textfiles/magazines/CURRENTCITIES/1992.3-10

                                _Current_Cites_
                                Volume 3, no. 10 
                                  October 1992
 
                       Library Technology Watch Program
                      University of California, Berkeley
                         Edited by David F.W. Robison
                                ISSN: 1060-2356 
       
                                 Contributors:
      Teri Rinne, Vivienne Roumani, Lisa Rowlison, Mark Takaro, Roy Tennant
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Hyper- and Multimedia

Polly, Jean Armour, and Elaine Lyon. "Out of the Archives and
Into the Streets:  American Memory in American Libraries" Online
16(5) (September 1992):51-57.  This is a report on the Library 
of Congress' American Memory Project, "a multimedia collection of
electronic archival materials searchable by microcomputer," and 
first reactions by the testing libraries.  Included in this 
article are hardware requirements and whom to contact for more 
information. - VR

 
Information Transfer
 
Cawkell, A. E. "Selected Aspects of Image Processing and
Management: Review and Future Prospects" Journal of Information
Science: Principles & Practice 18(3) (1992):179-192.  The people
involved in creating image databases tend to be split into two
groups, those dealing with "Image Processing & Recognition" and
those dealing with "Image classification and retrieval"
(including indexing).  Cawkell emphasizes the need for cooperation
between these two groups and cites several research projects 
currently supported by the British Library on developing and 
managing image databases. - VR

Falk, Howard. "Computer Input Scanning Devices"  The Electronic 
Library 10(4) (August 1992):233-238.  Falk reviews requirements,
capabilities, and resolution of flatbed, sheetfeed, printhead,
and hand-held scanning devices. - VR
 
Sieverts, E. G., et al. "Software for Information Storage and 
Retrieval Tested, Evaluated and Compared. Part IV--Indexing and 
Full-text Retrieval Programs"  The Electronic Library 10(4) 
(August 1992):195-207.  Sieverts et al. report the test results 
of three indexing programs, Ask-It, Texplore, and ZYindex, and 
three full-text retrieval programs, KAware, TextMaster, and 
WordCruncher.  All programs run under MS-DOS. - VR
 
Story, Guy A., et al. "The RightPages Image-Based Electronic 
Library for Alerting and Browsing" Computer 25(9) (September 
1992):17-25.  The RightPages electronic library prototype, used 
at AT&T Bell Laboratories, offers its users electronic "stacks" 
of journal images.  What this means is that the user can view
electronically the cover page of journals he/she frequently
reviews, access tables of contents, browse through the first
page of an article, and order the article desired.  Additionally,
staff will alert the user to the arrival of new articles matching
the users interest profiles. - VR


Networks and Networking

Brandt, D.Scott."Information Development--Collection Issues and 
Campus-Wide Systems" Academic and Library Computing 9(8) 
(September 1992):23-28.  Brandt's two main points in this 
article are that those administering campus-wide information 
systems (CWIS) ought to use the expertise of librarians when 
implementing and maintaining their systems, and that librarians 
can easily adapt traditional rules and guidelines for collection 
development in the electronic formats.  Brandt makes the long-
overdue argument that CWIS's are the ideal place to combine the 
efforts and expertise of both campus computing library 
personnel. - DR

Boucher, Rick. "The Challenge of Transition: Management of the 
NREN is a Concept that Brings Complexity with No Good Models" 
EDUCOM Review 27(5) (September/October 1992):30-35.  Boucher,
chairman of the Science Subcommittee in Congress, argues that
the future development of the NREN requires "an extraordinary
balancing of competing needs and objectives" and cooperation
between business, government, and consumers.  The article
focuses mainly on two areas of transition: last-mile fiber-
optic links and the relationships between the backbone, the 
regionals, and federal funding. - DR

Chapin, A. Lyman. "The Internet Architecture Board and the Future 
of the Internet" EDUCOM Review 27(5) (September/October 1992):42-
45.  Chapin describes the relationships and responsibilities of 
the Internet Architecture Board (IAB - formerly the Internet 
Activities Board), the Internet Engineering task Force (IETF), 
and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF).  Information is also
provided on how RFC documents may be submitted and then become 
Internet Standards. - DR

Dern, Daniel P. "Internet Running Out of IP Address Space?: Yes, 
No, and Maybe" Internet World 3(7) (September 1992):13-15.  
Dern discusses the problem of address space when the number 
of Internet users is doubling each year.  Dern briefly analyzes  
a number of near- and long-term options under consideration to 
address the problem both of the number of addresses available 
and the problem of routing to all of the addresses. - DR

