_Current_Cites_ Volume 3, no. 5 May 1992 Library Technology Watch Program University of California, Berkeley Edited by David F.W. Robison ISSN: 1060-2356 Contributors: Clifford Lynch, Teri Rinne, Vivienne Roumani, Lisa Rowlison, Mark Takaro, Roy Tennant Electronic Publishing Bailey, Charles W., Jr., comp. "Electronic Serials and Related Topics: A Brief Bibliography" Posted on VPIEJ-L@VTVM1.BITNET (April 23, 1992). This excellent bibliography covers a wide range of topics related to electronic serials, both from the print and electronic presses. - DR Hyper- and Multimedia Ford, Patrick "Microsoft's Windows with Multimedia Extensions: Standards, Simplicity and Success in Multimedia" CD-ROM Professional 5(3) (May 1992):53-55. Finally the PC world rises to the Apple challenge for multimedia! A discussion of the Multimedia PC specification (MPC), a Windows-based standard with Multimedia Extensions software. Details of equipment requirements, services and the standards that afford compatibility between devices are briefly noted. The extensible package, insuring device independence and future compatibility through the Media Control Interface (MCI), should open the gates for new product development in the world of Multimedia for the PC. - MT Beer, Jeffrey "Multimeditation--One Users Thoughts on MPC and the Future of Multimedia" CD-ROM Professional 5(3) (May 1992):8-9. An ode to the future joys of multimedia computing. Education and entertainment meet in some of the commercial products currently available for multimedia computing such as Hyperglot's Learn to Speak Spanish, Sierra's Mixed Up Mother Goose and Voyagers' Multimedia Beethoven. These early multimedia packages indicate some of the range of possibilities that the future may bring to multimedia computing on the PC. - MT Mann, Mary "Software Unites Multimedia's Pieces" PC Week 9(16) (April 20, 1992):95-103. Multimedia authoring tools are among the first to cross the lines between the PC and Apple environments. This buyer's guide discussion (accompanied by a comparison chart on authoring tools) indicates the range of multimedia applications for presentations, computer-based training (CBT) and other applications. - MT Sullivan, Kristina B. "Development Center Lets Users Buy Time on Multimedia Tools" PC Week 9(16) (April 20, 1992):32. Announcing the industry-sponsored Graphix Zone in Irvine, California which provides a multimedia development site with a variety of tools for users on a per- hour fee basis. Other centers are to follow in San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Denver, Chicago, and Atlanta. - MT Sullivan, Kristina B. "'Portable Multimedia' Picks Up Steam" PC Week 9(16) (April 20, 1992):25. A number of portable peripherals and complete systems promise to aid multimedia presenters in their work away from the home office. - MT Information Transfer Finnigan, Georgia "Document Delivery Gets Personal." Online 16(3) (May 1992):106-108. Finnigan briefly describes online document delivery systems that are available to and accessible by the individual user. She refers to these systems as "personal document delivery systems." As convenient as these might be, Finnigan concludes with the caveat that there are still many unresolved issues with personal document delivery systems. - VR Valauskas, Edward J. "Information at Your Fingertips: Large Databases and the Macintosh" Database 15(2) (April 1992):99-101. The Library of the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), in Geneva, Switzerland is used as an example for demonstrating the viability of "megadatabases" which offer access not merely to bibliographic citations of books, papers, and reports, but also text, illustration, tables, and "thousands of a peculiar relic of the literature of high-energy physics called the preprint." - VR Wolff, Thomas E. "Personal Bibliographic Databases: An Industrial Scientist's Perspective" Database 15(2) (April 1992):34-40. Wolff evaluates four bibliographic software packages, Library Master, Notebook II, Papyrus, and Pro-Cite, from the perspective of an industrial scientist. Wolff claims that scientists use these personal bibliographic databases differently in that they are more interested in information management rather than "document output management." - VR Networks and Networking Aiken, Robert, Hans-Werner Braun and Peter Ford "NSF Implementation Plan for Interagency Interim NREN" May 1, 1992. Available via anonymous ftp from expres.cise.nsf.gov in directory recompete, filename impl.ps, impl. nofig.ps, and impl.txt (PostScript, PostScript without figures and ASCII, respectively). This paper (29 pages long) describes plans for the next steps on the way to full implementation of the NREN. Chapters include Current Architecture, Advancing the Infrastructure, Interagency Interim NREN Development Milestones, and the current NSF Acceptable Use Policy. - DR Berners-Lee, Tim (et al.) "World-Wide Web: The Information Universe" CERN, 1992. Available via anonymous ftp from nxoc01.cern.ch in directory pub/www/doc, filename Article_9202.ps and at csuvax1.csu.murdoch.edu.au in directory pub/library/soft, filename wwwinfo.doc.ps. These are Post- Script documents. This paper provides an overview of the WWW, a hyper- text document system designed to provide access to documents around the world, thus creating an organized world-wide web of data and relevant connections between databases. The article "describes the