There are over 40,000 microcomputer software packages available in the market‐place today. This article explores some normative relationships between librarianship and computer…
Abstract
There are over 40,000 microcomputer software packages available in the market‐place today. This article explores some normative relationships between librarianship and computer software as intellectual works. A practical review of seven software directories (Datapro Directory of Microcomputer Software, List, The Software Catalog, PC Clearinghouse Software Directory, Apple Software 1984, IBM PC Expansion and Software Guide, IBM Software 1984) is performed. Directory features reviewed are indexes, entry composition, subject classifications, and coverage overlap.
The following paper is based on some research work carried out by the author while studying at the Centre for Information Science, City University, London in 1982. The original…
Abstract
The following paper is based on some research work carried out by the author while studying at the Centre for Information Science, City University, London in 1982. The original work concentrated on the Prestel system, but has for the purposes of the present paper been broadened out as far as possible to encompass videotex in general. A fairly extensive literature review has also been carried out to bring the coverage up to date.
Some of the more useful, recent publications related to microcomputer applications in libraries are described in this selective bibliography. Titles are grouped under the…
Abstract
Some of the more useful, recent publications related to microcomputer applications in libraries are described in this selective bibliography. Titles are grouped under the headings: software catalogs, dictionaries, handbooks, hardware catalogs, and general introductions. Under each heading, entries are listed in priority sequence.
M.C. Steensland and T.G. Spaith
Keeping a library authority file up‐to‐date and therefore authoritative can be a cumbersome task even when the file is maintained in computer‐readable form. When, in addition, it…
Abstract
Keeping a library authority file up‐to‐date and therefore authoritative can be a cumbersome task even when the file is maintained in computer‐readable form. When, in addition, it becomes necessary to do massive updating to bring the entire file into conformity with a changed or newly‐adopted standard, the task becomes even more difficult. This paper describes an example of accomplishing such an update on the Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index (CASSI) using a relatively low level of human resources, and computer resources which had been placed in the library mainly for word‐processing. The same strategy was re‐used in a similar update of a related authority file. Perhaps this example will encourage others to undertake similar projects.
William H. WardenIII and Bette M. Warden
Microcomputers are rapidly becoming commonplace in libraries today and will become even more so as prices fall and capabilities increase. Microcomputers can provide a wide range…
Abstract
Microcomputers are rapidly becoming commonplace in libraries today and will become even more so as prices fall and capabilities increase. Microcomputers can provide a wide range of services, from being an integral part of a circulation system to serving as terminals to access online databases and information utilities such as the Source or CompuServe. Software can be purchased or developed to assist in online literature searching (record keeping or standardization of database commands). Database packages, or even word processing programs, can be used to help compile local newspaper indexes or other local information files. Statistical packages can be used to analyze library usage. Even the laborious task of writing reports or letters can be greatly aided by word processing programs. Even though the availability of software is a determining factor in choosing a microcomputer, this paper will concentrate on meeting the hardware needs of individual libraries.
This paper surveys theoretical and practical issues associated with a particular type of information retrieval problem, namely that where the information need is pictorial. The…
Abstract
This paper surveys theoretical and practical issues associated with a particular type of information retrieval problem, namely that where the information need is pictorial. The paper is contextualised by the notion of a visually stimulated society, in which the ease of record creation and transmission in the visual medium is contrasted with the difficulty of gaining effective subject access to the world's stores of such records. The technological developments which, in casting the visual image in electronic form, have contributed so significantly to its availability are reviewed briefly, as a prelude to the main thrust of the paper. Concentrating on still and moving pictorial forms of the visual image, the paper dwells on issues related to the subject indexing of pictorial material and discusses four models of pictorial information retrieval corresponding with permutations of the verbal and visual modes for the representation of picture content and of information need.
BRIAN VICKERY and ALINA VICKERY
There is a huge amount of information and data stored in publicly available online databases that consist of large text files accessed by Boolean search techniques. It is widely…
Abstract
There is a huge amount of information and data stored in publicly available online databases that consist of large text files accessed by Boolean search techniques. It is widely held that less use is made of these databases than could or should be the case, and that one reason for this is that potential users find it difficult to identify which databases to search, to use the various command languages of the hosts and to construct the Boolean search statements required. This reasoning has stimulated a considerable amount of exploration and development work on the construction of search interfaces, to aid the inexperienced user to gain effective access to these databases. The aim of our paper is to review aspects of the design of such interfaces: to indicate the requirements that must be met if maximum aid is to be offered to the inexperienced searcher; to spell out the knowledge that must be incorporated in an interface if such aid is to be given; to describe some of the solutions that have been implemented in experimental and operational interfaces; and to discuss some of the problems encountered. The paper closes with an extensive bibliography of references relevant to online search aids, going well beyond the items explicitly mentioned in the text. An index to software appears after the bibliography at the end of the paper.
Present and possible future developments in the techniques of document management are reviewed, the major ones being text retrieval and scanning and OCR. Acquisition, indexing and…
Abstract
Present and possible future developments in the techniques of document management are reviewed, the major ones being text retrieval and scanning and OCR. Acquisition, indexing and thesauri, publishing and dissemination and the document management industry are also addressed. The emerging standards are reviewed and the impact of the Internet is analysed.
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Communities of practice have been identified as sites where knowledge is created in organisations. The author reviews studies of situated learning and situated action and suggests…
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Communities of practice have been identified as sites where knowledge is created in organisations. The author reviews studies of situated learning and situated action and suggests that these two activities may characterise the learning process in communities of practice where they are supported by a distinctive ‘social’ infrastructure. She analyses recent fieldwork in three online communities (a digital library reference service, a virtual enterprise and an online shopping group) to discover to what extent they may be described as communities of practice, and to establish how they support participants’ learning.
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Two major issues to face many libraries today stem directly from the increased processing power and the consequential increased availability of the microcomputer. As the public…
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Two major issues to face many libraries today stem directly from the increased processing power and the consequential increased availability of the microcomputer. As the public become increasingly aware of the potential which microcomputers possess, a second wave of professional use is catching up with the first wave of enthusiast and hobbyist use. This second wave includes small businesses, industry, schools and increasingly, libraries. Initially use centred on word processing, spreadsheet and database management packages, and any further diversification tended to centre on these types of activity. One immediate issue — with which this paper does not deal — is the need for libraries to meet a new demand, and supply both machines and software — either on loan or for use within the library. The second issue, which forms the basis of this paper, is the acquisition of small computer systems by libraries for their own use. Before the microcomputer became available as a solution to the problem of automation — or partial automation — only two possibilities presented themselves and both were really only practicable to the larger library. Automation could be achieved via an expensive minicomputer or via substantial access to the mainframe of a parent institution; alternatively automation has more recently been possible through one of the larger consortia such as OCLC or SWALCAP. However, budgetary considerations or stock movement may determine that many libraries are too small to consider either of these possibilities and most industrial, government or school libraries would usually be included in this category. It is for these small libraries that microcomputers offer an excellent in‐house answer to automation.