--. "Plugging Into the Internet: The Range of Options for 
Internet Access is Almost as Broad as the Range of Internet 
Resources" BYTE 17(10) (October 1992):149-152, 156.  As Dern 
puts it "Getting access to the Internet involves deciding what 
you want to do and how much you're willing to spend, selecting 
the appropriate service provider, and getting the appropriate 
hardware and software."  The author covers the many issues a 
user needs to consider when planning to obtain Internet access.  
Especially helpful here is Dern's description of the difference 
between a terminal and direct connection to the Internet.  Also 
included is a sidebar by Merik Voswinkel on "Locating Internet 
Access in Europe." - DR

Duderstadt, James J. "An Information Highway to the Future" 
EDUCOM Review 27(5) (September/October 1992):36-41.  
Duderstadt sees a cardinal shift in our society, as fundamental 
as the transition produced by the Industrial Revolution.  This 
time, however, "brain power - is replacing financial and physical 
capital as the key to our strength."  And of course, the national 
information infrastructure (NREN) is the medium of barter in 
this new environment. - DR

Electronic Networking: Research, Applications, and Policy 2(1) 
(Spring 1992) Special Issue on Accessing Information on the 
Internet.  Although this issue us no longer so current, it is 
important enough to include here at this late date:

o	Berners-Lee, Tim, et al. "World-Wide Web: The Information 
Universe" p. 52-58.  The World-Wide Web (WWW) is a hypertext-
based network access system which allows users to jump around 
the globe using hypertext links.  WWW allows users to create 
their own pathways of exploration in the virtual world.  This 
articles explains how the system is organized and how it is used.  
Also included are instructions for trying the Web out on your 
own.

o	Deutsch, Peter. "Resource Discovery in an Internet 
Environment: the Archie Approach" pp. 45-51.  One of the biggest 
problems facing the network community is resource discovery 
(finding what you want) and inherent in that problem is the 
issue of finding the latest version of finding tools and the 
documents themselves.  The Archie system goes along way in 
providing a short-term solution, as well as important 
information and experimentation for a more long term solution 
or set of solutions to this problem.  Archie allows users to 
perform a key word search on a database of information on 
computer programs, text, and other files available on the network 
for anonymous ftp.  The database includes the names and locations 
of the files, not the files themselves.  One of the most 
impressive features of the system is the automated updating 
procedure that keeps the database current.
 
o	Hill, Julia M. "The X.500 Directory Service: A 
Discussion of the Concerns Raised by the Existence of a 
Global Directory" pp. 24-29.  After explaining the advantages 
of implementing the X.500 service, Hill discusses some of the 
not-so-technical issues facing implementors: privacy, security, 
and data integrity.  How will those in the directory be protected 
from unwanted access to their information?  How will organizations  
be sure to include and keep safe only the data the subjects wish?  
How can the community be sure that local directory administrators 
are keeping the data current?  Hill argues that unless these 
issues are resolved, the implementation of the directory may never 
occur.

o	"Internet Gopher: An Information Sheet" pp. 69-71.  
Produced by the Gopher development team, this is a good FAQ 
([answers to] frequently asked questions) on the Gopher interface.  
Gopher allows users to connect to various servers on the network 
without needing the address of login instructions--Gopher handles 
it.  Included is information on how try out Gopher and how to get 
your own client to run.

o	Kahle, Brewster, et al. "Wide Area Information Servers: An 
Executive Information Systems for Unstructured Files" pp. 59-68.
This article outlines both what the WAIS system does, as well as 
the results of an experiment in having real users try out the 
system in real life situations!  The results indicate that novice 
users given little instruction were successful and that those who 
realized that relevance feedback was available took advantage of 
it.

o	Lynch, Clifford A. and Cecilia M. Preston. "Describing and 
Classifying Networked Information Resources" pp. 13-23.  Lynch and
Preston present an engaging discussion on the advantages of using 
various classification schemes to describe networked resources 
(from online catalogs to image files).  Their contention is that 
it makes most sense to start with the schemes that are already in 
place and adaptable to this new use: LC subject headings and 
call#'s and the RLG conspectus, or a combination of these three.  
The authors do not think this will be the be all and end all of 
descriptive schemes, as they put it, "there is no single right way 
to organize such a directory [of resources]."

o	McClure, Charles R. "From the Editor" pp.2-9.  McClure 
outlines the NREN legislation (The High Performance Computing Act 
of 1991) and some the efforts that went in to its development.  He 
specifically addresses certain areas of the bill relating to 
education, access, and dissemination of government information.