aims, data model, and protocols needed to implement the 'web' and compares them with various contemporary systems. - DR Cate, Vincent "Alex - a Global Filesystem" School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 1992. Available via anonymous ftp from cs.cmu.edu in directory sp/alex/doc, filename intro.ps, intro.txt and at csuvax1.csu.murdoch.edu.au in directory pub/library/soft, filename alexintro.doc, alexintro.doc.ps. This paper describes the main issues around implementing a ftp client that makes distributed files, available for anonymous ftp, appear as though they wee on the user's local machine. Named after the library at Alexandria, Alex employs a metadata caching algorithm to store information on the client and retrieving and updating documents on an as-needed basis only. - DR Gelartner, David. Mirror worlds, or, The day software puts the universe in a shoebox-- : how it will happen and what it will mean. New York : Oxford University Press, 1991. This is a semi-popular book that describes large-scale distributed information systems and the operating systems that will manage them. It includes a discussion of Gelartner's LINDA system, which essentially permits an application to seek out and utilize idle cycles on workstations connected to a network to perform distributed computation. The writing style is a bit hard to take at times, but this provides an accessible picture of one possible future for distributed computing and very large scale information systems built on object-oriented techniques. - CL Kaminer, Noam "USMARC Fields and Data Elements" posted on PACS-L in three parts (April 27-28, 1992). Kaminer's paper demonstrates how one might use the standard MARC format to describe an online catalog, thereby creating a metacatalog. Such a catalog of OPACs would be a boon to the networked searcher. He also shows where USMARC alone is deficient. - DR Nickerson, Gord "Networked Resources" Computers in Libraries 12(4) (April 1992):31-34. In this column Nickerson explains what the Usenet system is, how it got its start, and how to get involved. - DR "R & E N Transcripts" Computers in Libraries 12(4) (April 1992). These three articles are edited transcripts from the Research & Education Networking Conference, March 7-8, 1991. McClure, Charles "A User Perspective on Developing Internet Services" pp.53-55. McClure urges us to concern ourselves with our users, in terms of interface design, user instruction and the way they actually use our services and to expand traditional library services to include electronic resources. Peters, Paul Evan "Networked Information Resources and Services: Next Steps" pp.46-53. Peters explains why the networks are so exciting, how they developed, and poses some questions about the future of networking with a special focus on libraries. Tennant, Roy "Network Basics" pp.55-57. Our own Roy Tennant goes through the basics of how networking works, what you can do (E-mail, lists, file transfer, and remote login). - DR Ramirez, Anthony "I.B.M. and 9 Cellular Powers Team Up for Data Transfers" New York Times (Western edition) 141(48,944):C1, 7. This high-powered consortium announces the start of wireless data transfer on large scale. This technology allows for the broadcast of e-mail and other data files over the cellular phone system. Although the service is fairly expensive now, it is expected to decrease in price in the near future. - DR Stanton, Deirdre E., comp. "Using Networked Information Resources: a Bibliography" Murdoch University Library, 1992. Available via anonymous ftp from infolib.murdoch.edu.au in directory pub/bib, filename stanton.bib and in WordPerfect format in filename stanton.bib.wp. This updated and expanded version of two earlier compilations, Stanton offers a useful extensive guide to information on networked information. The list on its own is great (and over 100 pages!), but the usefullness is enhanced by the good organization of the citations (an index is included). Stanton has also included retrieval instructions for electronic documents. - DR Optical Disc Technologies Ensor, Pat. CD-ROM Research Collections: An Evaluative Guide to Bibliographic and Full-Text CD-ROM Databases. Westport, Connecticut: Meckler, 1991. Ensor provides evaluative descriptions of 114 research- oriented CD-ROM databases chosen for their usefulness for bibliographic research. The evaluation of each database considers geographic coverage, time period covered, variety of material formats covered, and breadth of subject area included. - TR Jackson, Kathy "Disc Technology and Long-Range Planning" CD-ROM Professional 5(3) (May 1992):123-125. Jackson urges librarians to be more futuristic in planning equipment purchases. Third-generation CD-ROM drives now provide access speeds of 300 milliseconds versus the current industry standard of 500 milliseconds; second-generation drives may appear to be bargains, but they will probably be too slow for networking applications or for use with multimedia CD-ROM discs. Jackson also covers timely issues such as remote access demands, the projected rise of multi- function optical drives at the expense of WORM drives, and cutting- edge networking solutions such as SilverPlatter's new tower containing four 1 gigabyte magnetic disk drives. - TR Jacso, Peter. CD-ROM Software, Dataware and Hardware: Evaluation, Selection, and Installation. