surrogates presents difficult problems. When items are photocopied or lent, there are various ways of reducing wear and tear. Conservation of non‐book materials raises fewer problems, because the format is rarely important or valuable. When books are filmed or digitized, conservation has to be applied to the films or digitized text.
Whether readers of this work are students or professionals, they will find the book informative. For the student, Saffady takes care to define all terms and acronyms. Successive…
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Whether readers of this work are students or professionals, they will find the book informative. For the student, Saffady takes care to define all terms and acronyms. Successive sections of each chapter build on the previous ones, so that on completing the book, the student has learned a great deal about optical disks. For the professional, the strength of the book is the organization and review of the optical disk “landscape” it provides.