o	Neuman, B. Clifford. "Prospero: A Tool for Organizing 
Internet Resources" pp. 30-37.  Prospero allows users and groups 
of users to create logical file and directory systems of networked 
resources based upon meaning and usage, rather than location or 
ownership.  Prospero allows users to integrate front-end resource 
discovery of and access to heterogeneous file systems, such as 
Sun's Network File System, the Andrew File System, and standard ftp.  
Prospero systems may be created and maintained by organizations, 
libraries, subject specialists, or other experts, and used by anyone
(with the creator's authorization).

o	Scott, Peter. "HYTELNET as Software for Accessing the 
Internet: A Personal Perspective on the Development of HYTELNET" pp.
38-44.  Scott describes the development of his innovative software 
that provides a hypertext directory of addresses of Internet 
resources, and in some implementations, automated connections 
to those resources. - DR


Ferl, Terry Ellen and Larry Millsap. "Remote Use of the 
University of California MELVYL Library System: An Online 
Survey" Information Technology and Libraries 11(3) (September 
1992):285-303.  Ferl and Millsap have provided two important 
services in this article, first the data they have gathered are 
extensive and quite interesting, but they have also included 
enough background data on their study that others can use it as a 
model.  As for results, one of the most interesting things the 
authors found was that the majority of users of the MELVYL(tm) 
system do so from their office (typically faculty) or from their 
home (typically students), not from within the library, even for 
UC users!  These data do in fact indicate that the virtual 
library is becoming a reality. - DR

Gore, Albert, Jr. "The Information Infrastructure and Technology 
Act" EDUCOM Review 27(5) (September/October 1992):27-29.  This 
article is a redaction of GoreUs speech on the floor of the 
Senate on introduction of the IIT act of 1992 (a copy of the bill 
itself is available via anonymous ftp from nic.merit.edu in 
directory /nren/iita.1992 as file gorebill.1992.txt or by sending 
e-mail to nis-info@nic.merit.edu, no subject, text: get 
gorebill.1992.txt).  In addition to describing the multitude of 
benefits the country should reap through the development of the 
NREN, this article includes a chart outlining the proposed 
expenditures authorized by the act over the next five years, 
totaling $1.15 billion. - DR

Hinnebusch, Mark "A Primer on Z39.50: Part SevenS Academic and 
Library Computing 9(8) (September 1992):13-15.  Hinnebusch uses
his "Integrated Library Systems" column to present a primer on 
the some of the guts of Z39.50's data transfer syntax Abstract 
Syntax Notation (ASN.1) as defined in OSI 8824.  This is not 
for the faint of heart. - DR 

Krol, Ed. The Whole Internet: User's Guide & Catalog. Sebastopol, 
CA: O'Reilley & Assoc., 1992.  Krol brings us the next generation 
of user guide for the Internet.  This book is chock full of useful 
information in a clear and concise format, although sometimes it
seems that depth of coverage has been sacrificed to breadth.  But
breadth there is!  Krol covers the background on what the Internet
is and how it works, including a chapter on what is allowed on the 
net; descriptions and examples of remote login, ftp, e-mail, and 
network news, finding software, finding someone, Gopher, WAIS, and 
World Wide Web; problems one may encounter; an impressive topical 
list of resources available; and getting a network connection.  
This is clearly a handy volume both as an introduction to the net, 
but also as a reference tool for resources and services that one 
may not already be familiar with.  The only real problem may be 
that as the network develops and resources change, this guide may 
become out of date before we'd like. - DR

Lukanuski, Mary. "Help is on the WAIS" American Libraries 23(9) 
(October 1992):742-744.  Lukanuski provides a quick introduction 
to the Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) as a slick alternative 
to what Steve Cisler of Apple calls "savage interfaces" of 
database searching.  Lukanuski does point out that although WAIS 
is a nice interface, it is not without drawbacks, especially 
considering its newness.  As she says, easy multi-database 
searching has a "WAIS to go." - DR   

Molka, Judith A. "Surrounded by Standards, There is a Simpler 
View" Journal of the American Society for Information Science 
43(8) (1992):526-530.  Molka takes us on a journey through the 
myriad acronyms of the US and international (and other national) 
information technology standards organizations.  The author 
explains the relationships that some of these organizations have 
with each other (e.g., ISO and ANSI) and helps us to understand
the relationships between their standards (e.g., OSI and Z39.50).  
The author also groups the standards into four functional areas: 
Communications or Interconnection, Information and Resources 
Sharing, Operating System Access, and the Human Computer 
Interface. - DR