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1992. Jacso systematically reviews the most characteristic features of CD-ROM databases and the facilities required to use them. The purpose of the book is to help the librarian in the evaluation, comparison, selection, installation, and operation of CD-ROM products. - TR Theil, Thomas J. "Integrating CD-ROM and WORM Optical Disk Systems on the Navy's Paperless Ship" CD-ROM Professional 5(3) (May 1992):17-26. This article details the U.S. Navy's "Paperless Ship Project." Depending upon the type of ship, a naval vessel carries between 10 to 40 tons of paper. In an attempt to reduce this heavy and cumbersome reliance on paper, this project tested systems which offer integrated optical disk document management capabilities. Citing enormous increases in work effectiveness and efficiency (e.g. four hours of microfiche searching took 1.5 minutes on one tested system), the study concluded that systems which integrate both writable optical disc and CD-ROM technologies are the trend for the future. - TR White, Wendy "CD-ROM in Developing Countries" CD-ROM Professional 5(3) (May 1992):32-35. White writes of the surprising popularity of CD-ROM technology in Africa. While information specialists in America were still evaluating CD-ROM technology, librarians in Africa were using it. White explains how the technology is perfectly suited to harsh, remote environments. - TR General Kupersmith, John "Technostress and the Reference Librarian" RSR: Reference Services Review 20(2) (Summer 1992):7-14+. An interesting and very readable overview of the problem of "technostress" and some possible solutions. Kupersmith introduces four related components that create technostress: performance anxiety, information overload, role conflicts, and organizational factors and discusses both individual and organizational strategies for coping with technostress. The notes accompanying the article include citations to many additional articles for those wanting more information. Definitely recommended for those who are (techno)stressed out, whether you happen to be a reference librarian or not. - RT Lewis, Peter H. "Of Turning the Pages Without Any Pages" New York Times 141 (May 19, 1992):B7 (Western edition). The Voyager company announces the publication of their first nine Expanded Books, designed for reading (and listening to) on the Macintosh Powerbook (pun intended?). The books are displayed using HyperCard and take advantage of the sound and linking capabilities of the medium. Current titles include "The Annotated Alice" and "Brave New World" and one of the titles planned for publication is "Neuromancer." This development may allow at least some of us to try and cuddle up with an electronic (power)book and read in bed! - DR Wiederhold, Gio "Mediators in the Architecture of Future Information Systems" IEEE Computer 25(3) (March 1992):38-49. This paper, which reports on ongoing work that Wiederhold and his colleagues have been carrying out at Stanford, deals with the large-scale architecture of future information systems. It envisions a world where there are many autonomous, large, complex information systems and looks at concepts such as "metaprogramming" which can be used to treat these systems as building blocks in constructing larger, cross-system applications. The paper touches on a number of very complex and important issues, such as knowledge representation and transfer across systems. An interesting question for the reader to consider: where do future library information retrieval systems fit into the picture that Wiederhold discusses? - CL Forthcoming Hallman, Judy "Campus-Wide Information Systems" Advances in Library Automation and Networking, v.5, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1992. Due out in October or November 1992. CWISs are a fast growing group of campus computer services that provide access to any number of data- bases through a single server. Although they tend to be developed by computing serces on campuses, they provide an excellent opportunity for cooperation between computing and library staffs. This paper explores the basic questions about CWISs and provides examples of some implementations. Hallman herself is a CWIS manager at the University of North Carolina. - DR Back Issues!!! Back issues of Current Cites are now available in three formats: WAIS (at wais.cic.net, name=current.cites), ftp (at ftp.cni.org in directory current.cites), and Gopher (Name=Current Cites; Type=1; Port=70; Path=/ccites; Host=una.hh.lib.umich.edu). These in addition to local implementations, MELVYL (tm), and the occasional CWIS. Thanks to our supporters! - DR ------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Cites 3(5)(May 1992) ISSN: 1060-2356 Copyright (C) 1992 by the Library, University of California, Berkeley. All rights reserved. All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Mention of a product in this publication does not necessarily imply endorsement of the product. Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by computerized bulletin board/conference systems, individual scholars, and libraries. Libraries are authorized to add the journal to their collections at no cost. This message must appear on copied material. All commercial use requires permission from the editor, who may be reached in the following ways: drobison@library.berkeley.edu // drobison@ucblibra // (510)642-7600 -------------------------------------------------------------------