Noonan, Dana. "Special Collections on the Internet" Network-
News 7 (September 1992) [To subscribe, send the following 
message to listserv@ndsuvm1 or listserv@vm1.nodak.edu: 
"subscribe nnews firstname lastname" for example, subscribe 
nnews David Robison].  Noonan offers a four page list of special 
collections that are cataloged on Internet-accessible catalogs.  
The author has verified many of the collections and provided 
occasional descriptive notes. - DR

Phillips, Gary Lee. "Z39.50 and the Scholar's Workstation 
Concept" Information Technology and Libraries 11(3) (September 
1992):261-270.  Have you been trying to figure out how the 
glowing promise of Z39.50 interoperability will translate to the 
desktop?   Phillips provides some answers by explaining how users
with access to Z39.50 implementations will be able to take
dvantage of the wealth of resources that will hopefully be 
available.  In addition to detailing how scholars will be able to 
easily collect and organize information from disparate sources on
their desktop computer, Phillips also provides charts that help 
the reader understand the process.  Also included is a 
bibliography. - DR

Tillman, Hope. "Internet Restrictions: Why You Can't or Shouldn't 
Access or Do Something" Internet World 3(7) (September 1992):11-
12.  Tillman helps clear up some of the confusion that often 
confronts new (and not so new) users of the Internet regarding 
acceptable use of the networks that make up the Internet. - DR 

Tomer, Christinger "Information Technology Standards for 
Libraries" Journal of the American Society for Information 
Science 43(8) (1992):566-570.  Tomer provides us with a non-
technical description of IT standards, and Z39.50 in particular, 
from the perspective of their importance to libraries.  Tomer 
covers the development of the standard as well as the 
implementations that are currently in place (WAIS, Gopher, and 
UC Berkeley's InfoCal server).  Also discussed are some of the 
limitations of the current Z39.50 standard and suggested 
improvements. - DR

--. "Instructional Computing: Integrating Network-Based 
Information Services into Instructional Settings" Academic and 
Library Computing 9(8) (September 1992):16-22.  In the first 
installment of a planned series on instructional computing, 
Tomer addresses the growing utility and importance of computer 
mediated conferences (concentrating on BITNET).  In addition to 
the conferences themselves, Tomer also covers some of the 
additional services, such as e-journals, available on the net.
- DR  

Weiss, Martin and Carl Cargill. "Consortia in the Standards 
Development Process" Journal of the American Society for 
Information Science 43(8) (1992):559-565.  In this article, the 
authors provide us with some of the background of how 
information technology standards consortia have developed and 
where they seem to be heading.  Weiss and Cargill also explain a 
taxonomy of standards groups (implementation, application, and 
proof-of-technology consortia) that helps us understand the 
relationships between what we might consider to be competing 
organizations, when in fact they are working in different areas 
of standardization. - DR


Optical Disc Technologies

Au, Ka-Neng. "CD-ROM Interoperability" CD-ROM Librarian 7(8)
(September 1992):22-25.  Au provides a summary of a two-day
symposium on CD-ROM standards presented by AFCEA International
(Armed Force Communications and Electronics Association).  The 
two major standards proposals discussed were CD-RDx which will 
enable interoperability across platforms (MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2, 
Unix, Macintosh) and across systems (stand-alone and networked) 
and Structured Full-text Query Language (SFQL) based upon the 
client-server model, which provides extensions to SQL for 
access to full-text data.  SFQL is both software and database 
independent. Other standards outlined in the article are Silver- 
Platter's Data Exchange Standard (DXS), Z39.50, the Rockridge 
protocols, and proposals from the Frankfurt Group. - TR
 
Bowers, F. John and Neil R. Shapiro. "CD-ROM Standards: 
Essentials for Progress" CD-ROM Librarian 7(8) (September 1992):
33-36.  This article describes yet another CD-ROM standard being 
jointly developed by the Air Transport Association (ATA) and the 
Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), appropriately titled the 
ATA/AIA standard.  CD-ROM is currently being used by the airline 
industry to replace the hundreds of thousands of pages of printed
maintenance data required for aircraft.  The ATA/AIA standard 
addresses three fundamental obstacles to CD-ROM compatibility:
hardware device dependence, file format dependence, and software
dependence.  The standard supports client-server architecture and
SFQL (see above). - TR
 
Ciuffetti, Peter D. "CD-ROM Data Exchange Standard (DXS) Version
1.0 Overview" CD-ROM Librarian 7(8) (September 1992):26-32. 
Ciuffetti provides an in-depth overview of SilverPlatter's 
proposed DXS standard.  The goal of DXS is to allow information
retrieval system designers to build systems that are user 
interface independent.  Ciuffetti includes an admirably coherent 
explanation of client-server architecture. - TR
 
Cosden, Chris. "The Real World Advantages of Double Speed Drives"
CD-ROM Professional 5(5) (September 1992):66-67.  Fourth 
generation CD-ROM drive technology allows for variable increases 
in the rotational velocity of the CD-ROM disc, up to twice the 
current speeds.  While past speed improvements have centered upon 
the access times, these new machines improve upon the data 
transfer rates.  Cosden tests the new NEC double speed drive and 
discovers the "biggest real-world improvement in a CD-ROM drive 
since the first generation shipped in 1986." - TR
 
Herther, Nancy K. "The New Information Age for the Federal 
Government: CP Interviews SIGCAT's Jerry McFaul" CD-ROM
Professional 5(5) (September 1992):17-21.  USGS computer
scientist Jerry McFaul has played a major role in the CD-ROM
community since the very beginning, founding the Special Interest
Group for CD-ROM Applications and Technology (SIGCAT).  In this
interview he discusses his background, the genesis and phenomenal 
growth of SIGCAT, and the U.S. Government's enthusiasm toward CD-
ROM technology.  He explains how CD-ROM has precipitated a 
"revolution in the democratization of the Government's data." - TR
 
Koren, Judy. "Providing Access to CD-ROM Databases in a Campus
Setting Part II: Networking CD-ROMs via a LAN" CD-ROM 
Professional 5(5) (September 1992):83-94.  Koren concludes her 
discussion of networking CD-ROMs with an explanation of the 
rapidly evolving local-area network (LAN) environment.  She 
outlines popular LAN systems and CD-ROM towers used on the 
majority of university campuses.  Systems include industry giant 
Novell, Network O/S, OS/2 LAN Manager, and LANtastic; LAN towers 
include CD Net, CD-Connection by CBIS, Opti-Net, LANtastic, 
MultiPlatter, Corel, and SCSI Express.  Koren also discusses four 
different configurations providing LAN access from the campus 
network, Macintosh LANs, and network site licensing. - TR
 
Pemberton, Adam C. "Retail Distribution of CD-ROMs: The Sony
Affiliated Label Program (Or, If You Build It, Will They Come?)"
CD-ROM Professional 5(5) (September 1992):9-10.  For the past
two years, CD-ROM industry watchers have been predicting mass 
consumer market penetration of CD-ROM products.  This prediction 
may finally have a fighting chance of coming true, thanks to the
Sony Corporation.  The Sony Affiliated Label Program is designed
facilitate the distribution of CD-ROM products to retail outlets.
Under the program, Pemberton explains, Sony will manufacture,
market, and distribute nearly 5,000 CD-ROM titles from leading US
publishers to software specialty stores, consumer electronic
stores, bookstores, record stores, and mass merchandisers.  Sony
will coordinate and execute the packaging, manufacturing,
warehousing, drop shipments, retail support, co-op advertising,
invoicing, inventory adjustments and supplier payments for all
Affiliated titles.  Pemberton concludes with the obvious 
question: "will they sell?" - TR


General

Kelley, Kimberly Banks. "Managing Technology in Libraries" 
Library Administration & Management 6(3) (summer 1992):141-145.
The changing role of libraries, forced by social needs and 
economic pressures can be characterized by a shift in emphasis - 
away from the role of the library as repository (collections)
and toward its role/place in the network of information 
providers (access). In this article, Kelley identifies the 
organizational evaluation and development which must occur in 
order for libraries to effectively carve out a position in the 
newly defined information marketplace.  She maintains that the 
development of a strategic technology policy is crucial. First, 
such a policy requires a thorough review of the institution's 
technology base and an examination of the valuable technologies 
which may be brought into the organization.  Second and of 
equal importance, is the need for education and training in 
areas of new technology.  The role of management in these efforts
is key. While the number of managers is likely to become fewer to
make way for needed technology specialists, those remaining 
will need a means for not only keeping abreast of technology, 
but also cultivate the management skills necessary for managing 
technology and the many choices which attend change.  One 
effective way to ensure that there is proper education and 
development in new technology, according to Kelley, is to create
a department within the library which concerns itself with the 
research and development in new technology.  Such a department
would serve as both a technology "look out" and, combined with
apprenticeship, would serve as a source for "home grown" 
technology experts. - LR


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Current Cites 3(10) (October 1992) ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright (C) 1992 by the Library, University of
California, Berkeley.  All rights reserved. 

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